The NRA plan to have armed police in every school is not very well thought out. At a minimum, the clearest solution is to reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban.
What if the next place a tragedy occurs is a hospital, a church ,a shopping mall, a grocery store, a Wal-Mart, a Home Depot or wherever? Will the NRA call for armed police to be in each of those locations?
Here are some of the immediate problems I see with the NRA plan:
1. When is the armed police officer at the school? Before school, after school, at activities? How can an armed police officer be at the football team's practice and the swimming teams practice at the same time?
2. What about school buses and bus stops? Many children lime up every morning in groups of 20 or more at a bus stop and as many as 100 are on a bus. Will an armed police officer be patrolling each bus stop and on each school bus?
3. What about events like school plays and sporting contests. Will an armed police officer attend every school play? Will they attend every sporting event from 6th,7th and 8th grade sports to freshman teams to JV to Varsity?
4. What about field trips? Will an armed police officer attend each field trip?
5. What will the cost be? Will they be just a security guard or actually be a police officer who will have attended a certified academy approved by law? If they are police will they receive full benefits including retirement? If they are police who will supervise them? Who will write the rules and procedures? How much will insurance premiums be altered?
6. How will they be armed? Will they just have pepper spray and a taser or a sidearm or a shotgun or an assault rifle? Will they have arrest powers? If they are busy processing a child for an arrest (drugs or similar) who will stand watch?
The list of questions goes on and on. The NRA's idea is stupid. At least just reinstate the assault weapons ban.
There is one huge caveat that I want to point out and support. If people do genuinely enjoy shooting an AR-15 (or similar) for sport or fun those weapons should be available at a shooting range or other approved facility for access there and return there when finished. If you want to go shoot a gun at the range then leave it at the range when done. No one needs an AR-15 in their home.