Ban on Guns Should Apply to All

The case of the eighth-grader wounded by a gun that was brought to Nobel Junior High School by a friend seems to illustrate a double standard.

Assistant Principal Baxter Golden’s comments--that neither boy is a gang member, that they are good students with no history of disciplinary problems, and that they’re good kids who did a stupid thing--condones and tries to explain away this incident.

A gun is a gun and can inflict great bodily harm even in the hands of an honor student. The Board of Education rule calls for the expulsion of any secondary-level student caught with a firearm on campus. If the rule is only going to apply to gang members, kids with a history of disciplinary problems, and non-honor students, then the rule should be rewritten to exclude good kids and honor students.

However, aren’t we fighting now for more equitable treatment by institutions (the police, schools, etc.) for all members of our society? Then the rules should apply to all and not be selectively enforced.

JO ANN M. SMITH, Sepulveda