Don't Hit Kids! No really, they have guns now!
When my husband and I first saw this poster, we both laughed out loud! That was a long time ago and was probably the result of surprise more than anything.

Unfortunately, this poster is no longer funny (if it ever really was), especially with the tragedies of recent weeks and months.

My husband Don, a Master Teacher who retired after a teaching career that spanned more than fifty years, has been saying for a long time that most of the problems in our schools are caused by problems in society. In his book, Set Our Teachers FREE! Don spells out solutions for working with youngsters to help them excel in school AND learn to cope with unhappy emotions and situations. His plan offers a complete revamping of public schools, not just a bandaid. I’ve witnessed his successes with troubled youngsters and I am proud of his efforts to share those winning techniques.

But right now, our national psyche is traumatized by the shocking outbreak of violence across the country, especially the widely publicized slayings at Northern Illinois University at Dekalb. Just as during the period of time following the Virginia Tech rampage, the arguments for and against gun control are erupting everywhere. The ease with which criminals, deranged individuals and children have access to guns is a matter of great concern to every thinking American, no matter whether you are in favor of gun control or opposed to it.

First, let me say that I am NOT a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), although I have been invited to join. I’m not much of a joiner, but as a Certified Hospice Nurse (RN), I do have a concealed weapons permit. I own a gun and I am very responsible in my care and carrying of it. I am a staunch believer in the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens to “keep and bear arms”. I have a colorful history that has made me feel strongly about this. Above everything else, I am a law-abiding citizen who feels strongly that I need to help make the world a better place.

Just so you know, I have been a victim of crime more times than the average person. Because I started working at my family’s business at an early age, I had the unique opportunity to be held up at gunpoint three times before my 18th birthday. Carrying and handling large amounts of cash made me a perfect target. During that same period of time, I was kidnapped and held hostage to force my father to turn over a very large sum of money to a group of criminals. My father, who has since passed-on, rescued me with his bravery and his gun. All total, I have been held-up at gunpoint six times, kidnapped and held hostage once, and car-jacked once by a man who was killed in a shoot-out with police, less than two weeks later.

More recently, I faced down a group of dog fighters who were attempting to steal the rescues in our no-kill animal sanctuary for ‘bait’, to increase the “blood lust” in their fighting dogs. I went after them with a yard rake. I know, it was stupid, especially since they made several more attempts to steal from “that crazy dog lady with the rake”. Amazingly, the attempts stopped when I informed a man that I knew was associated with the dog fighters, that I had a gun and that I would shoot to kill. He said, incredulously, “You’ll go to jail”. I responded, “Yes, I’ll be in jail, but the thieves will be DEAD!” Suddenly, no more attempts on our animals! (This was, of course, after the police told me there was nothing they could do to help me.) And, you’ll notice that just the THREAT of force worked!

It was my career as a Hospice Nurse that finally prompted me to get my Concealed Weapons Permit. As a Hospice Nurse, I had to drive into unsavory areas, often in the middle of the night, to offer care and comfort to a dying person and their family. Gunshots in the back of a house where I was taking care of a dying woman made me fully realize the risks of my job. It turns out there was a meth lab in the garage in back of the house where my poor patient lay dying. I’d had enough and I was determined to stop being a victim.

Please understand, I have no intention of taking the law into my own hands. Just like you, I don’t want criminals to have guns, automatic weapons, knives, machetes, or any other item they can coerce or kill with. I don’t want children to have access to guns, knives and the rest. But we must find a solution that will allow law-abiding citizens to protect their homes and families.

Just recently, there has been an outbreak of what is being labeled “home invasions”. Many homeowners, single or married, usually elderly, have been attacked, robbed and killed in their homes by well-armed criminals. These people were helpless and they were butchered. What would have happened if those husbands and wives had been able to protect themselves? As we’ve learned, from instances where homeowners had weapons, criminals would have fled, been wounded or killed.

But the question is how to stop violence in schools. I can understand that some people believe that stricter gun laws will cause a decrease in crime. From what I have seen, it just makes it more difficult for responsible individuals to obtain self-protection. Criminals ALWAYS manage to find a weapon if they have evil intent, whether it’s a gun or a steak knife. Shall we make steak knives illegal?

What we need is to help our children learn to become strong, self-sufficient and stable-minded. We need to have a system in place to monitor and help children who are troubled. We need to be teaching self-worth and concern for others to our students NOT who is the “meanest Mutha”. We need to help our children learn what true strength is, how to cope with the upsets that every human will experience to one degree or another, and to become problem solvers, not problems.

You may think it is hopeless and overwhelming to fix the problems in our society. You may call me a Pollyanna (a Pistol-Packing Pollyanna, if you please). But I know we can make the needed changes if we will unite and take responsibility for a better future. I’ve seen it work.

Americans have always united when we’ve faced times of peril, whether it was a World War, tornados, a devastating earthquake, or terrorist attacks like 9/11. The violence in our country is something we have allowed to grow by our indifference or our fears. We are in a time of peril of our own making. This country is at war from within. We must unite!

Brennan Kingsland

Save Our Schools

The Kingsland Plan

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