Guns In The Wrong Hands

The news does not get much worse than it got last week, but we should be getting used to it. These things seem to be happening now every three or four months.

Last week, it was kids mowing down kids with automatic weapons because the football team made fun of them, or something.

Last year, it was a nut case with a handgun who walked up to the U.S. Capitol and started shooting policemen because, he later told a psychiatrist, he thought they were cannibals, or something.

But, before that, it was some kids who swiped guns and shot up an Arkansas school yard because they were mad, or something.

The excuses are always different. But one thing remains constant: People who had no business with guns somehow found them.

The gun lobby assures us stricter laws would not have prevented them, and maybe they're right. But I know one thing: If the kids who walked into that high school had had baseball bats or even knives, most of the children who died last week would still be alive.

The bodies had not been removed from Columbine High School when presidential candidate Dan Quayle said, "I hope we won't use this as an excuse to take away guns."

No offense, Mr. Quayle. This ought to be an excuse to get to the bottom of things like this and see that they never happen again.