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One Cop's View on School Shootings PDF Print E-mail
Written by Daniel White   
Wednesday, 17 January 2007

Ohio police officer Paul Markel knows it takes more than feel-good-do-nothing anti-gun legislation and "no guns allowed" signs to stop criminal violence.

As he explained in a recent article for PoliceOne.com:
Society's well meaning, but totally deluded sheep, are obsessed with their little white signs and placards declaring this building or that to be a "No Gun Zone" or "No Weapons Permitted".

Shiny placards, clever little signs, and policy papers don't stop crime. They might give the prosecutor one more charge to hang on the guy if he's ever brought to trial, but they don't stop crime. You can't sterilize the world.

One of the largest grassroots efforts undertaken by OFCC members has been to educate businesses who have erected "No Guns Allowed" signs. Largely, these efforts have been successful when it is pointed out that a criminal determined to break the law by harming innocents is not going to mind violating store policy prohibiting guns on premises.

Officer Markel's position is that school policies banning armed security guards or armed teachers/administrators are equally as ineffective.
...psychopaths and deviant sickos aren't dissuaded by shiny signs or placards. They can't be stopped by surveillance cameras. Any determined person can get into a public building if they try hard enough.

So, how do you stop an armed sociopath? Perhaps you stop them with a gun, wielded by a well-trained and competent good guy? Nope. Can't do that. Guns are inherently evil and any person, though well-intentioned, with a gun cannot be trusted. We can't turn our schools into armed camps. Just think of the psychological harm the children would endure being in the presence of an armed police officer.

Fully trained and armed school administrators or teachers can be just as effective at stopping a marauding madman as an armed police officer. Plus, they have the added advantage of already being there; so, for smaller communities that cannot afford to assign a police officer to the school, there is no additional expense.

As Markel points out, "shouldn't schools be guarded better than a Brink's truck?" If a police officer cannot be assigned to the school, train a few teachers or administrators. Require them to keep their firearm concealed on their person or securely locked up at all times. Even having a few trained armed parents volunteering at the school is better than allowing the violence to occur unabated. It has worked in other countries (where often even school bus drivers are armed against terrorism), it can work here. After all, if it saves the life of just one child, it is worth it.

Click here to read Officer Markel's entire article.