Following the mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school that resulted in two young children being killed and others suffering serious injuries, the United States is once again engaged in a debate over how to prevent such tragedies.
On one hand, there is blanket opposition to so-called assault weapons, an amorphous category that generally refers to a firearm’s aesthetic qualities. The most popular gun under this category is the AR-15, of which there are an estimated 20 million in the United States. The best way to protect children, according to the anti-gun contingent, is to engage in a drawn-out national political battle, pass an assault-weapons ban, and then confiscate the 20-plus million semiautomatic rifles in circulation. This apparently will be done under a Republican presidency, a Republican-controlled legislative branch, and the most conservative Supreme Court in generations.
On the other hand, there is the relatively simple, practical, and immediate solution: providing armed school security. Enhancing school safety would not require federal legislation, a fight over the meaning of the Second Amendment, or a sweeping gun-confiscation operation that has no precedent in the United States’ 250-year history. And it’s exactly what faith and education leaders in Minnesota pleaded for prior to the shooting…