Guns or Schools

Bob Lillie, a retired Illinois educator who now lives in Arizona, has an interesting point.

There is another similarity between Arizona and Illinois. Both of our legislatures are more concerned with guns and gun owners' rights than they are with the rights of our minor children to a good education.

Arizona passed at least four laws which expanded the "rights" of gun owners to 1) wave a loaded gun at someone they feel is threatening them, 2) keep a loaded weapon in their car where they work, 3) allows members of a sheriff's "volunteer posse" to carry concealed weapons without a permit, and 4) allows weapons in restaurants and bars.

While charter schools and private schools made out like bandits in the budget, traditional public schools lost considerable funding.

One proposed law (SB 1270) which did not muster enough votes (although it was sponsored by 22 Republican legislators) would have allowed anyone with a gun to carry it in a concealed manner without a "concealed carry weapons" (CCW) permit.

Even gun rights people are happy it failed.

Is the priority an armed, less-educated society?