Twenty days after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, students returned to a remodeled, substitute Sandy Hook. I heard several news accounts and read several articles. I pray that anyone connected to that incident has found a measure of peace.
I am a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a certified instructor of firearm safety in several disciplines. I am not a fan of Wayne LaPierre. I have written letters to the NRA, as a member, voicing my displeasure for some of the organization’s stands and how it has been run under Wayne’s leadership. Wayne came out, after a reverent silence, and voiced the NRA’s position in a well publicized press conference. He was excoriated by the press and most of the mainstream. I happen to think the answer requires more long-term thinking. I think education is the answer. Education is the answer for bullying and teen sex, why not firearm violence. And I think the NRA and the National Education Association (NEA) should stand arm-in-arm in that approach — but it will never happen. Guns are deemed evil.
But I did notice one common element to the numerous reports about the return to Sandy Hook. The school was patrolled and guarded by numerous police. Armed guards for the return to the school. This action was praised in news reports by most likely the same folks that excoriated LaPierre.
Do I smell a bunch of hypocrites, or is one of my toilets backed up again?
Scott Lanham
