How Can We Keep Our Schools Safe?

I know this has turned into a debate over the 2nd Amendment, but I thought the following concept was interesting:
Why are schools, movie theaters, malls, public events, etc. always the targets of these attacks and not police stations? Why has there been no, or very few (because I’m sure someone will scour the web to find an exception…) attacks where people can fight back? I know it’s somewhat rhetorical, but it seems like guns, in the right hands, may be part of the answer. Why are we OK with guns guarding our money, but not our kids? Why do many of us feel better about having a gun at home to protect, or at least try to protect, our families in case of an assault, but we shutter at the thought of guns protecting our kids at school? I would prefer guns be kept out of schools, but not if cowards continue preying on the helpless there.

This thread is rolling now.

They happen in schools, because of the intended targets. Typically from what I have read and heard, these kids are bullied to the point of snapping. I know the local school shooting we had in the area awhile back, the kid had severe acne issues and the other kids let him know about it daily. Not saying that is a reason to go ballistic, but hey, I wasn’t in his shoes either. Just watch some of this Hogg kids video rants… you know he is a bully in school and is scared now. Again, the guns are only distracting from the issue, the shooter needs to be addressed and the other students who are bullying them, not my guns that did nothing wrong… they are tucked neatly in my safe.

big_g wrote:

They happen in schools, because of the intended targets. Typically from what I have read and heard, these kids are bullied to the point of snapping. I know the local school shooting we had in the area awhile back, the kid had severe acne issues and the other kids let him know about it daily. Not saying that is a reason to go ballistic, but hey, I wasn’t in his shoes either. Just watch some of this Hogg kids video rants… you know he is a bully in school and is scared now. Again, the guns are only distracting from the issue, the shooter needs to be addressed and the other students who are bullying them, not my guns that did nothing wrong… they are tucked neatly in my safe.

Makes sense; they’re probably not as random as I was implying.

Protect the asset.

Protect freedom.

Protect the constitution.

Or

Don’t protect the asset or do so under false pretense.

Encroach on freedom.

Disregard the constitution.

Signed sincerely,

A non nra member, who owns no handgun or ar.

Has anyone seen this? Has this been debunked or is this really what it seems? People are claiming this is being removed from YouTube on a regular basis.

basseyes wrote:

Protect the asset.

Protect freedom.

Protect the constitution.

Or

Don’t protect the asset or do so under false pretense.

Encroach on freedom.

Disregard the constitution.

Signed sincerely,

A non nra member, who owns no handgun or ar.

Amen

basseyes wrote:

Protect the asset.

Protect freedom.

Protect the constitution.

Or

Don’t protect the asset or do so under false pretense.

Encroach on freedom.

Disregard the constitution.

Signed sincerely,

A non nra member, who owns no handgun or ar.

Amen

biggill wrote:

Our biggest concern should be our children’s safety. Next is our freedom.

This has been bugging me for the past 24 hours. I apologize because I realized this was wrong. I take this statement back.

Not in the context that our kids don’t deserve to be safe, or that our guns are more important than our children’s safety but that our collective freedom is more important than the life of any single person.

I haven’t read all the posts, but what I have read, it’s no wonder nothing gets done in DC, no one agrees, name calling, it sounds just like Congress, and nothing get’s done. I can’t imagine losing a child or in my grand child to some deranged animal who got his hands on a gun. I read one post about the kids protest. Shame on you, you talk about the constitution and 2nd amendment, that is their !st amendment rights. No I am not a liberal!!!! My only post on this.

So by reading your post, I am gathering you agree with the kids, that the gun is the problem ? Therefore you would be less upset about a deranged animal with a knife, a bomb, or a grenade used to harm or cause loss of your child or grandchild. The deranged animal does not become un-deranged by removing the gun….? We cannot stop talking about this… that is what happens every time, until the next time. Simply, should we ban cellphones or cars, because people text and drive and kill innocent people ? Maybe address the people doing it ?

big_g wrote:

So by reading your post, I am gathering you agree with the kids, that the gun is the problem ? Therefore you would be less upset about a deranged animal with a knife, a bomb, or a grenade used to harm or cause loss of your child or grandchild. The deranged animal does not become un-deranged by removing the gun….? We cannot stop talking about this… that is what happens every time, until the next time. Simply, should we ban cellphones or cars, because people text and drive and kill innocent people ? Maybe address the people doing it ?

The part I really don’t understand about the lefties is if you throw out these logical ideas they will argue them down and always come back to wanting the guns. Why would any logical person think they won’t try for every gun we own? It’s so blatantly obvious and many of them will tell you that!

Armed security in schools. Problem solved.

Works at the airport.
Works at the police station.
Works at the government buildings.
Works at sporting events.

Why won’t it work at schools and why is this idea so baffling to people??? Figure out the funding or do exactly what government does in every other facet of their budget and run a huge deficit to fund it. Easy.

Protect the asset first and foremost. We can all agree on that.

The gun grab, does absolutely nothing without fully disarming criminals and legal citizens. That’s utterly impossible.

Logic, facts and a rational discussions are needed. We will never agree on everything. The left/right heels are dug in. Changing that is impossible. But we can agree to disagree, while finding common ground on facts and ways to protect the asset.

I am not even shouting “HARDEN and ARM THE SCHOOLS”… I am shouting “let’s address why these young males think this is what they have to do to get attention” !!! Nikolas Cruz was giving warning signs every which way… and he was failed by the system. If he couldn’t get an AR… then what ? A bomb ? He was being ignored and unfortunately, those like him are still today. Rather people (young impressionable minds for sure) are focusing on the tool, not “the why” Nikolas did this ? He wasn’t born a killer.

My family takes ECFE classes and one of our parent topics was screen time. Kids with to much screen time can’t decompress and deal with problems. The also have no stress coping skills. Basically the best we can do is let them play as much as we can outside! This makes a well rounded child.

Agree. These discussions go nowhere. Recently saw a thread about a private TSA staffed by ex military in all schools. I like it.

pbitschura wrote:

Agree. These discussions go nowhere. Recently saw a thread about a private TSA staffed by ex military in all schools. I like it.

These conversations go anywhere the reader is willing to go. If you’re too ignorant to have an open mind, then they go nowhere.

Conversation is good, as long as the right thing gets done, not just doing something for the sake of it. To anyone who thinks removing the AR type rifle will solve anything… in this scenario, you are given 1 option initially. You have a young man like Nikolas Cruz, you know he is capable of carrying out mass destruction… do you A. Take his option of an AR rifle, (plus millions of others who do not pose a threat to anyone) or B. Put armed personnel at each entrance, give a few willing teachers handguns and train them and warn everybody about the threat or C. Actually intervene with him and see why he wants to cause mass destruction in the first place and get him the help he needs. I am looking for the most logical, long term solution to the mass destruction here… for all the kids sake and teachers.

Many have talked about armed guards at school entrance. That is expensive and will only move the troubled individual to another location (what happen with community policing). If we would invest more for early learning free preschool for all 3-4 year old children this would help correct the problem. The mind is shaped before a child hits 5. We need to get them young. Free preschool would take a financial burden off of families and hopefully remove stress allowing for a more active involved parents.

Looking for some easy replies to my last post people… A, B or C.

Big_g I will give you answer. You’re looking for C and I agree mental health is a big issue that needs to be addressed. The problem is, like most of you, you are boiling it down to one solution.

It should be very clear by now that some compromise is needed by all sides. If a group of like-minded outdoorsman can’t even agree, how on earth will the general public. I would also add, that if a group of like-minded outdoorsman can’t get mostly on the same page then we are fighting each other and it probably won’t end well. As I’ve said before, we need to work at this from multiple angles to have any success. Here’s my offering at a solution:

1) Regulate the AR and other fully automatic / military style weapons. Not saying you can’t own one and enjoy your hobbies, but there should be a waiting period and significant background check for these weapons capable of mass destruction.

2) Get Federal funds to strengthen security at all schools. Armed guards, bullet proof glass, locking doors, single monitored entrances, ect. We can do this without making it feel like a prison if done right.

3) Get Federal funding for vastly improved mental health services. On-site mental health therapists in schools and screening programs.

We have the ability to do these things without infringing on anybody’s rights. And I don’t think any one of these works without the others.

I am not boiling it down to one issue, I said initially… people are afraid to even address C, because it is hard… it’s easier in their minds to make guns go away… if they did go away, you still have a deranged animal on your hands with countless other options to cause mass destruction to the kids and everyone else. After C, then we should look at B, because unlike airports, schools make them selves easy targets. And now onto A… I am a sportsman and a History buff… I know exactly why the 2nd Amendment was created. It was not created so I can blow prairie dogs at 300 yards… it was created in order to keep our government by the people and for the people, blowing prairie dogs away is just a hobby, our freedom is not. Never did I say or the NRA say, sell AR’s or ANY gun to a mentally ill person, quite the opposite in fact. There are COUNTLESS laws on the books, already making it illegal to have them for persons convicted of certain crimes or shown to be mentally ill. Back to A, there is NO WAY Nik Cruz should have been allowed to buy that AR… numerous laws were broken, by him and the FBI. Let’s address this please, you have the order exactly backwards to logical thinking, but rather, dig in for a fight thinking which is what has been happening for decades. That’s a shame.

Go ahead and reverse the order. I said we need all 3, what part of that don’t you understand? I’m not even following your argument anymore… you’ve lost me.

lindyrig79 wrote:

I’m not even following your argument anymore… you’ve lost me.

The point is without the second amendment you will not or would not be a free American. Take it away, and be prepared to lose most if not all of the other rights granted Americans in the Constitution. The second amendment is the glue that hold the entire document together.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>lindyrig79 wrote:</div>
I’m not even following your argument anymore… you’ve lost me.

The point is without the second amendment you will not or would not be a free American. Take it away, and be prepared to lose most if not all of the other rights granted Americans in the Constitution. The second amendment is the glue that hold the entire document together.

-J.

Exactly.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Big_g I will give you answer. You’re looking for C and I agree mental health is a big issue that needs to be addressed. The problem is, like most of you, you are boiling it down to one solution.

It should be very clear by now that some compromise is needed by all sides. If a group of like-minded outdoorsman can’t even agree, how on earth will the general public. I would also add, that if a group of like-minded outdoorsman can’t get mostly on the same page then we are fighting each other and it probably won’t end well. As I’ve said before, we need to work at this from multiple angles to have any success. Here’s my offering at a solution:

1) Regulate the AR and other fully automatic / military style weapons. Not saying you can’t own one and enjoy your hobbies, but there should be a waiting period and significant background check for these weapons capable of mass destruction.

2) Get Federal funds to strengthen security at all schools. Armed guards, bullet proof glass, locking doors, single monitored entrances, ect. We can do this without making it feel like a prison if done right.

3) Get Federal funding for vastly improved mental health services. On-site mental health therapists in schools and screening programs.

We have the ability to do these things without infringing on anybody’s rights. And I don’t think any one of these works without the others.

I totally agree with 2 and 3.

Number one’s where you loose not gun advocates, but constitution advocates like myself. A semi auto ar is legal to own, just as a wood stocked semi auto firearm is. A full auto firearm isn’t legal for a common citizen to own. It’s hard for me, as well as other constitution advocates to not get snippy or pissy about comment’s concerning regulating fully automatic firearms, full autos are already not legal to own, unless you meet the legal criteria.

The common ground is 2 and 3.

It’s hard to have a conversation about number 1, when there’s a misunderstanding of facts and current law’s.

We totally agree on 2 and 3, that’s where it needs to start imo. We will probably never agree on number one and I’m OK with that, as long as we can agree to disagree and move towards progress on what’s common ground.

big_g wrote:

Let’s address this please, you have the order exactly backwards to logical thinking, but rather, dig in for a fight thinking which is what has been happening for decades. That’s a shame.

This is the part I was referring to. We have not been doing any of the 3 things I have suggested for decades. And I’m well aware of the 2nd amendment. I believe in the right to bear arms – have a safe full of guns at my house.

basseyes wrote:

We totally agree on 2 and 3, that’s where it needs to start imo. We will probably never agree on number one and I’m OK with that, as long as we can agree to disagree and move towards progress on what’s common ground.

I’m with you on this Basseyes. Thanks for being level-headed and being willing to work towards a common goal.

Best thing the gun grabbers can do is make David Hogg disappear. Several videos are showing up now that aren’t good. The one where he’s ranting in expletives about “f*** them” and “I don’t give a S***” is hilarious. Then the coaching video and the one about not getting into some fancy college. Kids actually a hoot I bet when he gets a few drinks in him.

lindyrig79 wrote:

Go ahead and reverse the order. I said we need all 3, what part of that don’t you understand? I’m not even following your argument anymore… you’ve lost me.

I don’t understand ? I am arguing ? You asked this question over a month ago… do you still need an answer ? I posted a simple A,B,C question, you came back with 1,2,3 in reverse order. I asked you to pick one to start with initially, that will have the most immediate and lasting impact, you act like I am typing in Chinese ? Then basseyes posts pretty much what I was saying and you see the light… no wonder your lost. Go back and read your initial question and how you thought a “school land security” division of the FBI was a good idea… it is… then 17 pages later your #1 is regulate AR and fully auto weapons ??? Let me know when you get that full auto… you are lost.