It is time for ARMED security in every school in this country!

[JohLast]

I have worked in the construction field for 50+ years before I retired a few years back. My brother is a retired police officer.

I tell you this because in my life I have enjoyed my children and now grandchildren, they are the love of my life since I lost my wife.

BUT it is time to place an officer in every school in this country. Manpower, there are retired officers all over this country, most would love to work protecting kids in schools. Some schools already hire off duty officers to guard school during school hours.

I don’t know about other parts of the country, but in Texas schools can create their own police departments. Most in my area have done this and I know my school taxes did not go up. My local high school already hires off duty officers to work during school hours, but it is just in the high school, we need them in every school.

I do not know of one case where a school in this country has had a mass shooting where there was an officer assigned to the school.

The argument of not wanting to turn our schools into a prison, I say that is BS. I recently visited my grandson at his school. I had to show ID to enter the parking lot, I had to show ID and be let into the school lobby. I was not allowed to enter the rest of the school without being escorted. I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH ANY IF THAT! I know my grandchildern are being protected and that is worth any inconvenience on my part.

[MichiganVote]

1. Sorry, guns and children do not mix anywhere at anytime.

Better security, yes. Its needed. Not every school has a buzzer and no school should have windows next to the door. But in reality, more guns will not stop fatalities in a school environment.

[Warpy]

2. Yeah, THINK of the crossfire!

Lordy, save us from people who have only hammers and think every single problem is a nail.

[Chorophyll]

3. Yep. Let's have MOAR GUNZ around our children.

Or you know, we could just have gun control instead.

[sufrommich]

4. Go away. We've got enough gun porn lovers here. nt

[renie408]

5. You know, I am not sure we shouldn't at least talk about this.

I know that the majority of people here are going to jump all over this, but when my kids were in public school there was an officer assigned to their middle and high schools. I gotta say, I felt better about having a police officer around. There were times when fights broke out and once when an estranged parent tried to get to their kids when having them on site helped a lot.

[sufrommich]

10. It's different in elementary schools, the kids go

out for recess,most classrooms have outside windows,etc. Imagine a school where kids can't play outside and sit in windowless classrooms. No thanks, ban weapons of mass destruction for personal use, that's the answer.

[renie408]

35. I thought the question was whether or not to have a police officer assigned to schools.

Not whether the kids were allowed to go outside or not.

Where did you get that?

[sufrommich]

47. My point is that an armed security guard gives people a false

sense of security. In order for our children to be safe from guns,there could be no windows in a classroom because a gunman could shoot through them, a gunman could open fire on a playground and kill many before any security guard ever got there. The answer is to ban the kind of guns that can cause this kind of carnage in mere seconds. Armed guards at schools is a distraction from the real issue meant to make parents feel more secure when,in fact, it doesn't touch the real problem.

[Eleanors38]

98. You'll be called every name in the book, as you see...

I posted my approach (similar) a couple of.days ago: moral condemnation and names I've never used.

Anyway, here goes

Congress & president fund grants ( a la Clinton's Safe Schools Act) to be used (or not) for hiring 2+ LEOs at every school during the time children are there. We ALREADY do this, but it is a "camous cop" who hop-scotches from one site to another. How effective is this? Expensive.

Or, a school may choose to train existing staff, possibly up to the # of hours needed for armed LEOs/security. A cheaper plan

Or, choose hard-point structural improvements. Pretty expensive.

Or, stay with what you got.

This plan addresses DIRECTLY the problem of school shootings, and NOT compulsory. I've heard the verbal attacks. Now, let's Talk.

[JoePhilly]

6. Right, we can add cops to the schools and its free and the GOP will support it.

I don't think so.

They hate funding the schools at all ... you think they will increase funds for cops at the schools??

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

58. You're wrong there, I believe.

The scary thing is that it is just the thing that the GOP would support; just like private prisons. If this perverse method of protecting our children was given a chance to fester how long do you think it would take the likes of Blackwater (Xe) to contact their nearest CongressWhore (see republican) in order to get that moneyball rolling?

[we can do it]

7. NO MORE FUCKING GUNS

[democrattotheend]

17. I don't mind licensed security guards having guns

[we can do it]

102. Not in school.

More guns do not make us more safe.

[AlexSatan]

116. What stopped him from shooting even more?

He had more ammunition, after all.

[snooper2]

91. you have a magic spell to make them all disappear?

hundreds of millions of them?

We live in this place called reality where facts matter-

[we can do it]

104. Another to the ignore list

Fucking god damn gun kooks

[snooper2]

107. ROFL, I don't even have a gun anymore

[XemaSab]

8. $6.5 billion

130,000 public schools x $50,000 for one officer's salary.

You want to pay $6.5 billion? Really?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

25. $50K W-2 is closer to $120K in cost

Depends on taxes and benefits, but take home is not the right number to use.

[XemaSab]

33. My point still stands

I'd rather hire art teachers or music teachers, and I think hiring THOSE would do more to prevent crime.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

44. Actually it is enhanced

They would be more expensive that your example

[ComplimentarySwine]

36. I can think of a lot worse ways to spend $6.5B than protecting our innocent children.

The foreign wars, the war on drugs, the F22 program, etc.

[Eleanors38]

100. Yes.

[flvegan]

9. No it isn't, don't be stupid.

Do we then add ARMED security to every school bus? Every bus stop? Does each child that walks home garner ARMED security as well?

You use the word "I" an awful lot, together with "my"

OMG you had to show ID!!!11!! Yeah, that last guy broke in and killed kids within minutes. Suggestion fail.

[JohLast]

21. "You use the word "I" an awful lot, together with "my" "

Not sure I get your point.

[flvegan]

51. Sigh.

All about YOU.

Get the point now?

[JohLast]

81. It's not about me, it is about "my" grandkids security.

[baldguy]

11. If your objective is to kill more children, there are simpler ways.

But don't pretend this will make them safer. Only getting rid of guns altogether will do that.

[ComplimentarySwine]

39. So the only solution is something that is basically impossible to accomplish? n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. The expense would be absolutely crushing.

There are almost 100,000 public schools in the United States. Assuming each officer is paid $50K, to put an armed officer in each school would cost $5 billion per year. Where will that money come from, considering how underfunded the public schools are already?

But let's assume the Budget Fairy finds the money and each school gets an armed guard. One armed officer. Many schools are very large, and that officer can't be everywhere at once. How effective would one guy be against a lunatic with an automatic weapon who sneaks in and starts shooting before the officer even knows he's there?

Some inner-city high schools do have guards. But I don't know how we can put them in every single school, and I don't think this is the solution to the problem.

[Flabbergasted]

46. Deterrent factor could be enough actually to prevent most shootings...

It's the same idea behind random searches at airports and such.

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying I'm in favor of this idea but it could be considered as a solution at least in part.

[coalition_unwilling]

87. Do you really think all the airport security has deterred a single al Quaida attack?? That

assumes that AQ would prefer to continue targeting airports, as opposed to, say, targeting some other prominent spots.

[Flabbergasted]

94. I don't know and neither do you. Nt

[AlexSatan]

117. Many schools already have them

All of ours do and we live in a relatively nice area.

So the cost wouldn't be near that much.

[Ganja Ninja]

132. "The expense would be absolutely crushing."

Yeah an expense we can rightfully justify making gun owners pay by taxing their guns and magazines.

Taxing guns means registering guns and magazines. Taxing guns means we will have a tracking system that is updated yearly. Taxing guns gives us a means to make certain weapons and accessories prohibitive to own.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

133. I'm still not convinced this is such a great idea. But if it were to be done,

I wouldn't object to a tax on guns to pay for it.

[Marrah_G]

13. Stupid, stupid idea

Schools should never become prisons.

More guns is not the answer.

[JohLast]

18. Say what you want,

but three schools in my area have their own police department. It is working out great. One school district has 11 officers in it's department. I also love how this was turned into a pro-gun thing. I never made a stance on gun control, just talked about adding security to protect our kids. If protecting kids in going to cost too much for some of you, then maybe you need to rethink your priorities in life. For me, my grandchildren, are worth anything I have, including all my money if needed.

[doc03]

14. I agree we have millions of people out of work and I am sure there are plenty that could be

trained for the job. I wouldn't even mind if teachers could have a weapon in the school, but they would have to pass law enforcement training same as a police officer does. I don't mean carrying a gun in class but having one available in a safe place in case of something like Newtown..

[Berserker]

15. I agree

Do any of these people here think for one minute that any parent of the lost children would not have wanted to have an armed guard at that school? Ask any one of them.

[cthulu2016]

16. cool story, bro

[marybourg]

19. And then when the shooters move to libraries, bus stops, banks,

museums, supermarkets, hospitals, we'll have armed guards there and there and there and then those of us in the middle class can have an armed guard outside our homes to protect our children everywhere they go, and then the right wing will have won and we'll all be living in the 15th century.

[JohLast]

22. Libraries, museums, supermarkets, hospitals already have armed security. What is your point?

[marybourg]

23. Not where I live they don't.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. I have never seen an armed security guard in any of those places.

Maybe a museum with valuable art or artifacts, but a supermarket? A library? Not where I live.

[JohLast]

42. Lets see.

My local museum has it's own armed security force. HEB, Krogers, Wal-Mart, and Market Basket (supermarkets) all hire off duty police officers as guards, OK you may have me on the library - I have only seen off duty police officers on the grounds when they were having events, such as Santa Claus reading to kids last weekend.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

62. Wow. I can honestly say I've never seen a security guard,

armed or otherwise, in a supermarket. I've seen unarmed rent-a-cops in the big downtown library. That's it. And I live in a large city.

[sarisataka]

64. Not sure which side of the river you are on

but here on the East Side both Cub and Rainbow have armed security nearly 24 hrs a day

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

65. Southwest Minneapolis.

Maybe they're undercover, but never have noticed any around here.

[sarisataka]

69. My wife's home neighborhood

Over here it has gone downhill over the past 20 years or so. Usually it is uniformed police but I have seen some private security as well. Up the road in Maplewood, never see armed guards at either.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

74. Hard to imagine armed security

at a yuppie/foodie hangout like Kowalski's. "Officer! That woman just stole some Himalayan salt and a bunch of arugula!"

[sarisataka]

75. I can just picture that

Peaceful night to you

[Eleanors38]

106. Our school had an armed LEO, who was on campus

every day, unfortunately not full-time. He came to our classes so kids knew who he was and how to report probs. (never were). Circa 1955.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

123. A grocery store robbery in St. Paul just this morning!

http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1002518/396/Kowalskis-robbery-suspect-shot-by-St-Paul-police-dies

Apparently there was no guard on duty; the city cops came and shot the guy. Kowalski's is a foodie-trendy supermarket; I can't imagine them having armed guards, and it's hard to imagine anybody robbing them, either.

[rustydog]

56. People are killed in hospitals by armed individuals REGULARLY

I am a hospital security officer. more guns is not the fucking answer!!
Goddamn it there was a hospital shooting two days ago. One police officer shot, 2 hospital staff and the shooter dead.


Guns do not prevent shootings!!!!!!!

[coalition_unwilling]

89. +1,000,000,000 x 1,000,000,000 - Well put and definitely

needed saying.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

61. You should step away from the bong now.

[AlexSatan]

118. This is the best argument

against this idea.

The armed security at the schools mainly is a CYA mechanism for the schools to avoid lawsuits as it generally acts as a deterrent and would move a would-be shooter somewhere else.

Sure it helps at that school but doesn't help those other places.

[rustydog]

20. We have armed police officers in police stations all over the country and officers

have been shot in their "safe" heavily fortified police stations.

More guns is NOT the goddamn answer.

[JohLast]

26. This have happen what - once, wow that is a good reason to NOT protect out kids.

[rustydog]

59. Putting guns in thehands of untrained teachers is NOT protecting our children!

Jesus Christ, have you been in a combat shooting situation? How many times a year does your english teacher have to train properly for a school shooting. will she/he open carry or lock the firearm in their desk???

Cops? really, when the cop is in A wing, the shooter attacks B wing. Guns are not the answer.

[Tikki]

24. Armed security, bullet-proof glass and other procedures cost money and..

many schools are dependent on tax payers funding, through school bonds, to
raise the money needed AND many communities WILL NOT pass these bonds.

Plus, how much of a salary are you going to pay this Security Guard?

Tikki

[marybourg]

52. We'll get rid of all the blood-sucking union-loving teachers and replace them

with armed guards. We won't have to pay them as much.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

27. I already have seen problems with LEOs in schools becoming the biggest bullies

Not sure adding more to that will work any better.

I would rather make capital improvements instead.

[JohLast]

28. You are right, the police is the problem - wow.

[Honeycombe8]

43. The solution might just be a mixture of things. An armed officer might be a deterrent.

It just might be.

Like solutions for global warming and energy use, the solution is likely to be a mixture of a number of things.

So could the solution to the mass shootings. Recognizing, of course, that there is no way in a free society to totally stop mass killings. (Israel knows a thing or two about that.)

Gun control of any sort won't stop this. Armed officers won't stop it. But either one, or both, might lessen them. We have to at least try.

[Eleanors38]

109. Please see #98.

[sarisataka]

30. Is this thread an omen of things to come?

A proposal was put forth. Rather than any debate on its merits, the roles are suddenly reversed.
The majority of those calling for strict GC are dismissing it out of hand- it won't work, the children will be killed, it costs too much...

Well don't gunners say GC won't work? Are not children already being killed? Wasn't it moments ago people cheered our President for stepping up and everyone calling to back him 100%. I don't remember anyone saying ...unless it is too expensive. Do you think that any form of gun control will have zero cost?

I think this is foretelling what we will see in Congress soon with the end result being nothing but hot air.

I hope I am wrong.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

34. The momentum will fracture over differing proposed solutions as we see here

I have bad experiences with school cops in the US and said so. I did not try and rip the OP's tonsils out as some did in this thread. Sounds like he is a concerned grandparent, not some sort of gun nut. I bet someone even alerted on him for it.

We are at times our worst enemies.

[reteachinwi]

111. Military screening

I had a student who needed help graduating from high school so he could join the military. He earned his diploma but the military rejected him on psychological grounds. He was an at-risk student. He said the military couldn't trust him with weapons. Do you have any first hand knowledge of how the screening works? Could we apply this to civilian gun owners?

[sarisataka]

114. I do

we had several removed from training and even on active duty who were discovered to be unsafe. Usually it is discovered through the MMPI or a similar test. Anyone who scores high in a potentially dangerous area is flagged for further screening. There is also the ongoing peer review process; military members can see who is acting out of sorts and bring up concerns to their superiors.

The Constitutional issue is a sticky wicket to applying it to the population at large, but not necessarily impossible.

Much air is passed about the militia clause. Like it or not, SCOTUS has made their ruling and we likely have it for a while. It we take the perspective that we are all militia, then it could be argued we must be able to be effective militia. That would be in step with the 17th century definition of regulated. Given the low standards required for voting (and rightly so) we cannot set the bar sky high for the militia. I do believe that we could determine militia service requires a sound mind, as far as firearms go.

I would think if we said RKBA covers revolvers, bolt action rifles and other old style technology but for more advanced weaponry a screening involving a psychological component could pass judicial review.

There is no one easy answer, but if each side keeps talking and listening we might have a chance to make a change.

[reteachinwi]

115. Thanks

I looked around. The MMPI is used to screen law enforcement as well. I think it should be part of the conversation.

[sarisataka]

121. I may be proRKBA

but I am pro-safety. I have a 4th grader and kinder gardener in a school much like what I see in the news.

An all out ban is logistically near impossible and likely political suicide at the midterms; the mob has a very short memory. The more I think about it the more I believe a tiered approach to guns is the only way to get laws passed and have them mean something.

[Jackpine Radical]

119. Wow, I LIKE that!

A full-employment program for psychologists.

Hot damn, my sinecure at last.

Actually, the MMPI-2 has automatically generated computer reports for various employment screenings (cops, ministers, etc.), where it has been shown to be a valid predictor of employment success, but the legal challenge is to show that it usefully predicts potential for violence or firearm mis-use. You would have to empirically show which scales and which configurations are related to potential for violence. That research hasn't been done, so while the potential is there, it's not ready for prime time in court.

[sarisataka]

122. I hope it helps

more employment will help reduce violence too.
I don't know enough about the specific tests to say how they were used but they seemed to weed out overly violent people pretty well.

Contrary to popular belief, sociopaths make poor soldiers.

[Agnosticsherbet]

31. We solve the crises of unregulated guns by making schools into fortresses?

Ridiculous.

What we need is strong gun control laws, not more guns in schools.

[adigal]

92. And what if we don't get strong gun control laws?? I am a teacher. I want my students safe.

If it takes an armed security guard, then damn it, I want one in my school. Along with a buzzer system and bulletproof glass in the doors. And windows, if we have to. I do not want one more student killed by some psycho with a gun.

[coalition_unwilling]

93. All of us want students (and their educators) safe. I think there is a legitimate

question, though, as to whether armed security guards make anyone safer or merely provide the illusion of security and may actually make the situation even less safe. (Talk to any vet who has seen combat in a firefight about how chaotic it is and I think you'll see why that question is legitimate.)

[adigal]

103. I agree with you about the chaos, which is why I think it is laughable

to ask teachers to have guns in their desks. Could you imagine 20 teachers trying to ID the shooter, and then shoot him as he goes down the hall?? Horrible. But one trained guard? I don't know, I don't have the answer as to whether it would make the school more or less safe. I think we should give it a chance if the laws don't change.

[Big Blue Marble]

32. Would you also have armed guards at every day school, summer camp,

playground, and Sunday school as well? Where would it end? Killers with guns will
find the easiest targets. Close one option and they will find another. Armed
guards means attempting to solve the problem of guns with even more guns.

There has to be a better way.

[JohLast]

38. "Killers with guns will find the eastiest targets" You are right!

Why make our schools the "eastiest targets".

[Big Blue Marble]

55. It was not the school that was the target.

It was the children. Killers who want to kill our children
will find them gathered together in many places other than schools.

[Bonobo]

37. Also armed playgrounds, parks, supermarkets, malls, libraries and yogurt stands! nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

41. Been to Israel?

You get wanded going into many of those places, and it seems to be effective.

I don't like it and don't want it here.

[Honeycombe8]

40. I was at first appalled by your OP. But, thinking of it as a deterrent, it might work.

If there's one thing these mass shooters have in common, it's cowardice. They avoid areas where they KNOW there will be someone armed there. They choose, instead, areas full of people who are likely, if not required, not to be armed. They don't choose shooting ranges or police departments, for example, to go on their rampages. They choose schools and government buildings - no guns.

So if they know there might be even one armed officer on duty, they likely would avoid that location, and choose one where they know there will not be one. They are cowards, pure and simple.

So an armed officer on duty might work as a deterrent. It just might. Sounds expensive, though, and schools are already having financial trouble.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

70. There you go again

[Eleanors38]

110. Please check #98....

National funding, stsndards, cheaper alternative security, non-compulsory.

Not perfect, but an affordable direct approach.

[Honeycombe8]

125. Oh, I can just imagine what the wingnuts would say about THAT! I can hear it now.

Of course, it's logical, but....you know.

[PSPS]

45. Don't be silly. Why must society continue to coddle gun fetishists?

[Zoeisright]

48. That is fucking stupid.

[RKP5637]

49. It could be a short term solution, but long term we need to change the mentality in

this country about guns ... and I think that will take awhile. Adequately securing the perimeter of schools would be a good start too. That all said with all of the emphasis on the cheap in the US, I wonder how that funding would come about.

And it is, of course, a far great problem than just the schools. Here, for example, in the metro area there are so many deaths and so much maiming due to gunfire practically a separate news show is needed just to cover the carnage. Often I wounder WTF is wrong with people today. It's symptomatic IMO of a far deeper societal problem than just guns, I fear.

Today I was up at the grocery store, for example, and some were talking about how nasty the people are ... and this is an affluent area, so it's far more than money issues IMO. And it's not religion, there are so many churches here practically every block has one.

[KittyWampus]

90. I agree with you about changing mentality. But it's highly unpopular on DU to say that.

Doesn't matter if you ban all guns. Until mentality is changed > people will still get them somehow and use them unless mindset is changed.

[frank380]

50. Mass shooters normally kill themselves when met with any resistance at all.

I'd be willing to pay higher taxes to put a former cop in each school as a preventative measure. The goal is to stop it before it starts.

[Flabbergasted]

53. I don't see the problem with having an armed security guard at schools. My

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

54. Let's not stop there, Hoss!

We should not wait until out children enter school, kindergarten, pre-school or daycare to keep them safe. We should make sure that every newborn is allowed to pack heat. A Once we have them safe we can work on in vitro militarization.




No, friend.The solution is not more guns and fear. The solution is sensible legislation to prevent such heinous acts in the future. Just stop.

[Motown_Johnny]

57. and mall, and movie theater, and outside the schools, and playgrounds, and.... well....

you get the idea.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

63. What's not to love about this plan? Fortress America! Fuck Yeah!!

[Motown_Johnny]

66. Aren't these the same people who are worried about the black helicopters?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

67. Either that or a sane America.

When you can keep a population on edge through fear and uncertainty you can attempt to sell them many unreasonable and unnecessary solutions.

[Carnage251]

60. The middle school I attended had an armed school resource officer

I don't recall ever feeling like I was in a prison.

[MannyGoldstein]

76. So did my junior high school

Somehow, a kid got hold of his gun. Much fun ensued.

Maybe it's best if we keep guns out of schools.

[coalition_unwilling]

96. +1. Your post should win DU's Award for Dry Understatement of the Week, I think - n/t

[kestrel91316]

68. No, it's time to lock up the gun nuts for life.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

71. As someone else posted elsewhere, recall the Fort Hood shootings

They occurred on a military base full of people trained in using combat weapons. Maybe some of them were carrying at the time.

Even so, 13 people were killed.

[JohLast]

77. No one on base was armed, but the security guards at the gates.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

129. So you're telling me that on a base where most people were trained in handling weapons

people DON'T routinely carry?

Now why would that be?

[coalition_unwilling]

97. +1,000,000,000 x 1,000,000,000 - n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

72. So should we also have guard towers at malls?

And gun trotting security at hospitals?

No, we need to deal with this with actual regulation that works.

This means classes of weapons need not be in the hands of civilians. Infantry rifles, yes, delicate flower, that is what they are, don't belong in the hands of civilians.

[JohLast]

78. We do have armed guards at hospitals and cinema's.

[nadinbrzezinski]

83. We do? And I live at a large city

Last edited Mon Dec 17, 2012, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

I should add...in a state with tougher gun regulations.

I wonder...yup, there is a strong and direct correlation between regulations and less gun violence...who knew?

More weapons everywhere is an NRA talking point. The corollary, per the NRA, is that gun regulations don't work. Yet I live in a state with better regulations, and have less of a fortress mentality.

You might want to try that...it's better.

[spanone]

73. i don't think an armed guard is any deterrent to a guy with body armor and machine guns?

[Ellipsis]

79. You're nuts...

and I mean that respectfully.

[LittleBlue]

80. Newp, sorry

No to militarized school zones

[bklyncowgirl]

82. A rent-a-cop with a pea shooter is not going to stop a lunatic in kevlar armed with a small arsonal.

[RomneyLies]

84. Cool, more bullets flying and every security guard will be another corpse

Security guards don't train for these sorts of situations. They only make matters worse when the bullets start flying.

[adigal]

85. I never thought I would agree with this, but if we do nothing about gun control

They, yes, to protect my students and me, I want an armed security guard at the door, with bulletproof glass in the door, and a buzzer system, run not by the principal or secretary, but by the trained, armed guard.

If the gun insanity continues in this country, it is the only way to protect our kids.

[coalition_unwilling]

86. Should we 'game' out your suggestion to its hypothetical close in the case

of Newtown?

Assume for a moment the school had an armed security guard. Adam Lanza walks up to the locked door and shoots out the window and opens the door (or climbs through the window?). What happens next in your scenario? Don't forget Lanza has a semi-automatic weapon locked and loaded.

[Earth_First]

88. Why stop there? Why not at the mall? Why not at the resturant? The hospital? The pharmacy...?

Why not create such a security state that we are even further desensitized to violence in our society.

No thank you.

I am not willing to sacrifice MY sanity and emotional well being so that you can keep your guns.

Sorry.

[Marr]

95. Yeah? And what about gun control?

I'm noticing a whole lot of attempts to change the subject all of a sudden.

[joeybee12]

99. 24 posts and you already spew insane NRA-sponsored BS...nice

[Auggie]

101. Absurd idea I'd expect to hear from the NRA

[louis-t]

105. And how much will THAT cost?

And with the current trend toward privatizing everything, do you think charter schools will comply knowing that it hurts their bottom line? And do you really think that will stop mass shootings?

[LP2K12]

108. I grew up...

in a small suburban town outside of Tampa. Low-crime rate, farms, etc. Every school had an armed, Sheriff's deputy on duty daily. Worked for us...

[tblue]

112. And so we become one great big fortress

If that is where we are headed, I don't want to live here anymore.

[The Midway Rebel]

113. Sure because being trained with firearm helped these guys.

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Authorities-On-Scene-Og-Shooting-At-Grocery-Store-In-Topeka-183724341.html

[libdem4life]

120. I sadly agree. But it's not a school district cost. It's a new Gun Management federal program

where we require the registration, etc...lots of other details.but regulate guns like motor vehicle...from training and education to re-registering and mechanical safety.

We came up with the TSA, FEMA, we can do it with our precious school kids.

They are specially trained to protect government/public property. The funding, management, etc. comes from shifting the huge profits of the NRA and other in collusion with gun unsafety and mayhem at will apologetics, to properly identifying, managing and providing civilians or returning vets with specialty training for schools and place one at either end.

Teachers can be trained under this "program" as well as kids. It's a new age and just like we trained them to kick and scream if a bad person tries to hurt them, or just say no to drugs, we can teach them their role in the safety of themselves, their classmates and their school. Just like your friendly school crossing guard...just closer and with more authority.

Reminds me of Obama's anecdote about the 1st grader who said, "It's OK, I know karate and I'll lead us out of there." Kids are amazing.

[PA Democrat]

124. We are laying off teachers, increasing class sizes, eliminating music and art

due to budget cuts. I think it's time to tax guns and ammunition to pay for the cost of gun violence.

[Warren Stupidity]

126. A jury voted 3-3 to leave this trollery alone.

[liberalmuse]

127. Yes - because Americans are so eager to fund schools.

And will gladly pay for a security guard while docking the pay of teachers and janitors. Fuck this. I won't live in a police state. The solution is so simple: get rid of the fucking assault weapons!

[quakerboy]

128. Till they get bored

and start hassling the kids.

[JoeyTheWhack]

130. It's a good start

99,000 public schools in usa. Some already have armed security. A trained officer to watch the locked doors of the schools,have a device for a one button push to alert local police in case of emergency. Will create 90,000 jobs,hopefully create a deterrence for the unspeakable acts of violence in schools. Where else to best spend tax payer money than to protect our children. Much better idea than arming the teachers!!

[Ganja Ninja]

131. I don't think this idea should be dismissed so easily.

This is something we need to consider.

Think about it. Who's going to pay for protecting our kids? The only fair answer is - Gun Owners - the people responsible for this need.

That means we have to tax guns. Taxing guns means registering guns and magazines. Taxing guns means we will have a tracking system that is updated yearly. Taxing guns gives us a means to make certain weapons and accessories prohibitive to own.

So whenever a gun nut says "arm teachers" reply "No! Armed Guards not teachers." They're opening the door for us.