Putting firearms in the hands of trained faculty an answer to school shootings
I’m Just Saying by Austin Rhodes
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In the wake of yet another slaughter of innocent school kids and teachers by gunfire at the hands of a disturbed individual, we are challenged once more to find solutions.
Nothing, and I do mean nothing, will stop any killer smart enough and careful enough to plan a specific attack on specific individuals. There are, however, a few common sense, stop-gap measures that can and should be put into place. The goal to stop and prevent further attacks in these so-called “gun-free zones” are little more than target-rich killing fields. For some reason, homicidal lunatics refuse to obey the “NO GUNS ALLOWED” signs.
Two well-trained school police officers brought the bloodshed at Apalachee High School to an abrupt halt. Two officers assigned to protect 1900 students and over 100 staff.
Two recent out-of-town plane trips put me and my family up close and personal with more TSA officers than I can count. Four or five in Augusta, about two dozen each in Denver and Pittsburgh, and way more than that in Atlanta.
So, with all the security in force at airports, why do we seem to skimp on security where more of our most precious resource – our children – can be found in larger numbers than anywhere else? It makes not one bit of sense, and it needs to change.
Our schools need more officers, and staff need to be better trained to assist.
In the wake of the 1999 Columbine massacre, I questioned how safe my then second-grade daughter was sitting in her little bitty desk at National Hills Elementary School. I learned there was no officer on duty at the school – at the time –and privately owned guns, as always, were completely banned. Out of curiosity I contacted the only male I knew at the school, Principal Harry Hamm. I asked him if he knew of any of his staff who had military or law enforcement training. He told me there was one person, in fact, who actually had Green Beret training. It was Mr. Hamm himself.
I asked him if he would have a gun on campus if he were allowed by law to have one.
“You better believe it,” he said.
Obviously, such a dangerous tool would be kept under lock and key (preferably a combination lock), just like a fire axe or acidic drain cleaner. Who in their right mind can articulate an argument that a man trusted to be an elementary school principal, who was a combat veteran with Green Beret training, is not to be trusted with access to a secured firearm on school grounds?
People seem to have forgotten we have already had nearby experience with an armed nutcase intent on killing innocent school kids. In September 1988, it was Jamie Wilson pulling the trigger at Oakland Elementary School in Greenwood, SC.
What stopped him? A physical education teacher named Kat Finkbeiner, who, despite being shot in the hand and face, fought the 19-year-old gunman until other personnel could take him down. Today, some 36 years later, Wilson remains on death row for the murders of two 8-year-old students that day.
Seven children and two teachers were hit. No one ever shot back.
Give educators such as Harry Hamm and Kat Finkbeiner the ability to respond IF engaged, and maybe these rampages will begin to end. At the very least, they will be far shorter in duration and body count.
A few years ago, Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle said he was willing to offer specific training to any BOE staff who volunteer to step up in such a way. Sadly, the former superintendent rejected the offer. But we have a new superintendent now, backed by a largely conservative school board, and it is time for the Sheriff to repeat his offer. Let’s get it done!
Arm every teacher? That is impractical.
But we can give trained and certified personnel the education to respond to armed attacks in kind, reducing potential future bloodshed in the process.
