As a country, we have experienced many very tragic situations where guns (handguns, semi-automatic guns) are being used by students against fellow students in our schools. It may seem random as to where or why, but it is happening. This problem is our responsibility.

Young people bring weapons to school to address their fear/angst/anger at the school, individual students or teachers. Whatever it is, it is a major tragedy that the place where we send our youngest and most vulnerable is a place of fear and terror.

Ironically, there are members of our society who spend more time and resources banning books from school, but do little to ban weapons on school property. Some religious groups want “healthy” reading material, applying broad definitions of what is OK, but are not as adamant about ensuring that no weapons are brought along with the student lunch boxes.

The banning of books seems consistent with themes conveyed in the infamous Project 2025, which Trump denies knowing anything about.

Some groups of people are more concerned with cleaning up reading material than restricting access to guns by students, in particular. There are parental “weapons management” issues to be addressed that should not have to be decided at the school door.

Having every child checked (like a TSA process) before entering a school would itself be problematic. Parents have to “own” that responsibility and face consequences for not managing their weapons’ security.

David Hyde
Pownal