JOY K. RASCH, Kennewick

The National Rifle Association is absentminded. It forgot to remind you that many police, highway patrol officers and security guards have been killed in the line of duty, even when drinking coffee at a restaurant.

If our protectors' own guns couldn't save them, then nobody can depend on any gun to protect anybody. Armed personnel in a school would simply become the first target to be taken out before the attacker proceeded with additional violence.

Also, several school shootings have occurred when children went outdoors, and the shooter picked them off while concealed off the premises. That could become the most common scenario in the future.

Also remember, any firearm that is the property of a private citizen, is a weapon likely to be stolen, even if hidden and secure. Some professional thieves specialize in this skill.