To the Editor:

Do facts matter anymore?  Do we still use them in order to make rational decisions about things in our lives that matter? The answer to both of these questions seems to be no. There is nothing on earth more tragic than the death of a young child. One reason for that is how defenseless they are. We as adults can choose to keep ourselves safe from dangerous people. Children don’t have that option or ability. I have never heard of a more horrific and senseless act in America than what occurred at Sandy Hook School two years ago. It is a shame that the schools in the very same town where this unspeakable act occurred have absolutely no defensive plan to stop the same thing from happening again. Besides from SHES in Monroe, the rest of the schools have gun-free security measures with radios, cameras, and red ID tags that make us “safe” visitors. That setup along with the new gun law makes our children no safer against the free will of a madman who is intent to kill.

Educators who survived that massacre recently appeared on CBS. God bless them all for what they did and had to go through. One of them claimed that an armed guard in the school would have simply meant another victim. She stated it as a matter of fact rather than an opinion as it is impossible to defend against an “assault weapon.” Many others share this belief as well. They do so primarily because of lack of factual information. History proves beyond any doubt that this belief is false. On December 7th, 2007, a maniac armed with a Bushmaster .223 “Assault Rifle” opened fire at New Life Mega-Church in Colorado Springs. He had 1,000 rounds of ammunition and 7,000 people were on the premises. He was only able to kill two people. The reason for this was because a woman named Jeanne Assam pulled out a 9mm handgun and dropped him. She didn’t get added to a list of multiple victims but rather prevented a multiple list of victims from being created. Even if we didn’t just prove that one can indeed defend against an assault weapon, do we not consider that a maniac may show up with only a handgun? Armed staff could then match the firepower, couldn’t they?  It is also appropriate to point out at this time that the VA Tech shooter killed 33 people with handguns proving they can cause casualty equal to “Assault Weapons.”

North Branford Schools use armed guards at $20 /hr. That is effective and affordable security. The State of Utah allows anybody, including teachers, to be armed in schools. That’s even more effective. There have been no school shootings in that state, and I have not heard of any accidental discharges. Many opposed to this claim that accidents may happen yet this law in Utah has existed for around 10 years. Let us have the facts please as I believe they should matter.

Brian O’Connor

130 Boggs Hill Road, Newtown                    December 20, 2014