Dale Herman: Reduce all arms

Regarding the Oct. 2 news article “Massacre stuns another college”: We grieve as yet another senseless mass killing rocks our nation.

The National Rifle Association tells us that the best strategy for addressing gun violence is to encourage everyone to buy a gun. By that logic, should every child be armed with a stone to deal with the stone-throwing bully on the playground? Should every country have nuclear weapons to prevent some other country from using one?

As an American citizen and as a combat veteran, I shudder to think about that possibility, which seems to be the logical extension of the NRA’s position when it comes to dealing with conflicts.

The diplomatic effort resulting in the Iran peace accord, which already has the support of the U.K., France, China, Russia, Germany, the European Union, the United Nations, the Vatican and 86 other nations, offers hope for limiting nuclear weapons proliferation.

Yet, our North Carolina Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis oppose this agreement, in direct contradiction to their position on gun ownership.

It is time to reduce access to weapons of mass killings, be they guns on our streets and in our schools or nuclear weapons. Fewer guns and fewer nuclear weapons will make us all safer.

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Dale Herman: Reduce all arms."