To save lives: Committee on school safety can succeed if it sets ideology aside

The appointment by state House Speaker Tim Moore of a bipartisan House Select Committee on School Safety is a smart one.

It is going to take a mixed-view approach to identify and whittle down the weaknesses in our state's schools.

Arriving at solutions often requires varied perspectives and insights informed by a slew of experts and lay persons, eyeing a particular issue from singular viewpoints that collectively examine all sides of an issue.

Tempting as the potential tangent is, we will not apply that last sentiment to anything beyond the current issue. Let the gun lobbyists defend their interest in the Second Amendment and the gun control advocates rail against it.

Our interest in the Second Amendment is known and unwavering, but for us -- and now for the members of the appointed committee -- that is no longer the point.

The issue at hand isn't guns, love them, hate them or indifferent as one might be to them, they are out there, for better or for worse.

Accepting that is the first step to securing our schools. Identifying practical, achievable, cost-effective and common sense ways to keep them off our school campuses is second.

We have the minds and the might to do whatever is necessary, and we are confident that solutions will be identified and employed.

Let there be no political backlash threatened or dollars held hostage when it comes to this endeavor. There is no room for it. And while there is no time to waste, haste will result in error or omission.

We hope this committee will take its time, perform its due diligence, and welcome ideas and observations that might be contrary to the individual opinion or belief, because in this matter, all of our interests should be geared toward one goal -- saving lives.

Published in Editorials on February 27, 2018 11:00 PM