SKYTRAIN SHOOTOUTS UNWARRANTED

As a parent and frequent Sky-Train commuter, I am outraged at the recent
decision to arm its new security force with guns (SkyTrain to have armed
police force, July 11). This is not the solution to the problem of
drug-related crime.

Militarizing public transit will expose children to firearms on a daily
basis and escalate an American-style culture of fear. Gunplay in close
quarters puts all transit users at risk. This move is incongruous with the
recent New Democratic Party government decision to restrict violent video
games from children's reach. Why is the government censoring children's
exposure to violence in the virtual world while increasing the number of
guns in our daily lives?

The solution to drug-related crimes is to increase the funding for addiction
services, especially in the Downtown Eastside where more than 2,000 people
have died from drug-related causes over the past 10 years. Prevention, not
guns, is the solution.

Craig Berggold, Vancouver