Prolific American bank robber Willie Sutton reputedly replied to a reporter’s inquiry as to why he robbed banks by saying “because that’s where the money is.” Inspired by Mr. Sutton, Sutton’s law states that when diagnosing a problem, one should first consider the obvious. There’s no mystery why an insecure, unstable young man would pick a ‘Gun Free Zone’ to carry out his sick, evil act. They are cowards who want easy targets and aren’t looking for a gun fight. In the little reported cases where they are confronted with armed resistance they surrender or turn their weapons on themselves.

How do we respond? The national media effectively glorify the murderous sociopath and feed the fantasy of the copy-cats by endlessly explaining how his motives are so much like theirs. They demonize resistance from the NRA without explaining they are the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners. They throw around terms like ‘Assault Weapon’, actually Military-style guns, that no real military would use. They are differentiated from other equally-capable guns by cosmetic similarities to actual military weapons. Just call them ‘scary looking guns’.

Our national politicians nibble away at the civil rights of the individual who wants adequate means to protect themselves. They do it under the heading of “Gun Control” which isn’t as much about Guns as it is about Control. None of them dares to explain how any of their proposals would effectively prevent any of those awful events. Yet they suggest a Utopian ideal that we can make laws to regulate guns and the problem will go away. How has that worked for drugs?

Our local authorities do a good job of investigating crimes and catching the bad guys. Ask yourself, why doesn’t the president and congress depend on their local cops to protect them? And why are their children protected by additional, special security in their schools? It’s OK for them but not for ours?

The ruling class in Washington, the leadership that hasn’t done their job to enact a national budget for the last three years and are shamelessly spending our children’s futures away hardly seem to be the wise ones to fix the gun violence in schools problem. They declared our schools “Gun Free Zones”. How is that working?

The national government has no business in the running of our local schools or how to protect our precious children from monsters. Our elected school boards and school administrations are most directly accountable to the public and parents. While some may find the idea of guns in schools repugnant, in the hands of a killer or a trained adult, it’s time to declare no more free shoots. Let the sociopath know that he will face armed resistance at our schools just as he would at the Capitol. Charge our local school representatives to decide what, how much and how it will be paid for. We need to advise them and support them.

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.