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Just about everyone here is against any type of gun control, so here is my question. Other than arming teachers (Which I favor), what can be done to help prevent this problem?
Hardening the schools as a target and allowing educators to arm themselves, should they choose to do so, would create a doubt in the mind of the shooter. A crazyhead that wants to rack up an easy bodycount will avoid schools that have or could have armed individuals firing back at them and choose another target.IMHO nothing. Hell prisoners get drugs and weapons in tightly controlled prison environments. How the hell will we keep weapons out of schools?
There will never be enough security folks in a school to prevent school shootings. Kids are smart and resourceful. If they want to get a firearm into a school they will.
Do I think armed security in schools can make a difference? Yes I do. As I've said in another thread, armed security officers with a trained dog would, IMHO, be very helpful. But nothing will prevent it from happening.
That's the sad truth.
Currently, mostly all schools are "gun-free zones", which only makes certain that potential victims will be unarmed and vulnerable.
Hardening the schools as a target and allowing educators to arm themselves, should they choose to do so, would create a doubt in the mind of the shooter. A crazyhead that wants to rack up an easy bodycount will avoid schools that have or could have armed individuals firing back at them and choose another target.
Look at James Holmes (Aurora, CO movie theater shooter). Dude drove past ~ 10 movie theaters and hit one that was not the largest nor the nearest, simply b/c it was a GFZ.
what can be done to help prevent this problem?
Stop glorifying them in the media.
Bob
Honestly, families need to go Red Foreman on their kids. Boots to asses. Enough coddling. Enough "well, what can you do?" This crap happened 40 years ago, but not nearly to the extent it does today.
IMHO nothing. Hell prisoners get drugs and weapons in tightly controlled prison environments. How the hell will we keep weapons out of schools?
There will never be enough security folks in a school to prevent school shootings. Kids are smart and resourceful. If they want to get a firearm into a school they will.
Do I think armed security in schools can make a difference? Yes I do. As I've said in another thread, armed security officers with a trained dog would, IMHO, be very helpful. But nothing will prevent it from happening.
That's the sad truth.
Stop glorifying them in the media.
Bob
Hardening the schools as a target and allowing educators to arm themselves, should they choose to do so, would create a doubt in the mind of the shooter. A crazyhead that wants to rack up an easy bodycount will avoid schools that have or could have armed individuals firing back at them and choose another target.
This is only a "problem" because the media makes it a problem. There have been school shootings since the 1700s according to one article I read.
If you want to stop the copycats, you have to gag the press so nobody knows to copy the crime.
I disagree. The solution however isn't really more security in the schools, but preventing kids from being a threat.
Honestly, families need to go Red Foreman on their kids. Boots to asses. Enough coddling. Enough "well, what can you do?" This crap happened 40 years ago, but not nearly to the extent it does today.
Rich, students eagerly seek out our SRO and share their lives with him. He helps coach them with their problems. A lot of what he does seems to be "guidance counselor" type work. That's what I'm referring to. If something slides sideways people need someone to talk to that will listen to them and perhaps give them some life experience advice. Those kids won't be a problem, so this is the sort of preventative measures I endorse. BTW, my info on SRO-student interface came from some of the former students sharing this info even years after leaving high school. Perhaps we have a unique officer, I don't know but I'd like to see him cloned.Len, the young man in Maryland was an honor student. He had no record. By all accounts he was a good kid.
How would anyone predict and prevent this kid from shooting? Do you start an investigation into any kid who broke up with his girlfriend?
Knowing what I know about our SRO and his interfacing with students, I'm convinced that an SRO in the middle and high schools who interacts with the kids so that they don't feel ignored, isolated, bullied would go a very long way to prevent those kids from wanting to get revenge by shooting up students/teachers/schools.