I’m surely not the only Canadian who is sickened, angered and appalled by Donald Trump’s reaction to the Florida school shootings. His solution? Arm teachers, but only the ones “who have the aptitude for using a gun”. And they’ll receive a ‘bit of a bonus’ for the extra training to carry and deploy a weapon.” Turn schools into a free-for-all shooting range. Imagine armed swat teams patrolling the halls of your child’s school. That thinking is absolutely insane. They’re also proposing that schools should be equipped with airport style security metal detectors at entrances. These band-aid responses totally ignore the cause of the problem—too many guns. As the anti-gun advocates say, “Mental illness is global; mass shootings are unique to the United States.” The craziness is out of control and if it’s keeping me awake at night, I’m probably not the only one.

We all have friends, family members or acquaintances who are teachers. Teachers are people who went into the profession because they are kind, patient, caring women and men who enjoy promoting and sharing knowledge with children and youth, not hate and killing. School is a place for meeting and making friends, not enemies and killers. Imagine one of the teachers you know being asked to take weapons training and packing a hand gun? It’s so inconceivable it’s ridiculous. As I’ve said before, remove guns from the general population and then no one will need guns. The United States is the only country in the world that doesn’t understand this simple concept.

Surviving students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida who visited the White House came away this week feeling their concerns were not heard and certainly not understood. Trump even had cue cards in his hands reminding him to say “I hear you, I understand” because he most certainly did neither and had to be prompted to parrot someone else’s words. If the politicians won’t listen to their children, what chance do they have? The anti-gun lobby in the United States has been impotent against the mighty NRA and they need to up their ante—out-muscle the bad guys. Politicians will address the protests and create a couple of lame-duck new laws that fail to address the root of the problem—guns have no place in society. The NRA contributed $30 million to Trump’s election campaign and he made them promises he intends to keep. Trump’s idiotic pro-gun stance is no doubt bolstered by the fact his sons are “big game hunters”, the horrific and immoral sport of shooting helpless, beautiful animals in the wild for trophies.

I no longer watch local news on television because the litany of shootings, robberies, preventable car accidents, scams and violence is just too depressing. It leaves me angry, frustrated and emotionally drained. In order to keep abreast of what’s happening politically and in business I sometimes watch the national news but it too has become too much to bear. From now on, I’ll just make supper in silence or listen to music and talk to the dog. No news is the only way I can save myself.