An editorial from The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The House Committee on Education last week approved a bill that would allow security personnel hired by county sheriffs’ offices to carry weapons in public schools.
The bill was introduced by Delegate Linda Sumner, R-Raleigh. It was co-sponsored by Delegate Lynne Arvon, R-Raleigh, and it was greeted with strong bipartisan support within the committee.
“All sides believe (this) is a safe and practical way to protect our children,” Sumner said.
We couldn’t have said it better.
The bill and its supporters are to be commended for common-sense lawmaking that this measure, when passed, will provide.
It is undeniable that gun-free zones have been, disproportionately, the scenes of horrific mass shootings, including the school massacres in Columbine, Colo., and Newtown, Conn.
In Aurora, Colo., a gunman with psychiatric problems was still lucid enough to bypass several closer theaters showing the film “The Dark Knight Rises” to kill movie-goers at a theater that was gun-free. The other movie venues showing that film were closer to where the murderer lived, but had no such rules against concealed weapons carried by valid permit-holders.
And let’s not forget that two mass killings occurred on U.S. military bases at Fort Hood in Texas and at the Washington Navy Yard.
It may surprise those who haven’t served in the military, but bases are gun-free zones, too. Weapons are locked in the base armory, and only on-duty military police are authorized to be armed while on base.
The thing all these mass killers had in common was that they were mentally deranged. Yet it is important to note that each one was aware enough, sane enough, to select a killing field where he knew his victims would be defenseless…
