Opinion: Don’t let the bad guys win

Dear Editor,

We have teachers and we have policemen. We need them both. They are both professionals. Each has spent years in formal training for his/her profession and each must have felt the calling to the profession long before then. 

In the wake of the school shooting in Florida there has been talk of requiring teachers in the classroom to carry weapons. This would be a deterrent to a would-be attacker and it might save some lives, however, we would be asking the professional teacher to do the job of the professional policeman. It might be a matter of kill or be killed. 

The teacher might not be willing or able to do that. Even if the teacher never had to fire a shot or even point the weapon at anyone it would send the wrong message to the students. It would tell them that everyone must protect himself/herself. In other words you have to carry a weapon for our own protection. 

That would not make me feel safe! That is exactly what we are trying to get away from. It would mean that the bad guys had won. The laws of man are not preventing the violence, nor will new laws. 

We can, however, place a higher priority on our police forces. We can also outlaw certain kinds of weapons. The laws that will really work are found in the New Testament of the Bible, for example in the Book of St. Mathew, Chapter 22, Verses 37 and 39 – “Love the Lord our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “Love our neighbor as yourself.” 

Sincerely,

Karl Tiemann 

Owego, N.Y.