To secure the schools, President Donald Trump would arm certain teachers. He says that, knowing this, a gunman would be afraid to invade. Wrong. Most such assassins are willing and expect to die in the attempt (“GOP cautious, Dems elated, by Trump’s stance on guns,” March 5).
Moreover, teachers do not possess the temperament and attitude for this, and it would be placing too much responsibility upon them.
An Indiana school district lavishly installed automatic devices that would be activated by an intruder. Unfortunately, they forgot that an assailant can attack a large crowd while it’s entering the school building or the students engaging in sports on the athletic field. The security system isn’t worth the reliance, the inconvenience and the cost. Nor is an on-duty police officer who can’t be everywhere at the same time.
The Second Amendment was passed when civilian firearms and military rifles had equal capabilities. More importantly, it was expressly designed for the people’s protection against a tyrannical government (like Britain’s monarch). Today, government and police agencies are so powerful and well armed that the citizens could not prevail in a conflict. Thus, advanced civilian weaponry would be an exercise in futility — the case for militaristic weapons in the hands of the people is long gone.
Common sense thus prescribes that only firearms for sport, hunting and self-protection should be in the hands of the populace. People don’t benefit from battlefield weaponry. Therefore, rifles of the AR-15 class should not be available to other than the police and the military. Not only should the sale of this class of firearm to civilians be banned but it should be made illegal for one who lawfully possesses this grade of weapon to sell it, trade or barter it or give it away. All he can do is will it to a close relative. He cannot use it and cannot acquire ammunition for it. It is to become strictly a souvenir.
The second move to be made is to do what is necessary to permit the authorities to prevent any firearms being in the hands of an irresponsible (such as a mentally ill) person. Authorities should have the right to seize such a person’s firearms and commit the owner to a medical and psychiatric examination with the goal that a prosecutor must persuade a judge that such was proper, but unless a judge sides with the prosecutor the firearm must be returned to the owner within 30 days of the seizure. The government shall pay all the costs of the gun owner’s court protest including attorney’s fees and the cost of appeal. But this procedure does not apply if the gun owner is charged with a crime, with or without a weapon.
I am a gun owner.
Oliver Berliner, Bozman