Free Republic

The funerals are already getting underway for the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, even as the city struggles with the question of what to do about such attacks. One thing seems to be off the table before the debate is fully underway, however. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, apparently responding to some comments made by the President, is ruling out the idea of having armed guards in churches, synagogues and mosques as the first line of defense against future mass shootings. How he took on the role of being the person to make such a...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Some Illinois lawmakers want to give extra money to schools that replace armed security officers with unarmed social workers and behavior therapists, an approach to safety that's far different than a national push to add police or arm teachers following a mass shooting at a Florida high school. Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, a Hillside Democrat, said he proposed the plan after hearing from advocates who argue that investing in mental health resources is the best way of treating the epidemic of violence.

New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo took part in a die-in protest against gun owners Wednesday in New York City. It would have been more impressive if the governor was not surrounded by armed guards.

Top 10 Benefits of Armed School Security Guards What is the importance of having armed security around school vicinity? Why should schools employ or deploy armed security guards? Well, below are ten benefits of armed school security guards. On 20 December 2012, 20-year old Adam Lanza opened fire on 26 people, mostly schoolchildren, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Just before the school massacre, Adam had killed his own mother. Adam committed suicide after the shooting, which was recorded to be the second deadliest in US history, behind the 2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute shootings, which claimed 32 lives....

Surprisingly, no one has done this yet, so I did some Googling. Using statistics available from five years ago, there are 98,000 public elementary schools in the United States. There are an additional 26,400 public secondary (high) schools also. This does not include private schools or charter schools (however, one might want to classify those). For now, I will leave private schools out. If you were to have at least two armed guards per school (some of these schools are quite large), and you account for population growth (these stats are five years old), you would get a new overnight...

During the 2015-16 school year, there were 83,600 public elementary and secondary schools. Of those, 35,900 have a sworn law enforcement officer who “routinely” carries a gun. That is only 42.9% of the schools. And not even all this 42.9% had an officer available at their school all the time nor did those officers carry all the time when they were there.

Guards in civilian clothes will be patrolling France’s trains from October, as a new law comes into effect following a foiled terror attack last year. The move has been planned since August last year when train passengers overpowered a man who had opened fire with a Kalashnikov on a train between Amsterdam and Paris. […] Introduction of the changes took so long due to the complicated process of rewriting French law, but also the time needed to train and equip the guards. The guards will be on patrol in pairs on regional trains, TGVs, and even on commuter lines. …

Yahoo said Chief Executive Marissa Mayer faced “specific security threats” in 2015 — and the company accordingly spent more than a half-million dollars on her personal security. Last year’s tab came to $544,061 — more than 20 times the $26,891 Yahoo had spent a year earlier on protecting Mayer and her immediate family, according to a Monday filing. “During 2015 Ms. Mayer faced specific security threats that we believed were credible,” Yahoo said in the filing. The company didn’t elaborate on the threats. By comparison, Facebook said last month it spent $6.5 million on bodyguards and other security for its...

A few years ago there was NRA ad based on a Breitbart article about Sidwell having armed security guards (unrelated to the USSS). It was posted here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2971888/posts The compost gave said no: No, Sidwell Friends School has no armed guards https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/18/no-sidwell-friends-school-has-no-armed-guards/ What is the real story?

Does the Environmental Protection Agency really need armed agents? Outside of law enforcement, federal agencies now employ over 25,000 people as armed agents. They are more than guards. They’ve become like private armies that can push around private citizens. Over 70 non-military federal agencies now have their own armed agents. You expect armed agents with the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Border Patrol. But the EPA? The Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, even the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health? Even the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban...

Folks who live in the Great Smoky Mountains have just about reached their breaking point with the federal government. “It’s almost like they are pushing to see how far they can push before the American people say enough is enough,” said Ed Mitchell, the mayor of Blount County, Tenn. “We were founded on a declaration of independence. And they are about to push the people to the line again.” Nearly a third of Blount County is inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So when the federal government shut down the park, it also shut down one of the area’s...

NEWBURYPORT — Pat Vaillancourt went on a trip last week that was intended to showcase some of America’s greatest treasures. Instead, the Salisbury resident said she and others on her tour bus witnessed an ugly spectacle that made her embarrassed, angry and heartbroken for her country.... For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, were locked in a Yellowstone National Park hotel under armed guard.

Went to the local Social Security Administration Office today with my wife who will be retiring in near future. The office is in a rural low crime area in Western Kentucky. We were greeted by two armed, courteous "Rent-a-Cops" upon entry. While waiting to be served we observed the Rent-a-Cops doing a thorough search of a an elderly lady's purse prior to her being allowed to see the Social Security worker. These guys were opening every thing in the purse, unzipping every zipper. Voicing our disapproval over the search, we departed. The entire scenario was ridiculous. Does anyone know the...

Wednesday's Poll Do you think armed guards should be on school grounds? Yes No

Putting guns in schools has struck many as a radical suggestion since the Sandy Hook massacre. But in one rural Michigan township, the police chief has come up with a thoughtful, serious plan to do just that.During his 33-year-career in law enforcement, Victor Pierce has seen the bodies of murdered children, and he’s struggled to reckon with it. After Sandy Hook, he felt compelled to do something, he says. So he decided to invite teachers and school administrators to participate in the reserve-officer-training program. After they’d completed the class, Pierce would swear them in as volunteer reserve officers, and...

An armed guard at a Georgia middle school disarmed a student who had opened fire, wounding one person. A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said. Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown about 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said. The wounded boy was taken "alert, conscious and breathing"...

(CNSNews.com) - When children from Sandy Hook Elementary school return to class in neighboring Monroe, Conn. today, they'll be entering "the safest school in America," according to the Associated Press. "Law enforcement officers have been guarding the new school, and by the reckoning of police, it is 'the safest school in America,'" the AP reported Thursday. "I think right now it has to be the safest school in America," Monroe police Lt. Keith White was quoted as saying. Having armed guards in schools is the National Rifle Association's suggestion for keeping children safe from the kind of terror that happened...

Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Wayne LaPierre has come under fire for using the state of Israel as an example of how to avert school shootings, saying the country should be emulated in its policies of having armed guards in every school. LaPierre has been speaking publicly in an attempt to deflect blame away from gun control following the Newtown school massacre, which resulted in the death of 20 young children and seven adults. “Israel had a whole lot of school shootings, until they did one thing. They said we’re going to stop it and they...

Armed security guards will be on hand at 36 unemployment offices around Indiana in what state officials said is a step to improve safety and make branch security more consistent. No specific incidents prompted the action, Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter told 6News' Norman Cox. Lotter said the agency is merely being cautious with the approach of an early-December deadline when thousands of Indiana residents could see their unemployment benefits end after exhausting the maximum 99 weeks provided through multiple federal extension periods.

NEW ORLEANS - Just blocks from a smoldering fire and walking distance from bodies floating in the floodwaters, John Crouch and Andy Guzman debated what to make for dinner. As the sun set, the men had hurriedly chained up the cast-iron fence and locked themselves into the 10,000-square-foot, gray-green Greek Revival mansion for the night. Three dogs, three handguns and five shotguns kept them company.