Three unrelated news items and a proposal:

“Kansas authorities on Friday were investigating the motives of a gunman who killed three people and wounded 14, five critically, during a 26-minute shooting spree that ended when an officer shot the suspect to death at the factory where he worked.”

“Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump took offense on Thursday after a former Mexican president used profanity when talking about the wall Trump plans to build at the southern U.S. border.”

“The dean of the University of Texas’ architecture program is leaving the school, in part due to a law that soon will allow weapons on college campuses in the state …”

“How do you criticize someone when you know or suspect that they have a firearm?” Steiner asked. “Having been in those situations, people can lose their tempers. That’s not a situation where a firearm would enhance the experience.” “

Given the three above unrelated articles from the news of Feb. 25, and given the Republican party’s insistence that we all have a right to be able to have and carry guns, I would propose the following:

For the next Republican presidential candidates’ debate, I propose that all of the candidates on stage be allowed to carry loaded handguns, and all the audience be allowed to carry loaded handguns. Perhaps they could hold the debate in Maine, where we can all carry concealed weapons without a permit.

I think this would decrease the level of anger among the candidates, and show the rest of the country that the audience and candidates can behave in a civil manner and control their impulsive behavior in the presence of loaded and accessible handguns. Or maybe not.

Charles Kettell,
Durham

Comments are not available on this story.