Regarding Joe Tarica’s recent column on the proposed gun laws, I am not an National Rifle Association member. I am a retired law enforcement officer with 36 years on the job. We can pass all the gun laws we want, but it has been my experience with criminals and mean-spirited people that, if they want an assault rifle or any illegal weapon, they will find a way to get one. The majority of law enforcement folks would agree.

One thing the NRA spokesman said that makes a lot of sense to me is having armed subjects in our schools. Some already have them. This can be accomplished with little or no cost to taxpayers. A law called “posse comitatus” (known as “posse”) gives the sheriff of a county the authority to appoint able-bodied men, usually armed, to assist him in protecting life and property and keeping the peace. The men could be indemnified and volunteer one school day per week. I, for one, would volunteer. Intervention is the only way to put a stop to these shootings.