[firstdown]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Some of my post is, absolutely, my opinion and, yes, it is a gut reaction in some respects. In that I actually support gun ownership, I haven't generally researched the reasons for limiting it. I USUALLY am the one arguing that gun ownership is okay. It's just the "I have a right to have a gun, as many guns as I want, and it's nobody's business but mine" attitude I take issue with. As I said, and as with all constitutionally guaranteed rights, gun ownership requires a balancing of the public interest against the private right.

For example, I have heard few gun owners argue that people should have the right to carry a concealed weapon in schools (Angry even opposed this). BUT:
- If guns encourage safety and all gun owners are concerned with safety (as the NRA article asserts), why not allow them in schools? Aren't they just as safe at a playground as they are on the sidewalk in front of my house? If they inherently pose a danger to kids when carried in schools and playgrounds, dont they inherently pose a danger to adults in other public places? Further, based on the "fewer guns don't make us safer" argument, don't we make schools the targets for armed predators b/c they know no one is armed?

You say play grounds but to carry a gun you have to be over the age 18 so I don't think "kids" will be packing at school. Now if maybe each school had a few trained people to carry a gun it maybe a good idea. The argument was made that if one of the VT students just had a gun they may have stopped that guy from killing all of those people. I really don't think we will see the day when students will be packing a gun but we could see the day when teachers and or the administration is allowed to carry a gun. The crazy part of this is that we even have to talk about arming our schools and it would be nice if we knew what has gone wrong for this to be even an issue.