Ohio School District to Allow Firearms for Security

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/11/a-means-to-protect-ohio-school-board-votes-unanimously-to-allow-custodial-staff-to-carry-handguns/

- An appropriate and, given the current climate in which those who argue the facts are excoriated, a very bold move.

"The Montpelier Exempted Village Schools Board of Education on Wednesday voted 5-0 to allow its custodial staff to carry handguns on school property.

The affirmative vote will allow four custodians to take handgun training and carry handguns at the K-12 campus at Williams County School. The School board had been considering arming employees for nearly six months but first announced the plans during Wednesday’s meeting.

School officials say having armed personnel on campus will help prevent incidents like the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn. in December. The school system is believed to be the first in Ohio to allow staff to be armed.

The school district will reportedly pay for a two-day training class March for the employees. Instructors with the Tactical Defense Institute of West Union, Ohio, will give them a defense class on handgun use in Montpelier.

“Sitting back and doing nothing and hoping it doesn’t happen to you is just not good policy anymore,” Superintendent Jamie Grime told The Toledo Blade. “There is a need for schools to beef up their security measures…Having guns in the hands of the right people are not a hindrance. They are a means to protect.”

School board President Larry Martin said the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children and six staff were killed, expedited the school board’s decision to arm its staff........"

In the comments at the bottom of the linked article, I noticed one that in fact did make a lot of sense. Those who are armed should only utilize faculty restrooms. Yes, we all know that one should never allow a firearm to be left behind, but this does not negate the fact that this does in fact happen. Even those who carry firearms every day at work such as cops have (Rarely, but in schools no such mistakes can occur) done this. In the highly unlikely event that a firearm is left behind, we would want to know that an adult, and not a student, discovers the weapon.

The intellectual hubris against firearms that exists among educators is indeed pathetic. To illustrate just how sick one's mind can become after years of reinforcing anti-gun ideas. I submit the following anecdote of mine from a previous post:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2012/09/deaf-students-sign-gesture-too-weapon.html

"I am reminded of an incident to which I was assigned back in my days as a Police Bomb Technician. A local High School had received a threat. We responded, performed a threat assessment, took measures that we felt were appropriate, and notified the School Principal that were confident that the school could return to its schedule. With the investigation to identify the actor having been turned over to detectives, we went to the main office in order to take some necessary information for our reports. While waiting for the Principal to finish a telephone conversation, we were engaged in conversation by the Vice-Principal. He was a nice enough guy, but his comments betrayed the sheep mentality that too many of us have today. The gentleman remarked that the Principal was not sure, once he had been notified about the threat, whether or not he was going to report the threat to the police. "Because, he was worried about - (Then whispering to us) the guns." (meaning our firearms and those of the local police".

Those who now me personally can imagine how indescribably steamed I got at the thought that a man who is responsible for the safety of his students would be pridefully stupid enough to entertain the possibility of ruling out making notifications to the police. He had greater concern that the cops would then enter the school while in possession of firearms than he did about the possibility that a destructive device may have been placed in the school. Nothing flips my lid more than a mixture of pride and stupidity gift-wrapped to look like honest concern (Please apply that to the School Officials in the case of the deaf boy). Needless to say, I made no comment and blank-stared the man until he got the hint. I was in uniform and thus representing my employer, so I felt that debate was not appropriate. I saved my anger for the parking lot and the presence of my coworkers."