I'm not anti-gun. I've owned guns almost as long as I can remember. However, arming teachers is a bad idea for too many reasons to list. I'll focus on one: It sets up a George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin event. Montpelier, Ohio, is going to arm four non-teachers after a weekend training course. "We're going to do it properly," Superintendent Jamie Grimes is quoted as saying. Two days! I'd laugh if it wasn't so serious. Would we consider even a one-week gun-handling course sufficient for our police officers? No!

We'd be telling the armed teachers, "Be caring, nurturing, empathetic, then suddenly with no warning, you must be ready to kill another human being." What if the kid has an empty gun or realistic BB gun? What prevents the armed teacher from going off the deep end and causing the shooting they are intended to stop? Finally, how/where will their weapons be secure but readily available?

Sad to say but the attitude or goal, "We must make sure this never happens again," is not realistic. We cannot guarantee another tragedy will never happen; we can avoid setting one up.

-- CHRIS WOLLAM, Richland