Thank heavens that senior primary school students see that the presence of guns constitutes one of the great problems facing Australian society.

A group of upper primary students from Queensland recently took part in an OptiMinds program and chose the MAKING AMENDS challenge. They told us:

We have come up with three bad inventions. Using the lessons learnt from the bad inventions we must create a new invention.

The students nominated guns, cigarettes and plastic bags as their three bad inventions. It wont surprise readers of this website that the Gun Control Australia committee fully support such a wise decision.

The students asked us for help in responding to the question whether guns should be allowed for use in Australia.

These students were correct – guns were invented to kill living things and all too often this produces heartbreaking situations in our communities. We would like to invite all young people to help us design a non-killing gun.

It surprises us that gun devotees dont design such a gun, because they always talk as though guns were not designed to kill. Perhaps it is just their state of mind.

Taking the students lead, we are reminded that cigarette packets [and, indeed, some plastic bags!] are legally compelled to contain a warning about the dangers of using the contents. It seems obvious that all guns should also have a message etched into the steel of the barrel, the wood of the stock and the glass of the telescopic sight:

THIS DEVICE IS DESIGNED TO KILL
THIS DEVICE IS DESIGNED TO KILL
THIS DEVICE IS DESIGNED TO KILL