lastlight
Well-known member
Really, that's the answer. There are roughly 130k k-12 schools in the US. If we put two armed guards at a cost of 100k/year for the two of them, that is $13 billion/year. Let's say there is a school shooting every week, round it to 50. So in any one year a school has about a 0.04% chance of a shooter walking into it. The average guard would not ever see a shooter walk in.
And if it was well known that schools were too well defended, the mass shooters would choose a different target, like a mall, theater, grocery store, etc.
I doubt the majority of the public feels they should spend 13 billion a year, so that AR weapons can remain legal and easily purchased. My guess is some other solution will emerge.
What I really wanted to say (but for emotional reasons is so controversial) is arm the classrooms/teachers, however without force and with proper training. Imagine if the Uvalde teacher had a fingerprint activated gun safe with a firearm to shield herself and the children instead of nothing. If people are more uncomfortable with this idea than they are helpless teachers and children being gunned down then I can't have a further discussion on the topic, because banning any weapon type isnt going to work in the short term as there are already millions of semi auto rifles in homes all across America. No one is or should go door to door to confinscate them.
Still to your point about the cost its couch pennies compared to what our goverment spends on foreign intervention endless wars. But keep flying the Ukraine flag at your house if that makes you feel good inside. Not aiming this at you directly just what I see in neighborhoods next to all the other virtue signaling BS signs.
For the record I support background checks that actually work (mental health) and raising the age limit to purchase certain semi auto rifles to 21 as long as they raise the age limit to go die in a useless war to 21 as well.
I don't think any solution will ever emerge because this issue is so polarizing and people want the easiest fix in everything. You have to ask yourself if you want your children going to school with or without guns in the classroom safely locked up and used by trained and willing teachers, or if you would rather take the risk in them being a victim of a school shooting because we will never be able to rid of all the guns in this country nor should we. I have a young daughter soon starting elementary school and we are looking for the most safe/secure school in Idaho to send her. Its about RIGHT NOW for me and my wife, not some pipedream solution that will take a decade to implement.