Addressing school mass murders
By Chuck Klein. March 7th, 2018
First we tried posting signs forbidding guns on campus. That didn’t seem to work very well as only the good guys complied. Next came lockdowns. When shots are fired in a school, all doors are locked; great except for the room where the shooter is. The third plan was to Run, Hide, Fight — only no one was allowed anything to fight with. It’s past time to face reality: All the rules, statutes, restraining orders, 911 calls, hand to hand combat technics, aerosol spray Mace, run & hide or other pseudo protective measures will never equal the effectiveness of a firearm when faced with an unwarranted and deadly criminal attack.
Suggestions for addressing school mass murders:
1) Post in schools, signs with wording to the effect: “School Employees and Others May be Armed” while removing all “No Guns Allowed” and “Gun Free Zone” signs;
2) Allow vetted volunteers (parents and others), with special training, to roam the school campuses, while armed. Utilizing trained volunteers (who better than those with children in the school systems) will significantly reduce the cost and difficulty of hiring qualified security guards and/or police officers.
3) Encourage non-armed volunteers to also patrol the school campuses. All volunteers, armed or unarmed, should not be dressed different than the school’s teaching/custodial staff. Unique uniforms not only allow a criminal to keep track of the volunteers, but would be akin to wearing a sign: “shoot me first”.
4) All of these volunteers must be required NOT to let-on whether they are armed or not. This, coupled with the posting of the suggested signage would, for all intents and purposes, substantially increase the perceived number of armed civilians on school grounds. Knowing there are armed persons about, but not knowing who they are will create a significant deterrent to anyone contemplating an attack on schools.
5) These parents and adult volunteers would be encouraged to mingle with and converse with the students which would be an added bonus of informal mentoring.
Chuck Klein is a former police officer, NRA Certified Firearms Instructor, active member: International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, author of Guns in the WorkPlace and many other books, columns and articles.
Chuck Klein
Georgetown, OH
http://chuckklein.com