It is time for the Whos to bellow loudly. You remember the Whos of Dr. Seuss Horton Hears A Who fame. Really, if you cannot find your loudest voice on this issue, then you should be on a mote of dust blowing in the wind.
Guns in schools? Shout out your “No way, never!” Your legislators need to hear your Who-like voice.
In Wisconsin, Senate President Mary Lazich is offering a bill that will make it legal for persons with concealed gun permits to carry their weapons onto school grounds and into schools. Her unbelievable premise is that gun toters may go to school to deliver or pick up their children forgetting that it is illegal to carry guns onto school grounds and into schools. She does not “…want well-intentioned law-abiding people…” to be arrested because of their oversight.
Unbelievable! A person who is authorized for the concealed carry of weapons is obligated to know the laws related to carrying a gun on their person. If they do not, they should be liable under the law.
And further, bill co-sponsor Rep. Robert Brooks says “… he would feel terrible if there were a school shooting and parents and teachers told him afterward they didn’t have a chance to defend themselves because of state law.” Again, unbelievable. We read too often of law enforcement personnel empting their ammunition clips in a shootout and inadvertently hitting a bystander. In a school with hundreds of potential bystanders, even those in classrooms hiding or trying to flee, the potential for inadvertent victims in schools magnifies exponentially. I wonder how will Rep. Brooks “feel” at the funeral of a child or teacher inadvertently shot by a gun-toting parent.
“Now is the time…” Patrick Henry declared in speaking with revolutionary fervor. It is time now to respond to Lazich and Brooks and your area’s state assemblyman and senator telling them that school is not a place for guns. Make your voice heard loudly like the Whos of Whoville. Sadly, if this time slips away and there is no outcry against allowing concealed carry guns in our schools, it is just a matter of time before Rep. Brooks should feel terrible.