In the light of the shootings at Newtown, we parents and grandparents must look at the protection of our young children while at school with a totally different mindset. Our schools are now targets for a sick group of individuals that feel they must create carnage at the expense of our children.
The fight for gun laws will never protect these children. The guns are already out there and will be impossible to find.
We must take the offense and protect our own. Our military trains soldiers to protect this country every day. What coward like the one that went into Sandy Hook Elementary would have went into that school knowing there were one or two trained soldiers inside. Soldiers with their M16 rifles ready to give their lives for our children, just as they are for protecting us all while fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq or any other war zone.
The children already associate our military with guns so their presence in our schools would not scare them, only give them a feeling of safety. This could be part of a soldier's tour of duty or an excellent way to employ our veterans. Also a way to do this with little or no added cost to our school system.
I am a grandparent and would feel a lot more at ease knowing there was an ex-Navy Seal, Green Beret, Marine, Army vet, or current soldier there protecting the little ones.
Dave McCrady
Parkersburg
