It is my hope and desire that guns will never be introduced into the school environment as suggested by many in the legislative political world.

Teachers are already burdened with wearing many hats. They are absentee parents, they are big brothers and sisters, they are counselors and perhaps most importantly, they are friends. They often reach into their pockets to provide necessities that students can’t afford. To reach into their pockets for aid to their students is one thing, but to ask them to reach for a gun is a bridge much too far. The burdens they carry do not end just because the weekend has arrived.

As a former juvenile probation officer, we would always attempt to teach students that conflict resolution should never involve a gun. To introduce guns into schools makes that argument null and void.

A teacher should never be in a position where they must choose between using that weapon or risk having that weapon taken away by an overly aggressive student. The fact that an 18-year-old person can walk in and purchase an assault style weapon is beyond insane when we know, scientifically speaking, that the adolescent mind will not be fully developed for another five to seven years. With that fact known and easily researched, how can anyone advocate and legally authorize the sale of an assault style weapon to mind yet to be fully developed.

Charles Thomas, Lima