The letter in this week’s paper castigating Ginny Dickey because she attended a rally opposing guns in schools requires me to respond. I was at that rally. The demonstrators who are against guns in schools were far outnumbered by vocal gun supporters. Gun control is one of the most charged debates in our country.

“In the United States, more than half the population believes that having a gun enhances the chances of survival in a world overrun by gangs of terrorists. But data shows very conclusively that gun ownership is much more likely to increase the risk of harm.

“According to decades’ worth of research, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, ‘a gun in the home was far more likely to be used to threaten a family member or intimate partner than to be used in self-defense.’ Not only is ‘the risk of homicide…three times higher in homes with firearms,’ but in addition, ‘keeping a firearm in the home increases the risk of suicide by a factor of three to five and increases the risk of suicide with a firearm by a factor of 17.’ There is no reason to suppose that such figures wouldn’t apply to gun-centered classrooms.” (Quoted in The Nation, Feb. 1, 2018)

Opposing guns in schools hardly disqualifies a candidate for mayor. Nor does appearing at a rally with a Civil Rights lawyer.