Not an accurate view of Fort Hood

Burt Constable gives us his clouded view of the handgun debate currently before the Supreme Court. He stated that police officers trained in the use of firearms fire their guns when on duty generally miss with the first shot or two.

This is just not a true picture of police work. On many occasions our police are involved in a life-and-death struggle with an assailant with both individuals struggling for the officer's weapon and shots are fired. Other times a situation develops that warning shots are fired before the final use of deadly force.

Mr. Constable has a faulty view of life on our military bases, He states, "Even in Fort Hood, where highly trained soldiers are armed with guns and military police are constantly on guard, a single gunman managed to kill 13 people and wound another 30."

Fort Hood covers over 339 miles in the central Texas hill country and is the world's largest military installation. The base, home to nearly 70,000 people is like a city in itself. The rules for carrying weapons on an Army post are standard throughout all bases, service officials will tell you.

The only personnel allowed to openly display weapons on the base are military police, and in the Fort Hood case, civilian police were on duty and brought down the shooter. Service weapons are checked daily and are usually only allowed to be removed from an arms room for training on a range or for maintenance.

This was a graduation ceremony taking place in that area of the base. It was not a picture of a heavily armed Special Op's group standing in every building as Mr. Constable paints his picture. An interesting viewpoint on his part, but not the real world or story.

Wes Polender, Sr.

Wheaton