Letter to the Editor: Horrified by headline

As the victim of a BB shot that nearly destroyed my eye when I was 9 or 10 years old, I think my reaction is understandable.

I had just left school at the end of the school day and was accompanied by a little boy walking with me. Another little boy classmate apparently objected and went home for his BB gun and started shooting at us.

One of the BBs landed just above my left eyelid. I was immediately taken by my older brother to the only doctor in the very small Montana town. He was able to remove the BB from a spot barely above the the iris. I wore a big patch over the eye for weeks but was fortunate in that my eyesight remained, although not perfect. The site of the two scars is still sore.

I grew up in a family of hunters, though I know little about guns to this day. No child in several generations was allowed to own a BB gun. My husband, a Korean army veteran and gun expert, told me that BB guns are not a toy, and that, for one thing, they are inaccurate.

The only things I remember that the kids who owned them used for targets were such things as small animals, windows, light bulbs.

Why anyone would consider a BB gun as suitable or safe for an elementary school student or any other youngster is beyond me. Making it all right to bring one to school is totally unimaginable to me.

Barbara Nagle

The Dalles