Like you, I’m a parent, and I care about the safety of my kids, especially when I’m not around. We know that schools aren’t entirely safe, and we want to do everything we can to make them safer.

But even if we could make sure no bad guy ever got a gun again, bad guys won’t stop. They’ll use knives, bombs, cars, trucks, planes, and shuriken, the throwing star blade of the ninja.

It’s easy to say we should let the police and security guards deal with the problem, but sometimes they don’t. And teachers are mostly liberal arts majors who collapse in tears at the mere sight of a Nerf dart.

No, when we aren’t around, our kids cannot rely on anyone for their safety, except themselves. That’s why, today, I’ve released my online petition for a new initiative I call “A Gun In Every Backpack.”

I know, I know. Sounds crazy, right? But when a rapist, terrorist, school shooter, or even a schoolyard thug threatens your child, who is going to be with her, all the time, every time? No one, but for herself. And she’ll be ready.

For an initial investment of just $15 billion, we can buy a small pistol and ammunition to arm every K-12 student in America. As the child takes the gun with them year to year, developing not just a sense of security, but of responsibility and ownership, the cost drops to only $1 billion on an annual, ongoing, basis. That’s a tiny fraction of the $20 billion annual cost of putting armed resource officers in every school, and it’s far more reliable.

Join me in signing the petition and contacting your legislators today. You need your child to be safe all the time, not just when you’re around.