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“School personnel shouldn’t be told that the only help they will get from Harrisburg to make schools safer is the option to carry a loaded gun around their students. Harrisburg can help schools be safer by giving them adequate funding so schools can hire trained security professionals like school resource or police officers should school professionals feel they need it, and counselors and support staff for students.” – J.J. Abbott in Pennsylvania teachers could carry guns under Senate bill [via mcall.com]

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37 COMMENTS

  1. How about all three armed staff, school resource officers and couselers. They are not mutually exclusive.

    • No, because it’s the “loaded guns around students” part that scares this pussy.
      See, loaded guns carried by amateurs, is the equivalent of pit bulls owned by rednecks off the leash. Only Cesar Millan is allowed to have dogs around our kids.

      • Wait, he says loaded guns around students is a bad idea and then goes on to say he prefers police officers? Ummm, did we stop arming our police officers?

  2. Harrisburg could, of course, do both.

    But, by approving teacher carry – and even if they provide funding for training and occasional range time and practice ammo – they will save taxpayer money compared to putting armed officers in every school. They will also, not incidentally, likely wind up with a higher coverage density. (Assuming more than one teacher per school chooses to carry.)

  3. At least there is a recognition of the value of armed response. A bit elitist in tone, but it’s better than nothing.

  4. I work as an SRO. It is not enough. I also am a firearms and driving instructor for the dept. which are part time gigs so I am out of the building minimum 4 days a month for instructing purposes. That is not even taking into account time missed for court, covering the nearby elementary schools, etc. Also, If I am on one side of the school when shooting starts on the complete other side, who knows how many will be shot and killed before I can make it to where the gunfire is erupting. Also, my patrol rifle was taken when I transferred to the schools. I have a Glock 22 to engage a threat with. If he has a rifle and annihilates me in one of the 100 yard hallways, where does that leave the school?

    Armed staff would be a good solution. Just as out on the street, you can’t always depend on LE to save you for many different reasons.

    • Tile Floor,

      When it comes to police coverage, remember to consider political shenanigans as well. I live in a county with a population of about 350,000 with an extremely large number of families making over $200,000 per year. You would think my County Sheriff receives plenty of tax dollars and would respond to ALL calls in my county. Nope. My County Sheriff will NOT respond to calls in my township between midnight and 7 a.m. Why? Because my township does not pay the Sheriff $150,000 per year to provide a deputy for our township.

      Instead, the State Police post in the NEXT COUNTY OVER 28 MILES AWAY responds to emergency calls in our township during overnight hours. Absolutely nothing stops any local, regional, or state government from doing the same thing in your village, city, township, school district, county, or state.

    • “Also, If I am on one side of the school when shooting starts on the complete other side, who knows how many will be shot and killed before I can make it to where the gunfire is erupting.”

      What was that I heard once or twice about when seconds count?

  5. School personnel shouldn’t be told that the only help they will get from Harrisburg…

    Starting your tirade under a false-dilemma pretense. Brilliant.

    • Then he goes off on the only help he will accept.

      Grade A hypocrite that isn’t interested in solutions that solve the problem, just half measures that feel good.

      Waste of space.

  6. Having an armed police officer in school is racist. Didn’t you know that? Just ask Madision, WI.

  7. I’m waiting for the great suggestion to adopt maximum security prison guidelines to public schools for safety.
    Locked gateways, guards shuffling students in shackles from class to class, random shakedowns of rooms, random searches of students and lockers, yard and perimeter guards with rifles.

    Freedom is scary after all and the last thing any reasonable person wants is to expand freedom in any way shape or form. Think of the children and look at this baby.

    • Most school districts are clogged with way too many useless administrators.
      In many cases, they outnumber the teachers.
      Most get hired because of their Teacher’s Union brown-nosing skills.
      There should be federal limits on the Teacher/Administrator ratio.

      • If we don’t have administrators, who will submit the weekly reports of the campus squirrel population shifts or monitor the use of our new gender – neutral extra bathrooms?

    • That’s what it’s going to come to, and if the Dems get their way it’ll go all the way through college (Hillaryschool, just like Obamacare, shall be a forced program where you still foot the bill). Haven’t you noticed how modern government buildings (schools, courthouses, jails, rec centers, etc) all look exactly the same nowadays?

    • Shire-man,

      I am waiting for … maximum security prison guidelines [in] public schools for safety. Locked gateways, guards shuffling students in shackles from class to class, random shakedowns of rooms, random searches of students and lockers, yard and perimeter guards with rifles.

      Most of that quite literally already exists in many schools. The only missing elements are literal shackles on the students (they have virtual shackles) and the rifles on perimeter guards. (They have perimeter guards — they are simply not armed yet.)

    • No cavity searches?

      Yeah freedom is scary, its also not for the faint of heart, the lazy, or the useful idiots, and if we are to protect it we can not allow such fools to vote easily.

  8. did he say he doesn’t want loaded guns around the kids, and police officer in the same sentence? weird…

    • I seem to recall recently reading an article that stated that the police officers in the autonomous Pittsburgh school police force were unarmed. If armed response is required, they have to wait for support from the municipal police departments.

      Here’s an op-ed from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (of all places) calling for the arming of the SROs.

      • That is true and the PO’s placed in schools cannot carry either . Yet I have watched youth walk around metal detectors while the security personnel check their phones or act all buddy buddy with the students.

  9. Ok, you can have your trained security, but now we need to cut $500,000 from each of your school’s budgets. So every teacher will have to take a $10,000 salary cut, administrative positions will take a $20,000 cut, and support staff will lose $3,000. But you’ll all FEEL safe, and that’s PRICELESS.

  10. I don’t think PA parents even assume that the school system will teach their kids (something other than fing liberal b.s.). I wouldn’t waste a lot of time thinking about how much they trust you to find the best method for their safety.

  11. Mr. Abbott and Gov. Wolf must have a peculiar view of school staff if they believe that they cannot be trusted to carry guns, even with police firearms training, but still believe professional security/SROs are the answer to thwarting attackers. Perhaps putting on a uniform and badge makes a vast difference in safety and effectiveness?

    • “Perhaps putting on a uniform and badge makes a vast difference in safety and effectiveness?”

      In Progressive minds? Yes.

      • It does make you a professional text-while-driving person. You can even work a laptop while driving if you “cop”.

  12. “School personnel shouldn’t be told that the only help they will get from Harrisburg to make schools safer is the option to carry a loaded gun around their students.”

    Yes, it shouldn’t be the only help, but it’s the best place to start. Pennsylvania school districts are funded by local taxes. It should be a local decision between the school board and the community that pays for it.

    The reason Pennsylvania schools don’t have the funding is because Tom( security theatre) Ridge gave away a sweet pension deal to the teacher’s union to push his own agenda of funding sport stadiums for professional sports teams.

  13. I agree, they shouldn’t be told that that’s their only option. I’ll go even further and say that voluntarily armed staff and faculty should not actually be their only option. It should definitely among their options, though.

    First, it’s their right to defend themselves. Second, it’s an option that has proven successful repeatedly.

  14. I think this is the money quote from the statement. “…and counselors and support staff for students.” You’re probably going to need it for the survivors mourning all that were lost from your ignorance.

  15. “The bill would require staff to volunteer for the armed position, hold a concealed carry permit and go through police-related firearms training determined by the board. ”

    How many school boards have the knowledge to determine what training an armed teacher? Maybe out west but not likely in a Pennsylvania city.

  16. While I was on a stakeout, I’m pretty sure I saw that guy going into The Blue Oyster Bar….

  17. According to John Lott, the best way to reduce the crime rate is policing. The second best way is firearms in the hands of citizens. I know which one would be cheaper for schools to implement.

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