Yes the Denver shooting and bombing sickens me too. I feel for the parents and friends of the victims. Unfortunately, I feel it could have prevented. Had School Boards and Government Agencies funded metal detectors for schools, those Killers would have not been able to plant the number of bombs and enter the school with weapons as they did. Metal detectors have been used in airports for years. Some person say they don't want their children subject to metal detectors and closed campuses. Well . . . would you rather subject them to guns, knives, or bombs?

Again we react with new gun laws not protection for our children. Did any representative introduce a new bill to fund and mandate metal detectors in all California schools? NO, that would require money and provide too much security. It is easier to pass laws that continue to trash the US Constitution. The same Constitution all politicians take an oath to protect when they take office.

Some politicians are making numerous arguments to justify their assault on the 2nd Amendment; like Governor Davis saying he believes in "most of the 2nd Amendment," or others who claim newer firearms (so-called assault weapons coined by President Clinton), is not what the 2nd Amendment intended. Excuse me but the Minuteman's long black powder rifles complete with bayonet lugs and equal to Military weapons of the time, were considered the "state of the art" in small arms at that time. Today we are passing laws at an alarming rate that has created a large disparity between what small arms a citizen can own versus that of the police and military and one other entity . . . the movie industry. The same industry we sometimes also blame for the violence, not only has assault weapons, but full auto machine guns.

Why have guns just recently become a problem? The repeating rifles have been around since the later part of the 1800's. Could it be that we are too lenient with our children? Spanking is not politically correct anymore. I am sure all of us who received spankings from both school officials and/or our parents are psychologically more messed up than the youth of today. Dress codes, closed campuses and campus security patrols that existed when I was young was intended to keep students in classes and discourage them from cutting class. We say to subject our youth to those types of campuses is hindering their "personal freedom" and may be emotionally distressing to them. Well, how emotionally distressing was the Denver incident to our youth?

Threatening the gun rights of all Americans is the easy approach, using available technology that cost money to defeat violence seems much harder for our representative to undertake. We can spend Billions to bomb the Serbs, but nothing to eliminate the bombing of our children. And the irony is, had the Albanians had assault rifles, they would probably be able to defend their homes and not need our help. Exactly what our 2nd Amendment was intended to address . . . not hunting or sport shooting as some politicians would like you to believe.

Whom would we ask for help if a group ever got control in our Government then used the armies to imprison or drive a select group of American citizens out of the country? It could happen here, ever see the recent movie "Siege?" Although, in that movie the FBI went up against the US Army to right the injustices they were perpetrating. This is unlikely in real life if the Commander in Chief is giving direction to all the government agencies

The Denver shooting should be a wake up call for politicians, representatives and lawmakers to get metal detectors in our schools as well as other high traffic public government buildings or facilities. They will have to spend money, but doing that does not require them to continue to trash the US Constitution. This should be sacred territory, especially until all other approaches have been exhausted. Once the 2nd Amendment means nothing, it is a small step to trash the First Amendment out of existence too.

This article reprinted from The Firing Line, October 1999 with the permission of California Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc.