Posted on 02/18/2018 5:01:33 AM PST by Kaslin
After days of bitter hurt, anger, deep savage argument, and plenty of non-thinking social media trolls blurting whatever comes to mind through their thumbs, it’s time we as Americans begin a genuine discussion about how to stop the next school shooting from occurring.
It’s important that we do this even though gun deaths are by no means the most dangerous form of death in America today.
In 2017, with 300,000,000-plus guns in the hands of Americans, there were 15,549 gun deaths. This ranks less than half the number of automobile deaths even though there are fewer cars in existence than guns. In 2017, there were 253,000,000 cars in existence and 41,000 auto deaths.
Nonetheless, the rhetoric is so loud and the anger so tightly wound that a way forward needs to begin. Genuinely good people on both sides of this issue disagree. Pro-gun people believe that owning a gun is one step of many in helping to keep their families safe and their government from becoming too tyrannical. Anti-gun people believe that the mere existence of a gun is a danger to all. But note that both sets of people desire safety in general.
With very little expertise, but with a robust research ability, my staff and I began looking at this issue this week from the perspective of what could be done that would be tangible, but also acceptable to both sides of the discussion. Here’s seven simple steps that can and should be implemented overnight across the country and in similar fashion school shootings would be eliminated. This list is not exhaustive but is a starting point where good-willed people can come together to make a significant difference now.
This maintains such common sense it's impossible to believe that it doesn’t already happen. This is a bigger failure in the era of post-Columbine than the popularity of the AR-15. How do the largest schools in our nation (Stoneman Douglas is one of the largest at over 3,000 students) not have access points controlled through a metal detector daily? Our courts, government buildings, airports, sports stadiums, conventions, and plenty of other public gatherings demand them.
2. Enforce Everything: Oddly those calling for more laws to be added to the already overly tufted books of law regarding firearms may not realize just how many laws already exist. Simple enforcement of existing laws would cut down on uncounted numbers of people owning guns, possessing guns, and utilizing guns. This is particularly true in the area of those with mental health issues. Begin doing what laws already state must be done, and do so like our children’s lives depend on it.
3. Perform Active Shooter Drills: In many school districts in the nation earthquake drills are performed. No children have died in earthquakes at an American school in years but the drills go forward. “Sequester and Hide” (and then get your cell phone out and begin "facebook-LIVE-ing”) should be replaced with “Barricade, Attack, & Survive.” Young people should be aware of how quickly they can move a teacher’s desk and their own to protect against a shooter. These should be practiced and drilled at minimum in comparison to earthquake drills.
4. Reinforce Doors, Windows, Buses, Locks: Though these things left to themselves were installed and still did not stop the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, they are able to stop some of the carnage. At the Stoneman Douglas high school, the shooter attempted to shoot through the reinforced glass of the classrooms in an attempt to shoot victims outside the building, but was unable to because of the technology of the glass. That piece of hardened, thickened glass saved lives.
5. Recruit Retired Military & Law Enforcement: The number of qualified public safety professionals that live in our communities is surprising. These friends and neighbors have already received certification and weapons training. Most of them (unless they become criminals) are already allowed to own, possess, and carry firearms. Having them operate the access points at all schools, check every backpack and bag carried onto the premises, and engage every threat be it a firearm, a pocketknife or any other form of contraband — would not only ensure a safer school campus, but also a more rule following, law abiding one. Drugs, porn, and other forms of disruptive materials would be filtered out of the school campus environment on the threat of being discovered every day by the school security professional.
6. Arm All Appropriate Personnel: Giving teachers, coaches, and administrators (only the ones who wish to) the right to protect themselves on campus is a backstop to all other methods. But it is a genuine deterrent nonetheless. If only 5-10% of staff were also armed, certified, and properly trained, there would be no threat that first got through the detectors, security professionals, and the hallways that would still be allowed complete and utter access to the student body. Instead of a coach taking bullets, giving up his life to protect his students, numbers of teachers and coaches would be ready to confront any threat that made it to their area of the campus.
7. Publicize Consequence: The mere knowledge of this list of obstacles to any attacker may not completely dissuade them. But since it was readily apparent that this list of steps would have actually saved some if not all of the lives in Florida this week, one thing can be easily understood. Any individual who decides to try something under these guidelines runs a much larger threat of being caught, captured, and killed if he tries it. So talk about it openly. Do the drills, teach the kids to fight for their own survival, tell the predators in advance that if they choose to attack a school it is open war on them, and before they ever have the chance to enter the facility the daunting challenge they will face will likely be a price too steep for them to be willing to pay.
Israel has already put some of these steps into practice and the nation has seen almost zero school attacks since adopting them.
None of these steps infringe upon law-abiding people’s Second Amendment rights.
All of these steps attempt to stop and engage mentally ill or deliberately belligerent attackers.
This list would make an immediate impact on every school that adopts them.
No common sense American can deny their effectiveness.
Our kids are worth it!
The football assistant coach Aaron Feis who was also a security person at the school and died blocking the kids with his body SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARMED.
According to Feis’ Facebook page, he lived in Coral Springs and was a fan of Ronda Rousey and Tim Tebow, the TV show “Duck Dynasty” and the movie “Faith of Our Fathers.” Among his posts were a quote from Billy Graham, “A coach will impact more young people in a year than the average person does in a lifetime,” and tributes to the U.S. military and an advertisement for a “Concealed Carry Jacket” with a handgun poking out of a pocket.
So Coach Feis Could have saved most of the kids…Coach Feis SHOULD HAVE saved all those people.
But Coach Feis WAS NOT ALLOWED TO CARRY HIS LICENSED PISTOL.
That was a big mistake they made.
I agree with step 5...but this although this SOUNDS good, it is not only the military and cops that can shoot. Many cops fire their gun once a year to requalify, many military personnel were in logistics or other clerical jobs. We need trained people that can shoot straight. I shot at a cop qualifying range every week. I outshot 90% of them. And I was “just a salesman.”
Close all the schools.
Remove the ‘FREE FIRE ZONE’ signs.
The most important thing: stop publicizing and glorifying the shooters. Every time a school shooter’s face and name are broadcast on the MSM, the prospective next school shooter is pushed a little closer to action, to give his life meaning.
The LE professionals will know who he is, for study, but the MSM should get out of the business of goading future school shooters to action. After the first 24 hours or so, the shooters’ faces should not be shown, or only pixilated, and their names should be replaced by “the Parkland monster” or something similar.
Take the instant personal fame out of the equation, and the motivation will drop to nil.
Has anyone studied whether school shootings have increased since the gun-free zone idea was applied to them? As it sure seems that way to me!
Along with the FBI, those people who passed laws or regulations keeping Coach Feis from carrying his licensed pistol have blood on their hands.
May the children and grandchildren of these bureaucrats and politicians mock and ridicule them for the rest of their lives..
... or Vermont. Everyone has a gun and nobody shoots their neighbor.
But none of them is "simple" in execution.
Reinstate Christian prayers in the classroom. Do everything possible to rebuild the American family. Quit teaching deviancy and transgenderism. Build large reform schools for all cretins.
Until the politicians who create these free-fire zones are arrested and thrown in jail the killings will continue.
There are always maniacs who want to destroy. The politicians’ response is to create gun-free zones where law abiding citizens are disarmed so they can be attacked. By disarming law-abiding citizens the politicians wontedly empower and support those who murder them.
Do they really believe that someone who is willing to break the law and kill others will obey the law and not use a gun?
Tyrants use criminals and criminal actions to further their agenda.
Arm the teachers and security guards. Jail the politicians.
Democrats don’t want to solve the gun problem anymore than they want to solve DACA or chronic unemployment or voter fraud because it is how they get elected.
NOT
I've thought that the networks be required once a week to put up a National Cowards List of all these losers.
It’s a “simple” way to “eliminate school shootings overnight,” to quote the headline.
My point, if anyone missed it, is that there are no simple or easy solutions. The quest for a simple fix - like finding the “antidote” to a disease in “Star Trek” - is a distraction.
This author proposes a variety of measures - none of them a “simple step” - that could be useful. Other writers have mentioned additional good ideas. None of it will happen, in my opinion, because the institutional authorities of schooling are either ideologically opposed or just can’t be bothered.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.