Stay classy

I received this listener comment regarding my coverage of the massacre in CT.

Subject: Stay classy

So within minutes of a deadly school shooting, where innocent children and adults were blown away by someone with guns, where all the facts aren’t known, where the phrases “body count” and “massacre” are being used, where the bodies aren’t even cold yet, you have someone on the the radio (boze) talking about the need to arm teachers and maybe use the tactics that are used in Israel? Seriously? That’s the new standard? I tuned in to get the news and listen to Dave Ross and i have to listen to some heartless and ignorant rhetoric about the solution to gun violence is more guns (By the way, is the NRA a new sponsor of yours? Oh yeah. I forgot. We are aiming to be the western version Israel). Ask the parents of the children who were just slaughtered what they think of putting more guns in the hands of anyone who is not law enforcement or military. Well done. Like I said, stay classy

My response:

I received your comments below and wanted to clarify some things. Admittedly, the information we had at the time was very limited and constantly changing. I hope we made that clear, but sometimes it’s hard to do that when so much is happening and so much reported is changed later. However, I was asked specifically about what may prevent atrocities of this kind and about gun control. I expressed doubt that any realistic gun control laws would have stopped a guy like this in part because it sounded like the weapons he had were very common and basic. I suggested the possibility of arming trained staff at schools because I’d read that other places (Israel, Thailand) dealing with threats to children did so and reduced the threat. I didn’t say it was THE solution, but only something we should consider. Dave Ross reacted much the way you did, saying his “mind couldn’t even go there” but it seems to me that when you’re asking people to be open to the possibility that some gun restrictions may help prevent massacres of this kind, you should also be open to the possibility that there may be other, possibly even more effective solutions.

My rhetoric was not intended to be heartless I hope it was not ignorant. Frankly, I found it difficult to talk at all with the thoughts of dead children and parents rushing to a school to find their lives ruined rushing through my head. I thought of my own nieces and nephews and how helpless these kids were. But I was asked a question and gave the best answer I could. Guns in the hands of non-law enforcement have saved many people and prevented many crimes ( for example, and the former policewoman who served as a volunteer armed security guard at her church in Colorado Springs) . Obviously, schools have unique challenges, but I specifically cited training and looking at the possibility–I did not say exactly how such a policy might be implemented (I’d expect different schools to have different policies).

While we may start from different perspectives on what should be done, we all mourn the loss of these children and would never like to see news of such a massacre again.

Sincerely,

David Boze

UPDATE: I received a very thoughtful email response to my reply. I’ll post it soon…