Kathleen Parker’s June 7 piece on arming at least some teachers with guns misses the underlying issue. I know she thinks it’s “common sense,” and I suppose in a generic world with a level playing field and predictable outcomes this idea might seem good. We don’t live in that world.

Where, despite her family training in gun safety, is her challenge to the easy access to guns that nearly anyone has in America? She seems to be accepting the current state of affairs and by implication, asking for more people (the teachers) to have guns.

Great! More guns. How about we arm Sunday School teachers. Let’s have grocery store clerks armed with sawed off shotguns right under the item scanner. If the beeping stops teach customers to duck as someone’s about to be shot.

Where’s her challenge to the mindset that says we must all just accept how potentially dangerous every life circumstance may be because of the easy access to guns and well, people just sometimes lose control or sanity and need to kill people? So arm up and be ready.

How about instead we invest in community conversations, mental health training, paying our teachers and day care workers the salaries they deserve to help develop our children? How about we vote for politicians with at least a bit of courage who will stand up to the “gun lobby” and Second Amendment extremists?

How about she talk about common sense background checks, assault weapon bans, and limits to ammunition?

Robert Neal
Yarmouth