By Ava Breslin With the appalling mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, as well as the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Dec. of 2012, families and officials have been asking themselves and their school boards if there should be armed guards at schools to protect the students from any potential danger. However, the idea of putting these armed guards in schools seems very counter-intuitive and only increases the chance of harm to students. Of course, this subject is quite tricky to navigate. One reason is the complicated debate over whether this is a federal or state issue. Those who think it is a federal problem want all schools across the nation to have armed guards. The parents and adults who think it is more of a local decision think that each community knows their districts better than anyone, and the community itself should decide which ones have that type of security and which ones don’t. If anything, the more logical choice would be to have each school decide what they think is necessary because if these guards are needed, they aren’t needed everywhere. The families who want armed guards in their schools obviously want their children to be safe from potentially harmful events. A statement from theguardian.com said Wayne LaPierre, the vice president of the National Rifle Association, wants there to be guards because “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” LaPierre believes that doing this is the “one thing that will keep people safe.” Obviously, someone from the NRA would be promoting adding more guns to schools, but LaPierre obviously doesn’t understand how putting these weapons into schools can counteract what they are trying to achieve: safety for today’s youth. The flip side of the spectrum are people who are against having guns in schools. They have stressed their unease over the possibility of armed personnel in schools. These officers that are put in schools should not be there due to the possibility that they could stir up situations like students getting into physical fights and somehow access guards’ guns, as well as the terrifying possibility of this guard acting out and hurting students. While these are all extreme cases, they are also scenarios that people like Mr. LaPierre need to keep in mind as they continue to push armed officers in schools. Although parents and guardians who want armed guards are trying to keep safety in mind, they might not be taking into account the levels of danger that can come along with it. Along with extra danger, the cost of putting armed police or guards in schools is very high considering there are more efficient ways of keeping students and faculty safe. According to businessinsider.com, the cost of putting at least one trained police officer in each public school in the nation would be over five billion dollars ($5,435,923,170.00). Not to mention if schools were looking to add another officer, the cost would just about double to almost 11 billion dollars ($10,871,846,340.00). Businessinsider.com continues to explain that the math involved is quite simple. One police officer’s average salary is about 54 thousand dollars, and there are over 98 thousand public schools in the country. If you multiply those together, that’s where the whopping $5 billion comes from. While people think it is worth spending this kind of money on armed guards, the United States Department of Education has 68 billion dollars as an annual budget, and paying for these guards would take a large sum out of the budget. Instead of placing these expensive guards in schools, there are other ways to help decrease the number of horrible shootings that occur. An alternative to this solution is increasing the criteria needed in order to get a gun. According to NBC News, only 13 states require a background check when purchasing any and all kinds of weapons. Also, 40 percent of guns in the US are sold without any background check and “no questions asked.” Without these gun laws strictly in place, everyone is more susceptible to possible gun danger. This would be a more effective way of protecting our students, rather than adding more guns to the problem. After the irrefutable facts these sources have shown, it should be crystal clear that guns have no place in our schools. Logically, adding more guns to protect students from guns doesn’t make much sense. There has to be another way to protect today’s youth without potentially causing more damage. Photos Courtesy Of: courant.com; fireengineering.com
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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