Guns in school

Posted 6/25/15

Mass shootings and massacres have dominated the news, generating debate as activists for both sides of the gun rights issue vie to make America safer.

On Tuesday, the Senate’s Judiciary …

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Guns in school

Posted

Mass shootings and massacres have dominated the news, generating debate as activists for both sides of the gun rights issue vie to make America safer.

On Tuesday, the Senate’s Judiciary Committee argued over legislation that would take guns off of school premises, only to hold the vote till further study. Other than retired and off-duty police officers, those with a concealed-carry permit would be restricted under the proposal from carrying their firearm onto school property.

Although both sides could agree that children’s safety is paramount, how to go about ensuring that safety was debated for nearly three hours.

Those in opposition argued that in times of emergency, of possible tragedy, permit holders have the training to try and handle the situation, to protect students.

The magazine, Mother Jones reported on June 18 that there has been an increasing number of mass shootings. The country has experienced at least 70 mass shootings since 1982, and 33 of them came since 2006. There were seven in 2012 alone.

On the other hand, those in favor of the bill suggest more likely than a shooter coming into a school is a permit holder having an accidental discharge, or having their firearm stolen by a student. Historically, children and guns have not fared well together, often ending in a different kind of tragedy.

Everytown, a national movement to end gun violence, released a study in July of last year titled “Innocents Lost: A Year of Unintentional Gun Deaths,” and found that not only are accidental gun deaths occurring regularly, they are happening at a higher rate than anyone expected.

Collecting data not only from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but also analyzing public reports on gun deaths, Everytown found many accidental gun deaths are not ruled so, and thus are improperly reported.

The CDC reported that between 2007 and 2011, 62 children under the age of 14 were lost annually to accidental shootings from misuse and improperly stored firearms.

The Everytown study showed that from December 2012 to December 2013, there were at least 100 children who died from “unintentional shootings.”

There is no denying that in either scenario, children are the ones suffering, and the only similarity between them is the presence of guns.

Although every American has their right to own and carry a gun, do they have the right to put other people’s children at risk?

There are many other places concealed-carry permit holders can not bring their firearm – the State House, a court house – for safety purposes, and one should wonder why that same level of protection isn’t afforded our state’s children.

Should there ever be a situation in which a shooter enters one of our schools, there are other methods through which to subdue a perpetrator, and there are already many initiatives in place to avoid such a situation.

Many schools do have trained school resource officers on the premises in a case of emergency. Doors are locked for restricted and screened access to schools, and for some schools, all visitors must have gone through a BCI check.

When it comes to the safety of students, if you wouldn’t let an unknown person into the building, why would you let an unknown gun?

Why would you add unknown variables, and risks, instead of adding more safety measures?

Senators and speakers alike brought up some of the most recent mass shootings at Sandy Hook, and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and how they could have been less tragic if someone had been armed, but the reality is they would have been the least tragic and possibly avoidable altogether had each shooter hadn’t access to a gun in the first place.

If unknown guns are allowed onto school property, they could become accessible to every student that attends that school.

Even if a permit holder is trained in firearms, chances are the students aren’t, and in their hands, accidents can and have happened.

As the bill never made it out of committee, the debate is sure to continue in the next session. Hopefully, by then, more tragedies won’t have been added to a horrendous list.

Comments

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  • PaulHuff

    When will people realize that "gun free zones" only ensure there are unarmed victims present. Criminals don't follow the law.

    Saturday, June 27, 2015 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Guns don't kill student's spirits, schools do.

    Monday, June 29, 2015 Report this

  • davebarry109

    Totally irrational fear of guns. Also, Everytown is a biased organization so no self-respecing person should champion any study conducted by them. Hardly peer reviewed. Between Dec 2012 and Dec 2013 THOUSANDS of children died in home accidents. With 300 million guns in America, the fact that only 100 children die in gun accidents is fantastic. Compare these deaths to those who drown in pools. No one should have a pool unless they pay for a lifeguard.

    Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Report this