Thursday, October 05, 2006

Heartbreak and Political Hay

In regards to the recent rash of school shootings, I find it ironic that it is the last one, the one at the Amish school, that has garnered the most attention and discussion. I feel this way because the Amish are the least likely to do anything about such tragedies. They are pacificistic people, who shun modern conveniences and technology. Can you imagine being "buzzed in" to an Amish schoolhouse? Yeah, me neither. On the other hand, I think the Amish will continue to accept the consequences of living by their choices.

But of course the government must step in for the rest of us to "fix" the mess that it created in the first place. Now this is hearsay from the radio, but it seems a government representative from Wisconsin is already calling for school personnel to have access to guns. I was greatly hurt to hear Mark Schwab, filling in for the regular drive-time radio host on WTAM 1100, say that people who support this idea belong on "The Dukes of Hazzard." So much for reasoned discourse. At that point I got disgusted and turned off the radio, but thought better of it and turned it back on to hear what else was said. A caller was trying to explain to Schwab and sidekick Allison, who I don't think was hired for her brains, that there are some teachers who work as park rangers during the summer, and are more than capable of handling guns. After the caller convinced the bright lights at WTAM that teachers can indeed be compatible with other interests and professions, Schwab started on how he can't wrap his brain around the other logistics involved with such an idea. Such as where the gun(s) would be stored, who would have charge of and access to them, etc.

Well, I have one simple answer for some of this problem. Surely there are already some teachers in the public schools who have concealed carry permits. Let them start carrying their guns to school. Then, the gun will be stored: on their hips, and the persons in charge of the gun will be: themselves. Yes, there are big scary laws and scary signs about schools being "gun-free" zones. Well, that didn't scare any of the people who decided an unarmed school was a good place to start shooting their gun, did they? For that matter, most of the school shooting incidents I recall end with the shooter turning the gun on himself. So they really don't care anymore what the penalties are for bringing a gun into a sacred gun-free zone, do they?

Yes, there are other options that might bring the appearance of protection to a school. Already when my children attended parochial school several years ago, the school doors were locked and I had to be "buzzed in." There was also a camera at the school door so the school secretary could see I was an innocuous-looking mom, not a big scary guy with an M-60 slung over my shoulder. However, this will only give the appearance of protection.

For starters, my children's school did get a bomb threat called in. Following safety protocol, the school was evacuated and the children hiked through fields and back pathways to the local public high school to wait for their parents, while police searched the school. Now, I'm not suggesting they should have let the children stay in the building after a bomb threat was called in. However, the result was a long line of children accompanied by a smaller number of adults traipsing across an open field. That screams "target" to anyone sick enough to shoot school children anyway.

And yes, we can lock the children in the school building promptly at the beginning of the day. Will that completely stop anyone from getting in or out? Will the mailman and delivery people need to be issued a special pass to permit them to take their deliveries in? Or will there be a special bullet-proof room something along the lines of an airlock? UPS man gets permission to take the packages into the room. Once he leaves, the door locks again and the school secretary can enter to get the packages. Nifty. Be prepared for your local school fees to get hiked. Again.

In short, I'm disgusted with politicians trying to make a political "score" off of people's natural fear for their children. Stay out of it! I'm also disappointed in the knee-jerk responses of someone that I thought was a little bit smarter than that. Schwabie, I thought I knew ya.

6 comments:

Rick said...

Barb,

Schwabie is a lily white, Rocky River/Westlake raised suburbanite, is newly single, and seems to be living his dream. He can't wrap his head around the problem, because he can't conceive that it actually happens. After all, why would anyone from Westlake, North Royalton, Avon Lake, or Moreland Hills need to carry a gun? They just don't have any problems in those cities.

Airplanes are no-gun zones, too, but marshals carry guns on flights. Why not create a school marshal program? I'd rather have school marshals than school administrators.

Rick said...

BTW...my new signature line:

NWA (no weenies allowed)

Quipper, NWA

Barb the Evil Genius said...

Quipper, I'm a lily-white Bay Village-raised Suburban Princess. But I've managed to figure out that bad things can happen anywhere. Hey, the school my daughters were attending when the bomb threat was called in was in Westlake. For that matter, how many problems do they normally have in the heart of Amish country?

By a school marshal program, do you mean teachers specifically certified by training to carry a firearm, but who are not normally identified as carrying a firearm?

I don't mind so much that he couldn't get his head around something bad happening as much as the very derogatory "Dukes of Hazzard" comment. I heard a level of contempt there that I obviously can't duplicate in a blog posting.

Emily said...

One day when i was in school i noticed the "no guns" sign on the door and i started talking with my class mates about them... They all didnt understand why it was a bad idea so just to show them I did a project for the science fair =) They all oooohed and thought I'd get in trouble...
But i think its just more 'dumbing down america' if kids grow up thinking guns are bad then they can continue tommorow (so to speal) where the politicians of today left off...

KrazyinBrooklyn said...

Nobody is safe anymore, that's what I feel, if someone wanted to get into a school with high security(locked doors, cameras, and school marshals) they will find away. Am I right or am I watching to much T.V?

Rick said...

Barb: Schwabie's scope of experience seems to be very limited, so I believe he speaks out of ignorance. My guess is that Marty and Rado would have a different take.

On school marshals: yes.

Quipper, NWA