When I was a young boy in school learning the three R’s (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), we had atomic bomb drills: we crouched beneath stairwells or our desks. Not great protection from such a bomb, but since the drills happened only occasionally and since the threat of nuclear war was an unfathomable abstraction, my classmates and I for the most part emerged healthy and emotionally unscathed.

Now we are at a time where our schools conduct lockdown drills. The NRA would rather have our children learn about Rugers, Rottweils, and Remingtons and have armed guards in the hallways. What would happen to teaching and what would our children learn? Maybe fear and trepidation on a daily basis. And just how would this all be funded? Well, let’s just cut phys ed or art and music.

The unrelenting paranoia spouted by the NRA is unhealthy and unhelpful. The Second Amendment is not unconditional.

Let’s turn the tide and lessen the sorry toll from gunfire in our malls and homes and schools.

Edward Walworth, Lewiston