Time to put guns in the right hands

Now again we have a tragic school shooting, and what do we hear? Gun control.

The gun haters constantly attempt to convince us there are too many guns on the street.

No, not too many guns, just in the wrong hands.

It is past time for Illinois to allow the issuance of concealed-carry permits to qualified applicants.

Successful options available to protect our schools against a student or an outsider from entering a school building with a gun are few.

Gun detectors at the main entrance are useless, costly, and time-consuming. Placing a fence or wall around a university campus makes no sense.

What does make sense is to allow qualified volunteer teachers to have access to a firearm.

Mature college students who have been issued a concealed-carry permit should be allowed to be armed while on school premises. Many of these students are returning veterans who have had extensive training in firearms.

How many more school shootings will occur before a workable policy is initiated? How many people at this moment are contemplating a copycat killing spree?

As long as we enjoy the freedoms given to us by our Constitution, it is nearly impossible to control the actions of the few who intend to harm others.

As much as they might want to be, the police cannot be proactive in a shooting incident. They can only write the reports of dead and injured and begin a criminal investigation.

This may not completely prevent a shooting incident, but it may, at least, mitigate the number of persons injured or killed.

The last thing in life I want to do is to be forced to cower under a table, completely defenseless while waiting to be shot. The same applies to personal defense within the home.

Ray B. Countryman

Palatine