Maybe the National Rifle Association’s suggestion that we arm schoolteachers is not so bizarre as it appears at first glance. Possibly we can build on this idea and take it a bit further.

When I went to First Ward School on West Maiden Street in Washington in the 1950s, we had a school safety patrol. Certain students were given shiny, nickel-plated badges (it is now a collector’s item), a webbed belt of sorts and flagged bamboo poles used to stop vehicle traffic to allow kids to cross the street safely.

All in all, it was fairly effective, increased safety, improved students’ self-image and couldn’t have cost much. Maybe we can reinstitute the safety patrol with an updated agenda: Students could receive firearms training, be issued AR-15 semiautomatic rifles and quietly patrol the school grounds.

Please understand, there would have to be an effective gun orientation program. Students would receive some shooting lessons, be at least at the fifth-grade level and not be allowed to take rifles home at the end of the school day. This could be a cost-effective way to make our schools safer, and maybe the NRA would offer to help out and coordinate implementing this program nationwide.

Michael B. Nicolella

Upper St. Clair

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