Are Portland Schools Safe? (Joseph, Oakland: city hall, crime rates, transfer)

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Wait a minute.

I believe very strongly in my second amendment rights.
I am not a conservative.
I am not a liberal.
Not everybody that believes in their right to keep and bear arms is some fringe wacko.

DON"T generalize.


But.......I believe that arming teachers is the absolutely wrong way to go.

We should be protecting our kids and teachers.
Not making them protect themselves.

I don't think I generalized, Mike. I'm talking about the gun nuts, and my guess is that you are not a gun nut, nor is the VAST MAJORITY of gun owners. The gun nuts are those loud complainers who capitalize on a tragedy like what happened today to tell people that the problem is a lack of guns. Joe the Plumber is a gun nut and a tool. The sleazeball who has been telling the parents of murdered Sandy Hook kids that the whole thing was a hoax and that their kids never existed--another sleazy gun nut.

Gun nuts a'plenty in this great land of ours. What I'd really like to see is groups like the NRA speak out against these extremists who take a tragedy and capitalize on it because they want to turn the US it into some sort of Mad Max fantasy world.

[Nell Plotts]

According to the media there were two officers on duty at the school at the time that this happened. IMHO it is impossible to achieve 100% prevention when there are so many people coming and going ... some of whom are armed.

This is akin to claiming that having more highway patrol cars on the freeway will prevent all motor vehicle accidents.

[eric351982]

Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard said that if someone is willing to lose their own life, there is no stopping them from killing someone.

[BarqCider]

taking the stance of arming teachers is pretty much the same way we have been fighting war on drugs.

its not efficient and wont stop them from doing it, or at least hurting someone. im a firm believer that guns don't kill people, people who use the guns kill people.

I think if we made anyone who wants to get a gun have their background checked as if you are going for a Govt TS clearance. you, your family, everyone is questioned just in the off chance someone in that household is a bit nutty. It wont stop completely another shooting, but I can rest certain that the kid from va tech, las vegas couple, etc wouldn't get a gun if our background check systems were improved.

[EnricoV]

It's folly to think that anywhere can be made safe. It just can't.

[dent_arthur_dent]

Here in the UK I am glad I do not have to worry about my kid getting shot at school, and I'm glad they don't have to worry about it either -- school is stressful enough.

There have been a few. I think we've had about three in my lifetime. Maybe two. Dunblane was the only major one, and the response to that was to pass legislation making handgun ownership almost completely illegal in the UK.

So it's true to say you can't make any place safe, but you can certainly make them safer.

[Nell Plotts]

The actions of the police agencies, students and the community were impressive. Effective, organized and professional.

I agree with others who said that if a person with a gun is intent on shooting someone there is little that can be done about the first couple shots. After that it is a matter of limiting carnage. While it seems that the shooter committed suicide after killing the one student what I heard reported by other students indicates that he intended many more victims. Whether it was remorse by the shooter or the recognition that he was contained that led to the suicide we will never know.

[EnricoV]

My understanding is that the weapon used was a rifle, not a handgun. Nowhere is free of rifles.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Sherwoody

I have been out most of the day and am trying to get caught up. Where did you get the love rejection info?

From the news station, but it now seems that info was incorrect. It is not the first time Cagil has misreported something in her juvenile attempt at sensationalization of a news story.

[crazyme4878]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

According to the media there were two officers on duty at the school at the time that this happened. IMHO it is impossible to achieve 100% prevention when there are so many people coming and going ... some of whom are armed.

This is akin to claiming that having more highway patrol cars on the freeway will prevent all motor vehicle accidents.

You beat me too it. It sounded like the school resource officers were instrumental in this incident.

We don't need to arm teachers. The schools are already busy adjusting to this horrible new reality. Every school in America now has secured entrances to control the flow of people. Larger schools have metal detectors. And since even our last tiny school of 40 students had a resource officer, I'm guessing almost every school has one as well. These are people trained to shoot if necessary. How to shoot to maim and how to shoot to kill (and how to determine when to do so). These are people with the education, personality, and mindset to go into law enforcement. The choice between going to college and making a career of education or law enforcement are vastly different. Plus police officers have to through psychological tests to make sure they are sound and able to make the choices they have to. Not so with teachers.