The answer is,

"proximity." Physical space. Distance between

perpetrator and victim. The ability to murder from 30

feet away.

If your child were attacked

in school, Mr. Hamrick, would you prefer that the deviate

wield a baseball bat or a loaded gun? The death tolls of

schoolchildren in Littleton, Colo., Paducah, Ken., Pearl,

Miss., Springfield, Ore., Jonesboro, Ark., and Flint,

Mich., would not be headline news if guns had been kept

out of the hands of children.

In the editorial, Mr.

Hamrick, you stated that you are perfectly comfortable in

the home of a friend who keeps guns, but how comfortable

are you when your children play with their children? When

yet another child, this one from a troubled household

down the street, spends unsupervised time in that home,

then launches an adolescent rage over a breakup with a

girlfriend? Under the status quo in our country, very

little stands between that troubled child and another

preventable gun tragedy.

You were right on target in

stating, "What we're really talking about in the gun

debate is freedom of choice." I have been teaching

my middle-schoolers for several years, now, that with

freedom comes responsibility. That with freedom to get

together with friends at the mall comes responsibility to

complete homework on time and help with household chores.

With the freedom to drive comes the responsibility to

follow the rules of the road. With the freedom to keep

and bear arms comes the responsibility to keep them out

of the hands of children.

One of the most common

misunderstandings regarding the Million Mom March is that

these moms, dads, grandparents, and siblings want to ban

guns. I marched in Atlanta on Mother's Day and I can tell

you firsthand that nothing could be further from the

truth.

I listened intently to

every speaker on the capitol steps and not one spoke of

banning guns. Keep your gun, Mr. Hamrick. Responsible

grown-ups have a Second Amendment right to keep and bear

arms. But our nation's children are dying by gunshot at

an unacceptable rate by any standards.

If you are a member of the

NRA who believes that unsupervised children have too much

access to guns, then you and I are on the same side. If

you are a member of the Second Amendment Sisters and you

feel you have a right to send your child to school

believing that they will return home safely, then we are

on the same side.

Surely, as responsible

grown-ups, if we put our heads together we can come up

with reasonable solutions to the crisis of children using

guns to kill children.

Kim Learnard

Peachtree City