Why are fire extinguishers legally required in all buildings open to the public?

Answer: to provide people in such places with an effective tool to keep a small emergency from becoming a tragedy.

The same reasoning that resulted in nation-wide adoption of those regulations can and ought to be applied to effectively reduce the magnitude of mayhem committed by armed assailants, whether in schools, malls, nursing homes, theaters, etc.

Does this mean requiring a firearm be available to the staff of such venues? Yes. Does this mean requiring training of staff members in the proper use of firearms to stop an attacker? Yes, just as staff members in hospitals are presently required by law to be trained in the use of fire extinguishers.

No other effective means exists to reduce the number of victims killed in these atrocities. If you, the reader, just sit on your hands and do nothing to see to the passage of this regulation don’t blame anyone but yourself for the next 26 innocent deaths. And the next. And the next.

Let us as a Nation pray as if everything depends upon God, and act as if everything depends on us. I just did. Your turn.

Ernest Jenner

North Bend