Guest Op-Ed: Protecting Our Children From the Shooters

By Dr. Glenn Mollette

Most federal career politicians end up very wealthy. They make good salaries. They have great health insurance and very nice retirement packages. They typically develop political action committees that cover expenses the government doesn’t pay. When they retire, they can donate campaign funds they have accumulated throughout the years to their own non- profits and administer the funds.

Most Americans know how lucrative a lifetime of “public service” can become and few really care. Most of us have more to worry about than the jet setting life styles of our rich and famous U.S. Senators and Representatives. What torches many of us is their inability and often refusal to do anything. Too many of them are spineless wimps who are terrified of casting a vote that might hinder their reelection.

You’ve probably noticed that most and often all of the Republicans vote the “party line” and all the Democrats do the same. How does this help us?

I’m tired of the red vs the blue and vice-versa. Doesn’t anybody have an opinion that differs from their grand ol’ party?

It’s obvious that Americans are torn into shreds over the gun issue. There is no perfect answer. However, doing nothing isn’t working to save the next group of children begging for help in 911 calls.

The least our leaders can do is raise the age to 21 to own any kind of labeled assault weapon. Personally, I would push for 25 but honestly there is no golden number. Old people can go crazy with assault style weapons as easy as eighteen-year-olds. We’ve seen more school shootings from those under 21 which makes it a reasonable place to start. Establishing a six-month waiting period to buy an assault style weapon will not hurt anyone. Background checks are vital but again will not be a cure-all because often the shooters have unblemished backgrounds.

All schools must pay for a couple of armed guards to patrol and protect their students. Even then a surprise attack by two or three people with assault style weapons and body armor could easily overpower guards carrying semi-automatic weapons. Yet, the presence of armed security is better than leaving our children defenseless.

One local county I know fairly well has several schools spread out over the county. They have one sheriff and he has two underpaid deputies. By the time he and the deputies could ever possibly even show up, dozens if not a multitude of children would be dead. This sheriff’s department is very underfunded and would have to wait for state police to arrive. The local state police post is one hour away. It is unimaginable how many children could be killed. Such school systems have no choice but to come up with armed security guards to protect the children.

Who ever dreamed you would read something like this in your local paper? I never dreamed of a country where it would need to be written.

Glenn Mollette is the publisher of Newburgh Press, Liberty Torch and various other publishing imprints; a national columnist –  American Issues and Common Sense opinions, analysis, stories and features appear each week In over 500 newspapers, websites and blogs across the United States.