Times have changed since I was a boy in the 1970s people when were protesting the Startsky and Hutch TV show for being too violent. The Brady Bunch and Little House on the Prairie were on TV, and Batman and Robin were clearly good guys called the Caped Crusaders. The Dark Knight and the Dukes of Hazzard were an anomaly, like Duck Dynasty is today.

In schools, parents could come and go as they pleased because the doors were not locked; all a parent had to do was see the secretary in the office. Back then, only a few children in the whole school had a single, out-of-wedlock mom or divorced parents. We also learned traditional Christmas carols in public school and even performed them.

Unfortunately, now we have concerns about our children’s safety while they are in school. Will a deranged gunman show up in our town? The days of a sweet little old lady sitting at a desk near the front door of the school are over. Our freedom is paramount here and America has always had history of guns and God. Guns are not going away, and they should not be. Do we really want the government, the insane and the criminals being the only ones with them?

However, it is time for better security at all our schools, such as professionally monitored surveillance cameras and possibly even well trained, armed security officers. Family court has them; local, state and federal government buildings have armed security. Why not our local schools? The money is available; we the people just need to rework the budgets.

Folks, this is no game. If it can happen in Newtown and Columbine and then again about eight miles away from Columbine, then it can happen in Sullivan County. So what is the real answer to stopping gun violence? What we need most of all is faith, family and fellowship. Maybe that’s why Duck Dynasty is such a popular show? Happy New Year and God bless America.

John “JP” Pasquale

Livingston Manor, NY