Forget guns; equip our schools with bear spray to deter intruders

Letter to the Editor,

While politicians and others quibble and quarrel about gun control and armed guards as a solution to mass shootings, let us resolve the problem now.

Let us protect our children now. Just a dose of bear spray in the face of a would-be shooter would instantly deter.

In fact, he would immediately flee the scene with all thoughts of killing replaced by the desperate need to seek relief.

He would have no other choice.

The intense pain, the coughing, the choking and the copious tearing would be too intolerable for him to continue his mission of death and mayhem no matter how deranged or under the influence he may be.

Just recently in the news, a woman in a wheel chair, armed only with a can of bear spray, repelled a home-invasion attack by four shotgun wielding thugs. It’s like being blasted by a miniature flame-thrower.

It’s cheap (about $40 retail), highly effective (it will stop a 1,000-pound charging grizzly bear in his tracks), practical (with a working range of 30 feet), safe (non-lethal), simple to use for anyone (just aim and press a tab). Is there a more logical and sensible solution than bear spray?

Let’s make our schools safe again. It can be done with bear spray.

— C.A. Settle

Laclede, Idaho