They might work as a deterrent, but let's not forget both of the high-profile recent shootings were engaged with by armed officers/security guards either before they entered the premises (Uvalde) or after they quickly entered the premises (Buffalo).
Someone with an AR15 and full tactical gear is going to leg up on any police officer/security guard unless that person is a perfect crack shot as they are one not fully expecting it, and two under equipped.
Its not really comparable to sporting events which are for-profit endeavors that can afford the massive security investment. That burden can't be passed on to local school boards. An NFL game with 50 or fully staffed cops and metal detectors is a huge deterrent, a school with a metal detector and maybe one armed cop isn't. We are talking about a school board in a city where the median income is about 66% of the average American household income and 15% of the city lives in poverty. These schools are already understaffed, have underpaid teachers and likely have kids who go to bed hungry. The solution has to come from higher levels of government (the feds and state). These schools have so many issues they have to address on a daily basis before even grasping the chance they could be one of the unlucky schools to have a psycho with easy access to guns show up. The more a local underfunded school district is asked to spend on security, the more it takes away from hiring quality teachers, new/up to date text books and meal programs. The solutions have to come from higher up government or adequate government funding passed down allowing them to finance high level security.
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all valid points, i fully understand the overall funding issue and how we'll need government intervention. i wish i could be optimistic and say i believe that that's going to happen. i'm studying to be a teacher and it's definitely daunting thinking about the terrible funding on top of these mass shootings; there's so many problems at hand. i'm not tunnel visioned on the metal detectors yall, was just saying they could be one of many safety precautions.
my grandma is the perfect example of the kind of mindset we have to deal with. any time my dad tries to argue with her about how there should be background checks/training for guns, she instantly calls it socialism or that we're infringing on the second amendment.
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Look, I get the desire of some people to try to think there are more reasonable solutions that don't require trying to convince ardent gun rights supporters and republicans that it's either serious gun reform or nothing will change. I just have a hard time seeing anything but serious gun reform changing this devastating pattern. Seems anything else is trying to stop a leak in a dam with ducktape. Canada and the United States are probably the two countries closest to each other culturally, yet have a dramatic difference in these types of instances and gun violence overall. We consume the same media essentially. Play the same violent video games, watch the same violent Hollywood films, listen to the same Nihilistic music, all things people blamed Columbine on, yet why does Canada have a gun violence rate of about 20% of the United States? I'd say its primarily gun control laws, but you could also look at better access to mental health experts and more overall social services. But, the difference isn't Canada's barricades it schools better and has armed guards.
As a Canadian, I know we have our issues too which I've pointed to (we've had our spree/mass killers too, just at a dramatically lower rate even when adjusted for population). No society is perfect or free from violence. But, as a frequent visitor to the United States, who used to love the idea of moving there at certain points, I'm now horrified but what I see on a frequent basis. Does that mean I won't visit anymore? No. Has it altered how I view the United States as a country? Absolutely.
Topic: Another Mass Shooting At A School (Read 2012 times)