Press release from Barbara Brewster, Arizona legislator (can't remember if she's in the house or the senate). She's definitely on our side.
>In the early 1970's PLO terrorists targeted many Israeli schools, >kindergartens, and school buses. The schools were a very attractive target >because of the publicity and infamy that the media afforded terrorists who >attacked schools. The schools were also unprotected. Armed gunmen >could easily kill large numbers of children and take many hostages. When >the Israelis trained citizens in firearms use and teachers, nurses, >parents, and grandparents worked together to guard the schools, the >terrorists failed in two separate attempts to infiltrate schools. >Afterwards, the terrorist attacks against Israeli schools stopped. > >In America those seeking infamy have begun to attack our schools. We have >laws forbidding firearms on or near school grounds. We have tens of >thousands of gun control laws. None of these laws have deterred these >attention-seeking sociopaths. In 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham entered >Pearl High School and opened fire. School administrator Joel Myrick ran to >his car, grabbed his Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol and forced the gunman >to surrender by pointing the gun at his head. In 1998 14-year-old Andrew >Wurst opened fire on an eighth-grade dance in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The >owner of the banquet hall grabbed a shotgun from the office, confronted the >gunman, and he surrendered. The death toll was limited to one. > >I am not suggesting that all school personnel be armed. Moreover, I >believe there are many long-term cultural issues that need to be addressed. >We need stronger families and higher standards for children, not just in >terms of academics but in terms of the conduct that we will and will not >tolerate among our youth. In the short-term, however, we should be willing >to protect our schools from sociopathic gunmen who would make a name for >themselves by shooting and terrorizing unarmed teachers, school personnel, >and children. I believe that volunteer school personnel who pass rigorous >psychological examinations and undergo appropriate training in firearms and >the judicious use of deadly force could, if they were permitted to carry >concealed firearms, deter mass shooting incidents at public schools. It >would, of course, require that only those involved with a crisis management >plan know which personnel had concealed weapons. When it comes down to a >mass shooting incident, and American students' lives are on the line, the >ability to stop the gunman by force or threat of force immediately is the >most effective way to preserve lives and reduce injuries. > >Although the data suggest that guns in the hands of law abiding adults >dramatically reduces violent crime, and does not increase accidental >shootings, many are so committed to disarming the American people that they >have no interest in the data that supports an armed society. Although it >is hard for many Americans to imagine school personnel carrying concealed >handguns, just a few short years ago it would have been even harder for >most of us to imagine the horrific mass shooting attacks on our nation's >schools. > >In the short term I believe the best deterrent to these attacks is to >protect our school children by whatever means are necessary. > >Finally, in closing, it is much easier to attack me personally than to >thoughtfully discuss the merits of what I have proposed. We should look at >the possibility of having armed, trained, law-abiding adults prepared if >necessary to protect students from a gunman who's goal it is to take as >many lives as possible, thus having a place of infamy in the American >media. I stand by the Second Amendment to our Constitution. I believe we >should give our children the benefit of the most rigorous research on the >issue of school safety, and quickly, lest we lose more lives.
-- Carlos Alvarez, Tucson, AZ, USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy http://www.neta.com/~carlos
JESUS IS THE ANSWER! The question is, "What do you say when you hit your thumb with a hammer?"