At a middle school in Atlanta, GA, a student opened fire with a gun. But instead of 20 or more children being killed as happened in Newtown, CT, this time no one was killed and only one injured. The injured boy was expected to be released from the hospital the same day.
The difference? An adult carrying a gun, who the story says was off-duty but happened to be there, quickly disarmed the shooter. The story doesn't say whether the adult was carrying openly, or concealing his gun as most carriers do.
At long last, we have stumbled upon a way to keep massive school shootings from claiming dozens of lives.
The solution isn't perfect, of course. The kid still managed to open fire, and one student was injured. Thankfully, that one student will recover. But this is a far better outcome than what we have seen at Newtown, in the Wisconsin Sikh temple, at the Aurora theater, etc.
After so many gun bans, waiting periods, "gun free" zones etc. that have spectacularly failed, it's a welcome relief to finally find something that has, at least this time, stopped a shooting: A good guy with a gun happened to be there.
Since our politicians have been doing so much talking about wanting to reduce these terrible mass shootings, when can we expect them to legislate rules saying that responsible adults are now allowed to carry their weapons at schools? And how about at religious temples, theaters, political rallies... come to think of it, how about anywhere?
This idea appears to have a MUCH better track record thatn everything else the politicians have tried. And it stands to reason that most law-abiding adults are mature and responsible enough to carry weapons, since law-abiding adults have a stellar record for NOT doing silly things with guns, compared to virtually every other group.
Considering that pretty much every other scheme has failed and mass shootings have gone on unimpeded while they were in force, is there ANY reason not to try this one instead?
----------------------------------------------------------
Armed guard disarmed teen in Atlanta school shooting, says police chief | The Salt Lake Tribune
Armed guard disarmed teen in Atlanta school shooting, says police chief
By KATE BRUMBACK
The Associated Press
First Published Jan 31 2013 12:58 pm • Updated 1 minute ago
Atlanta • A student opened fire at his middle school Thursday afternoon, wounding a 14-year-old in the neck before an armed officer working at the school was able to get the gun away, police said.
Multiple shots were fired in the courtyard of Price Middle School just south of downtown around 1:50 p.m. and the one boy was hit, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said. In the aftermath, a teacher received minor cuts, he said.
The wounded boy was taken "alert, conscious and breathing" to Grady Memorial Hospital, said police spokesman Carlos Campos. He was expected to be released Thursday night.
Police swarmed the school of about 400 students after reports of the shooting while a crowd of anxious parents gathered in the streets, awaiting word on their children. Students were kept at the locked-down school for more than two hours before being dismissed.
Investigators believe the shooting was not random and that something occurred between the two students that may have led to it.
Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis said the school does have metal detectors.
"The obvious question is how did this get past a metal detector?" Davis asked about the gun. "That’s something we do not know yet."
The armed resource officer who took the gun away was off-duty and at the school, but police didn’t release details on him or whether he is regularly at Price. Since 20 children and six adults were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December, calls for armed officers in every school have resonated across the country.
Hours after the Atlanta shooting, several school buses loaded with children pulled away from the school and stopped in front of a church about a half-block away. Parents tried boarding the buses. Police who initially tried to stop the parents, relented and screamed, "Let them off!" about the students.
James Bolton was at work when his sister called saying a teen had been shot at his son’s school and was in the crowd as parents began swarming the fleet of buses.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
