It is an unfortunate testament to our times that most everyone in America is familiar with the schools named Columbine, Littleton and Southwood not because their merit or a remarkable education or curriculum, but because of the horrendous atrocities that have been committed in these places. In light of adding another name to that list – Virginia Tech – Dr. Ignatius Piazza, founder of the impressive Front Sight Firearms Training Facility has made it his new mission to bring about a change in the mentality of America when it comes to gun control in schools.

Dr. Piazza accurately points out where Americans are going wrong in handling this inflating problem:

“In our country, every time a misguided individual on psychiatric drugs goes on a killing spree, anti-self-defense legislators watch the polls and exploit the dead victims in order to fool the public into accepting more gun control. It is time our country finds some resolve and the will to tackle the real problem- which is rooting out the actual influences in the lives of our youth that predispose them to commit atrocities such as those we saw at Virginia Tech. The problem is not guns. Guns don't cause these incidents to occur anymore than cameras cause child pornography or automobiles cause traffic fatalities.”

As such, Dr. Piazza has shifted gears at Front Sight – the firearm training facility responsible for turning out more trained individuals annually than all other training facilities in the nation combined. Front Sight is offering free firearms training to any school administrator, teacher, or full time staff member designated as school Safety Monitors. Front Sight will accept for training up to three staff members from each school, college or university. Applicants must submit a letter requesting training on school letterhead signed by the top school district official and designating the applicant as the school's Safety Monitor.

Obviously, this is an idea that many people who think they know something about gun safety and responsibility will be opposed to – wrongly. Dr. Piazza has a response to them:

“My offer is not a new idea. In the early 70's, Israel was faced with much greater problems of armed terrorist attacks on schools. The cry for more gun control was heard then too, but Israel very carefully analyzed all possible options before adopting the proactive position of arming and training their teachers. School shootings stopped and terrorists looked for easier targets. … Israel had the right answer. Society is safer when we train and arm our law-abiding citizens. As the defensive training leader in the USA, Front Sight is willing and able to set the example for the rest of the country to follow.”

Dr. Piazza’s idea is the ideal one – quick, responsible, preventative action which will deter future gunmen and potential murderers. He maintains that gun control never has and never will stop criminals and madmen from carrying out acts of gun violence. And he’s correct: the problem with making laws to prevent people from having access to firearms is that the people who commit murder with firearms typically aren’t law-abiding citizens in the first place!

By training our educators and school staff members in effective, responsible, capable handling of firearms, Americans can effectively end school massacres like the one we were just subjected to. Dr. Ignatius Piazza and Front Sight Firearms Training Facility have the right answer: responsible training. And now he’s offering it free to all schools – just so that the knowledge will get used for the right reason. Whatever your view on gun control, you must support Dr. Piazza, you must support Front Sight, his is the solution to violent school deaths.