Blissful ignorance

Dear editor:
It has been a year since the last federal election and I find it interesting that one of the major issues during the campaign–gun control–has been brought to the forefront yet again, only this time on the other side of the border.
Anyone who’s been watching the news lately knows what I’m talking about. In the U.S., there have been eight shooting incidents in schools in the last 15 months. But even more unbelievable is that these are children with guns.
In Jonesboro, the two boys arrested were 11 and 13 years old. They should have been sitting on a school bus complaining about homework, not pointing a gun into a schoolyard. Why do these children have access to firearms?
Babies are killing babies because proper U.S. legislation does not exist to prevent these children from gaining access to firearms. So when I hear gun owners whining about the tougher gun laws in Canada, I cringe and wonder how they can live in such blissful ignorance.
They’re quick to point out that incidents such as the Jonesboro shooting are not the acts of “responsible gun owners.” Of course they aren’t. But they fail to recognize that part of being a “responsible gun owner” is accepting a small amount of inconvenience in order to protect the rest of us from irresponsible people.
But nobody ever seems to take interest until someone they love becomes a victim. I shudder to think that it would take a repeat of the Jonesboro shooting in a Canadian school to make some people appreciate the safety we take for granted as a nation.
I am glad to live on this side of the border. I am glad I live in a country with a government responsible enough to make laws that may be unpopular with some but are in the best interest and ensure the safety of all its citizens.
Signed,
Gladys Payne
Fort Frances, Ont.