Editor:

I was reading the article about the school allowing firearms in the school and I think that, after a week of deep thought, I can finally react to the article regarding this. 

Number one, we need to look at the two mass school shootings that have happened in the Midwest: Sandy Hook and Columbine. Both took place under horrible circumstances with mentally ill people. If you want to count in all the other mass shootings that have happened, it has been done by mostly registered Democrats with guns they believe should be illegal. All I can tell you is my personal feelings and story on this.

Normally I drop my child off at 7 a.m. when she wants what is for breakfast at the school. During this year I had to drop her off at the curb, and she asked me why. I told her it is because I carry a firearm every day, and even though I am safe and believe in the right to carry arms, as considered in the Second Amendment to our Constitution, in a school that I fund with my taxes, I am not allowed on school property. 

She asked me again, “Well what would you do if you heard about gun shots coming from the school as I walked in and you pulled away in your vehicle?”

This question leaves me befuddled. Do I commit a felony and come to the aid of children or do I sit back and watch slaughter occur? This is the question you should all ask yourself, because as we all know, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. 

How many drills does our school run with an active shooter scenario? Locking yourself in a classroom praying for someone with a gun only does so much, I mean fighting as if your life depends on it type fighting. They don’t; it has always been cower in a corner and hope some good guy with a gun shows up. I think parents as well as teachers should be able to carry in the buildings they pay for.

I teach my child how to shoot, and I teach her drills that most people would not consider. The reason for this is because in today’s world there are many that would wish to disarm us. Teaching your children how to handle and be safe with firearms is how we raise the next generation that respects the tool for what it is. Teach them combat drills and what peeling away from a threat is; don’t expect the world to change for your views if you disagree with firearms. 

Look to Chicago, which is the murder capital of the world, and guns are illegal; if you take that away, the U.S.A. drops dramatically on the murder chart. 

(Editor’s note: Although Chicago is well known for its murder rate, St. Louis is the per capita murder capital of the U.S., as reported by the American Media Institute. Several Latin American cities top the international list before U.S. cities appear, according to Business Insider.)

Guns are tools and we need not forget that; we also need to remember that during our revolution, firearms were banned. And to anyone who feels the need to say AR-15s were never thought of then, please, by all means, get your ink and feather and write to me in that way. You cannot be for some rights and not for others.

Patrick Ballinger

Evanston