By The Town Talk/Alexandria, La.
AP
PICAYUNE —
By The (Alexandria, La.) Town Talk:
While those on the polar extremes of “the gun issue” continue to suck the air out of the room with their blathering, it’s worth noting this:
On Jan. 31, an armed guard — a resource officer, like the ones who are deployed in Rapides Parish — took the gun away from a 14-year-old student who had opened fire at his school in downtown Atlanta, Ga.
The shooter wounded one boy, also 14, who has been hospitalized with a neck wound. No one else was shot; and the victim’s injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to officials there.
Here’s hoping for a full and speedy recovery for the young man who was wounded. His life has been changed by something that no one should have to deal with or worry about, especially at school.
As for the shooter, here’s hoping he gets a very close examination and is made to feel the full weight of what he did: He shot a child. Then he needs to pay the consequences, whatever they may be.
This is worth mentioning today because things could have turned out much, much worse. Multiple deaths caused by schoolchildren — usually by boys — have become a sad reality in America.
In this case, at a middle school in downtown Atlanta, the presence of an armed resource officer — an armed guard purposely stationed in the hallways to protect children and teachers — made all the difference.
That reality belongs in the middle of the conversation about how or if we change gun laws in the United States.
Online:
http://www.thetowntalk.com
