NRA: Put Armed Officers In Every School.

[Revoltingest]

Yeah, I find most things that polical lobby groups say to be inane and transparent. Particularly the ones with irrational agendas.

True dat. But even intelligent & learned lobbyists will proffer simplistic manipulative messages cuz
that's what works with their audiences, eg, mass media, politicians, the unwashed masses.

 

[Levite]

The NRA are just shameless.

Like the simplest, most direct solution isn't to start banning all the obscenely overpowered weaponry we currently allow everyone and their brother to pick up for ready cash at the drop of a hat.

Outlawing assault rifles and handguns is a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to come up with in-house SWAT teams to man the perimeter of every school in the US of A.

 

[Twilight Hue]

That´s crazy talk!

I don't think so. There's something called overkill and paranoia. I would think a sensible approach would be risk assessment and place armed officers at the discretion of individual schools based on past history and demographics. Honestly these tragedys albiet upsetting, are still notably rare in occurrence when you consider the size of the country and the population.

Thr media likes to portray this as happening in every single back yard.

 

[Revoltingest]

The NRA are just shameless.
Like the simplest, most direct solution isn't to start banning all the obscenely overpowered weaponry we currently allow everyone and their brother to pick up for ready cash at the drop of a hat.
Outlawing assault rifles and handguns is a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to come up with in-house SWAT teams to man the perimeter of every school in the US of A.

When the NRA believes what it says, then why should they feel shame?
Similarly, I wouldn't expect you to feel shame for wanting to trash the Constitution.
People just have different opinions.

 

[Revoltingest]

I don't think so. There's something called overkill and paranoia. I would think a sensible approach would be risk assessment and place armed officers at the discretion of individual schools based on past history and demographics. Honestly these tragedys albiet upsetting, are still notably rare in occurrence when you consider the size of the country and the population.

Budget constraints would prevent this solution from being widespread though.
Threats such as recurring gang violence would be practical to assess, but not
the sporadic guy who snapped & became a mass murderer.

 

[averageJOE]

Perhaps one thing we could do is make it illegal for news outlets to post the names and pictures of the wack jobs who commit mass murder of any kind. If they know they are not going to be imortalized- or even publically recognized -perhaps it would eliminate a key insentive. I don't know what goes through the minds of these shells of humans walking around without a shred of human empathy- but if they are looking to draw attention to themselves, to become some imortalized villian, or to "show them" -we should not allow such insentives to exist.

^^^This. I think it could have a bigger effect on preventing mass shootings than a gun-type ban. However, the flip side is that it does violate freedom of speech.

 

[Foxfire]

More gun control is not the answer - the horse has long gone from the barn on that one. This tragedy highlighted once again that mental health issues need a huge injection of interest, cash, training, facilities, etc. You will never prevent, however, a crazy from doing what a crazy does. I would propose having some teachers armed or admin or custodial staff (not uniformed). Like the idea of plain clothes US Marshalls on flights. Plus you will need beefed up security measures at ALL schools like metal detectors, etc.

ALso, I have read somewhere that Israeli schools have locked gun lockers. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

 

[dust1n]

Irony abounds. Those who decry the existence of armed guards at schools in general will make an exception for their own....
Gregory Mocks LaPierre for Proposing Armed Guards, but Sends Kids to High-Security School | The Weekly Standard
Those Quakers must be a violence prone bunch if they need 11 armed guards (& looking to expand) for the school.
But apparently schools with an even greater violence problem should be denied such protection.

It will also be interesting to see how DC authorities handle Gregory's possession of an illegal magazine.
By Showing Ammo Magazine On NBC, Did David Gregory Break The Law? : The Two-Way : NPR

Thanks for reminding me how great life is without TV news, ya!

 

[Revoltingest]

Thanks for reminding me how great life is without TV news, ya!

Yeah, I'd rather watch The Soup than regular news shows....no less news, but plenty more laughs.
Although, sometimes the two converge. Here is a real clip from some NBC news show....
[youtube]s_pz-SMy6HI[/youtube]
Ijaz Fahted and Dawn Keibals ORIGINAL - YouTube

 

[dust1n]

Yeah, I'd rather watch The Soup than regular news shows....no less news, but plenty more laughs.
Although, sometimes the two converge. Here is a real clip from some NBC news show....

Now thank you for reminding me great life is without cable!


News programs seem so desperate for attention that they don't even pretend to take the audience seriously. It's just assumed the audience is a complete ********* who is only interested in the world's most superficial events.

I wish the corporations who run these companies would just drop them already so they can go out of business. At one time, I hear, success with broadcasting had a lot to do with your reputation as a writer or journalist. You had to be trustworthy if you wanted to keep viewers. Now, GE will just fund MSNBC for eternity and it never has to release another interesting story again. You particularly won't hear any stories about GE.

 

[Revoltingest]

Now thank you for reminding me great life is without cable!


News programs seem so desperate for attention that they don't even pretend to take the audience seriously. It's just assumed the audience is a complete ********* who is only interested in the world's most superficial events.

I wish the corporations who run these companies would just drop them already so they can go out of business. At one time, I hear, success with broadcasting had a lot to do with your reputation as a writer or journalist. You had to be trustworthy if you wanted to keep viewers. Now, GE will just fund MSNBC for eternity and it never has to release another interesting story again. You particularly won't hear any stories about GE.

Their trustworthiness was an illusion. Our problems now are that we have a opportunities for amateurish work
to get wide coverage, & mainstream media are more agenda laden. But at least now we have the advantage
that non-traditional types can prevent mainstream media from keeping info from use, eg, Monicagate.

Life without cable TV? What a desolate & small existence that must be!

 

[Poisonshady313]

The NRA are just shameless.

Like the simplest, most direct solution isn't to start banning all the obscenely overpowered weaponry we currently allow everyone and their brother to pick up for ready cash at the drop of a hat.

Outlawing assault rifles and handguns is a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to come up with in-house SWAT teams to man the perimeter of every school in the US of A.

Just because you ban or outlaw something doesn't mean someone won't get their hands on it and use it to kill a lot of people.

The guy who shot several firefighters in upstate NY recently... he was a convicted felon. He spent 18 years in prison for beating his grandmother to death with a hammer. It was illegal for him to obtain any weapon... yet he had several when he murdered two firemen and wounded at least two others.

Criminals, by definition, violate the law. Writing more laws for them to ignore is less of a practical solution and more of a symbolic one. It won't prevent any shootings, but it'll make you feel better about living in a society where it's tough to get guns.

I think school children will be better off if there's someone protecting them.

 

[dust1n]

Their trustworthiness was an illusion. Our problems now are that we have a opportunities for amateurish work
to get wide coverage, & mainstream media are more agenda laden. But at least now we have the advantage
that non-traditional types can prevent mainstream media from keeping info from use, eg, Monicagate.

I guess these are just the natural pro's and con's of the internet. Information overload. For every 1 new great article, one only need to trudge through 20 of them for the best info.

Life without cable TV? What a desolate & small existence that must be!

Not when you are young and in the city!

 

[dust1n]

I really don't have a problem with resource officers in high-violence schools. They don't really do anything 99.9% of the time anyways... I just don't see how allowing guns by anyone in a school staff is going to help anything.

 

[Poisonshady313]

I really don't have a problem with resource officers in high-violence schools. They don't really do anything 99.9% of the time anyways... I just don't see how allowing guns by anyone in a school staff is going to help anything.

At about 9:35 a.m., using his mother's Bushmaster XM-15, Lanza shot his way through a locked glass door at the front of the school. He was wearing black clothing and a mask. Initial reports that he had been wearing body armor were incorrect. Some of those present heard initial shots on the school intercom system, which was being used for morning announcements.


Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach were meeting with other faculty members when they heard gunshots. Hochsprung and Sherlach immediately left the room, rushed to the source of the sounds, and encountered and confronted Lanza. He shot and killed both women.

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you believe it's at least possible that if either the principal or psychologist, or anyone else on that staff were armed, someone could have shot Lanza before he murdered 20 children?

 

[Skwim]

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you believe it's at least possible that if either the principal or psychologist, or anyone else on that staff were armed, someone could have shot Lanza before he murdered 20 children?

Just as it's possible that if Lanza's mother never had a gun in the house he wouldn't have gone on his shooting spree. But she did, and the nobody at the school was armed, soooo, so what?

 

[Poisonshady313]

Just as it's possible that if Lanza's mother never had a gun in the house he wouldn't have gone on his shooting spree. But she did, and the nobody at the school was armed, soooo, so what?

It's also possible that if Lanza's mother never had a gun, he would have gotten a gun from somewhere else and proceeded to go on his shooting spree.

Regardless of where the guns come from... whether they're legally obtained or not... by the time the gunman steps onto the campus, there ought to be some form of defense for the children inside. An armed staffer could have shot Lanza and saved the lives of 20 children.


Will it prevent all incidents? Obviously not. Will it eliminate all casualties? No. Will it reduce casualties and prevent some incidents? Yes.

 

[dust1n]

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do you believe it's at least possible that if either the principal or psychologist, or anyone else on that staff were armed, someone could have shot Lanza before he murdered 20 children?

It is possible. It is also possible that nothing would have changed what so ever. It is also possible that arming staff could result in the accidental firing of a weapon in a school. It also possible an armed teacher or custodian or substitute or disgruntled worker is capable of doing the same thing.

Truth be told, and I'm not the most fiscally conservative on RF, I don't really believe in throwing tens of millions of dollars at arming schools, nor do I really approve anyone having a gun at school, mainly because this is an issue that results in the death of kids no further than the single digits per year. Gun deaths are significantly lower than they were just a couple of decades ago.

Adding guns or banning guns isn't actually going to change anything about the nature of killing people. Addressing why people want to kill people would be a good way to go... addressing root causes and what not.

Psychiatric care, good education, availability of abortion, community outreach programs, a working economy that pays people, access to healthcare, etc.

These are ways to address people wanting to kill other people.

 

[dust1n]

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," defiant chief Wayne LaPierre says, blaming Hollywood, media and more for American culture of violence.
source​

​

If I can go back to my irony meter for one moment, I seem to discovered the mechanical failure described earlier. Well, there was simply so much irony in the quoted material that my meter was neither calibrated nor rated for such high quantities of ridiculousness.

You see, to state something like "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" seems normal. Too bad such fiction seems only to be prevalent at all might be the protagonist/antagonist relationships generally described in Hollywood, especially when two guns are involved. This would be okay if it wasn't so contradictory to then blame the same culture of violence you are utilizing to describe the "only way" something can happen, unless of course, the chief reads books where "the only thing that stops a bad guy... is a good guy..." Maybe too many Tom Clancy novels.

 

[The Neo Nerd]

I support comprehensive and common sense gun control laws aimed at reducing the likelihood of another child being senselessly murdered.
Such as the '96 law enacted in Australia that has reduced firearms deaths by 57%, with no mass murders since the law was enacted.

This was indeed a successful law. However i should point out a couple of things.

- Australia does not have a large gun culture. I know of only one or two people who own guns. You could walk down a dozen streets here before coming across a house with a gun in it.

- The law doesn't outright ban guns, but it does ban private possession autos and semi-autos. Except for a limited amount of pistols.

Guns in Australia: Facts, Figures and Firearm Law