Each year since 1998, the National Education Association (NEA) has sponsored the Read Across America program to celebrate reading and literacy on March 2^nd, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. But this March, due to the recent gun legislation passed by the NH Republican House majority, the tradition of NH legislators reading books written by Dr. Seuss to selected fourth graders at the State House, has been canceled by the state chapter of the NEA. (Continued below)

GUEST EDITORIAL

New Hampshire Senate President Peter Bragdon is quoted in the New Hampshire Union Leader as being “disappointed that the NEA is using New Hampshire fourth-graders as political pawns.” Bragdon also stated that the cancellation of this year’s program by the NEA is “clearly a political move and a bit of grandstanding” because the NEA has never once raised this issue in the years prior to the 2009 gun ban being in effect.  

But, couldn’t it be just as likely that the NEA and the majority of people in our state had no idea our legislators had ever been allowed to carry weapons in the State House? And why is it that Mr. Bragdon, as chairman of the Milford school board, is finding it so difficult to understand why many parents and teachers do not feel comfortable allowing their students to visit the State House complex now that they are aware it is not a gun-free zone?  

To suggest that these children are being used as political pawns by the NEA is ludicrous. Especially when Bragdon’s colleague, Speaker of the House William O’Brien recently stated in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript that “government buildings are often places that are at greater risk for violence by disturbed individuals.”  

If our State House is deemed inherently dangerous by the majority of legislators who work there; and they honestly believe they are much more likely to become potential targets for acts of violence by deranged individuals due to the very nature of the business being conducted in the State House- wouldn’t it be entirely reasonable to make the inference that we would be putting children at risk by placing them in this dangerous environment? And should one choose to follow the Speaker’s line of reasoning for repealing the ban on guns, then it also follows that under the circumstances, the NEA-NH decision to cancel the Read Across America program at the State House is entirely appropriate and valid.  

Our courtrooms, schools, universities, and other public buildings continue to be gun-free zones- as well they should be. But Speaker O’Brien believes that the tragedies which occurred at the gun-free zones of both Columbine and Virginia Tech were exacerbated by “the lack of personal protection”. Is he suggesting that our public schools and universities should be next in line to reverse the ban on guns?

And how does this new legislation impact the law enforcement officials whose job it is to respond to these situations, when many untrained civilians are carrying and using their weapons? Will they be able to distinguish between those who are perpetrating the violence and those who are protecting themselves from these deranged individuals? And isn’t it just as likely as not, that innocent people might be caught in the crossfire and harmed unintentionally by those whose intention was to protect themselves and others from harm? Does Speaker O’Brien honestly believe that this “decision by the New Hampshire House of Representatives to return to its tradition of allowing citizens and legislators to ‘keep and bear arms’ within the State House complex”, is truly the only solution to the random acts of violence which have occurred all too frequently across our nation?  

As a result of this new legislation, anyone who has a clear criminal record, no documented history of mental illness and $10 can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon into the House chamber, public gallery, and anterooms of the State House. But, as we all know, and have heard all too often, the criterion used to obtain a permit doesn’t always screen out those who are “disturbed” until after these atrocities occur. No where in the RSA does it require training or a test for marksmanship; nor does it require testing to insure the person who holds a permit to carry a concealed weapon can handle him or herself in a volatile and life threatening situation.  

Parents, educators, and the community at large have worked long and hard to make our schools drug, smoke, and gun-free zones. Therefore why would any of us knowingly place our kids in an environment which is not?  How can Manchester Mayor Ted Gastas, as an officer of its school board, state in the Manchester Union Leader that, “There’s no question it’s safe. It’s as safe as any other place you or I may be going to.” If our State House is so safe, then why do the majority of our legislators feel the need to reverse the bans on guns in the State House in order to protect themselves from harm- or as Speaker O’Brien believes, in order for these weapons to act as a deterrent to those out there “who might intend to harm persons within the State House”?  

Students who visit the State House are there to learn firsthand how the legislative process works: by introducing and verbally defending their position as to why the Chinook should become our state dog, the red spotted newt our state amphibian, or apple cider our state beverage; to listen to our legislators civilly debate the issues which impact our state; or to meet and be read to by those very same legislators who want to help promote reading as a life long pursuit. They are not there to be taught that safety can only be provided by a loaded gun; or to knowingly be placed in a potentially dangerous situation inherent in a public building which is not a gun-free zone; and therefore I applaud the NEA-NH position. 

So this year, if indeed the Read Across America program can be relocated to a gun-free zone, might I suggest that The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss be chosen as the book to be read by our legislators during the 2011 Read Across America celebration? Hopefully they will understand the message contained within; get off their high horses while leaving their guns at home; begin to rethink their positions; get back to the business of growing our economy, reducing unemployment and the deficit; find ways to fund public school education so all students in our state receive a quality and equitable education; and start resolving the issues for which they were elected. Each of these is a priority; as well as being a much more worthwhile pursuit than legislating an arms race with those who commit acts of violence. 

“I’m unhappy to say
He came back the next day
In a spiffy new suit with a big new machine,
And he snarled as he said, looking frightfully mean,
‘You may fling those hard rocks with your Triple-Sling Jigger.
But I, also, now have my hand on the trigger!
My wonderful weapon, the Jigger-Rock Snatchem,
Will fling ‘em right back just as quick as we catch ‘em.
We’ll have no more nonsense.
We’ll take no more gupp
From you Yooks who eat bread with the butter side up!’” 

-- An excerpt from, The Butter Battle Book, by Dr. Seuss
© Random House 

ABOUT THE WRITER: Deb McGrath taught World and United States History at the secondary school level for 20 years. Upon retirement, she returned to school --  this time as a student. Currently she works as a freelance writer and photographer.