Birdnow's Aviary

February 17, 2018

School safety in wake of latest Florida shooting -- some thoughts

Dana Mathewson

I recently sent the following to my (state) Rep. I'll let you know if I get a response. Pretty sure I will. She's a good one. But this is the first time I've ever sent her anything, and this was a "cold" e-mail, didn't go through the standard website.

Dear Rep. Wills,

Regarding your latest Legislative Update, I note your comments regarding:

". . .we have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them, including passing a bill in 2014 to prevent domestic abusers from having access to firearms. While I believe we must not infringe on the constitutionally protected Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, I voted for this bill because there are cases when an individual who is truly a threat to himself or others should not possess a gun."

This is all well and good, but if you'll permit me to say so, it does very little to solve the problems such as exist in cases of mass shootings like the recent one in Broward County, FL. It focuses on the means used to carry out the attack -- the gun -- and frankly, plays right into the hands of The Left, whose goal is (as you well know) to confiscate every privately-owned gun in America.

What WILL work against school attacks (and it doesn't much matter what weapons the attacker(s) employ, is the same system that has worked for decades in Israel. I'm referring, of course, to armed guards. Leftists -- liberals, if you must -- constantly oppose this idea, of course, because they really don't want the problem solved, they want guns confiscated, and every school shooting, every dead child or teacher exhibited on TV, is grist for their mill. They advance phony arguments which any intelligent person can and should demolish. But the fact is that armed guards, or armed teachers, or any combination of the two, will solve the problem. And it won't turn schools into shooting galleries -- any more than they already are.

Why? Because the knowledge that there are armed guards in the schools will make potential shooters such as Nikolas Cruz think long and hard about attacking the school. School shooters meticulously plan their rampages, and one factor they take seriously is "What resistance am I likely to encounter?" If the answer to that question is "Lots of it," his enthusiasm for attacking a particular target is going to plummet.

There's a lot more to this, Anna, but I'm sure you get my drift. Where are these guards to come from? Retired police officers. Retired soldiers. Trained teachers with carry permits.

I'd be very happy to continue this discussion with you if you wish. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know anyway. I know you're on the "right side" of the Second Amendment because you told me so a few years ago at a Republican caucus.

Yours sincerely,

Dana Mathewson

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