Arming National Guard a no-brainer

Gov. Pete Ricketts is authorizing the Nebraska National Guard to allow additional National Guard personnel to be armed.

In light of last week's shooting that killed four Marines and a sailor, it makes sense.

The order includes recruiting offices like one of the targets last week.

By some reports, the shooter, supposedly a devout Muslim despite drug and alcohol problems, felt he could atone for his sins by murdering American military personnel.

His family seems sincerely shocked and remorseful over his actions, but he apparently became "radicalized" over the Internet.

The shooter apparently fell through the cracks as far as Homeland Security is concerned, but for someone determined to commit such an act, a person in a uniform is a target of opportunity.

That's especially true if that target is a "soft" target, prohibited from carrying a firearm.

For a time, even armed police officers were in the crosshairs as a result of the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting and riots.

We don't want to think we have to be armed to stay safe in an American mall, but if we wear a uniform, it seems to be coming to that.

It's fast becoming a cliché, but it's true: If we can trust soldiers to carry weapons overseas, we can certainly trust them to do it here.