Today a ranter on this page makes a very good point on the issue of guns on campus. It deserves our attention. 

This matter has popped back up again in Georgia as expected because of the very nature of the issue which is underwritten by what appears to be increased violence in our society.

It’s a legitimate question: How many people on a college campus — students and professors — know anything at all about a handgun?

How many of them have ever fired a handgun? And how many have had any kind of formal training with a handgun?

Most likely that number would be very small. Perhaps there are those who have seen such action in movies and assume they know something about handguns other than them being deadly.

What one will see in the movies is far from the reality of the average person hitting an intended target with a handgun.

We must assume that the effort to have them on campus is  that if a terrorist opened fire, then someone with a handgun could take him down. It’s not impossible that this could occur. But it’s unlikely unless that person had training and experience of actually returning fire in a hostile situation.

The movies may imply that gun handling is easy — that one can actually shoot a gun out of someone’s hand. That’s not impossible but very improbable. Most likely it would be an accident. 

Those with handgun experience will tell you that accuracy with such a weapon is an incredible challenge. A novice may come closer to hitting an innocent bystander than a perpetrator. 

Also there was another legitimate question: Has this issue been spurred by an outcry from students and professors or from someone on the outside of that venue who just has an agenda to perpetuate?

Please let us hear from you on this subject, particularly if you are a college student or teacher.