If I hear the word “conversation” in the media one more time, in relation to another massacre of humans, I might be driven to violence. “Conversation” is not a solution to any of our social diseases. It is particularly unnerving when the calls for a “conversation” usually relate to gun control, and come from folks who don’t even know the meaning of the words they are chanting. “Automatic” weapons have already been banned for decades. “Assault Rifles” have the same capability as many other guns, but they are just designed to look cool. They are a legal version of a rifle that a veteran can own as a reminder of the automatic rifle he carried while risking his life for his country.

But the demands for a “conversation,” or for the President to do something rather than nothing, keep getting louder and louder. The hysteria usually includes mantras about the NRA having too much influence. Yet no one seems to grasp the idea that maybe it’s the influence of the National Education Association (NEA) that is too weak and misdirected regarding the interests of teachers who can easily identify kids, as early as first grade, who should never have access to a gun. Maybe the NEA should lobby harder for increased regulation of dysfunctional kids, and the parents that are irresponsible. Even without access to guns, these kids can eventually get a driver’s license, and propel a car or a truck into their schoolmates during a fire drill.

Gene Phillip

Great Falls