EDITORIAL - Let airport guards keep their guns

It is not the replacement of the guns carried by private security guards with batons that is the right solution to the problem posed by hotheadedness among persons imbued with some sense of authority.

Even if a person in authority does not possess a gun, he can still fly into a rage and lose control. He can still kill with his baton, or even with his bare hands if sufficiently blinded by rage.

And in the meantime that private security guards are armed only with a baton, a window of opportunity will be opened at the airport for those with criminal intent. Clearly, divesting guards of their guns and replacing them with batons is not the solution.

The real solution is proper and rigid reorientation of security guards. In fact, no guard should be plowed into service that does not pass rigid psychological and emotional assessment.

Solving the problem in this way is much easier to do, especially since the general public is in agreement with the authorities that the fatal shooting at the airport involving a guard was clearly an isolated incident.

If it was an isolated incident, then why shake up things at the airport when everything has been going well so far. If not for that isolated incident, the airport should be commended for being one of the most peaceful in this part of the country.

What happened a few days ago clearly involved the psychological makeup of the guard. It was only incidental that he had a gun. It was clear that he was enraged because, first, his authority was ignored, and second, because he lost in the ensuing fistfight.

It was very clear that his rage stemmed both from the insult and the subsequent injury. A better balanced person would have taken stock of everything before his next move. But the guard was not that sufficiently balanced psychologically and emotionally.

He was the sort who could not take things in stride. The fact that he finished off his victim demonstrates an intent to make an offender pay, no matter what it cost. Without a gun, he would have used anything he could find.