State PTA opposes NRA's call for armed school guards
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - The Washington State PTA says it opposes the National Rifle Association's proposal for having armed police in every school.
The gun-rights organization issued the call at a press conference Friday, breaking its silence on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school.
PTA executive director Bill Williams says children need to feel safe to do well at school, and having armed guards would probably make them feel less safe.
He says it would also be a prohibitive drain on a school district's or police department's resources, leading to increased class sizes or cuts in other services - and it probably wouldn't work.
Williams noted the slayings of four armed police officers in a Lakewood, Wash., coffee shop in 2009 in pointing out that being armed doesn't prevent violence. He says, "The more people are armed, the more likely there are going to be gun deaths."
The gun-rights organization issued the call at a press conference Friday, breaking its silence on last week's shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school.
PTA executive director Bill Williams says children need to feel safe to do well at school, and having armed guards would probably make them feel less safe.
He says it would also be a prohibitive drain on a school district's or police department's resources, leading to increased class sizes or cuts in other services - and it probably wouldn't work.
Williams noted the slayings of four armed police officers in a Lakewood, Wash., coffee shop in 2009 in pointing out that being armed doesn't prevent violence. He says, "The more people are armed, the more likely there are going to be gun deaths."
Is the NRA paying the armed guards for the schools !?
Of course not ! They are just making an empty saying !
Banning the Attack Rifles is the only practical way,why the world we need
them,we are not at war !?
So they are opposing the NRA's recommendation.. Last I checked there were some schools in this state that have a Police officer assigned to it full time
 @choliscott There are a lot of schools that have a police officer on grounds. It makes sense to me.
Here's an idea: Home schooling. Easier to protect the children, and keeps them out of the State indoctrination centers referred to as "Public Schools." As for being social, isn't that part of the role of the neighborhood?
So Just WHAT does the PTA propose...Larger and STERNER signs advising of the NGZ at the school>?
The FAILURE of having or allowing armed school staff simply leaves the students orders of magnitude more vulnerable... compared to Israel which DOES have armed school faculty, it seems that we hardly value our kids at all.
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If we cannot afford police in every school, the logical alternative is to do as Israel does.
 @Crashbox I think that is the right plan
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Maybe we'll see some of these new charter schools take a common sense approach to this and fix it. I'm amazed that anyone sends their kids to public schools these days. It was even bad back in the 50's and 60's when I went to school but its way worse now.
So when did the WA State PTA take a vote on this? It is my understanding that the WA State PTA cannot/do not speak for ALL PTA/PTSA 's without a vote from ALL the member organizations. There are a number of levels to 'PTA' National PTAState PTA
District Council PTALocal School PTA
Regarding the idea of armed guards in schools..
Concealed Carry Report writer John Caileâs response: ââ¦these same people who barely raise an eyebrow at the idea of armored car guards carrying guns to protect bags of cash, suddenly go apoplectic over the prospect of teachers carrying guns to protect young children. If thatâs not misplaced priorities, I donât know what is.â
These ssame politicians have access to armed security at the capitol, special functions, congress buildings.. The problem is there is no way for ANY response to be in time.. rural areas, even cities with cut acks in police force..cannot rely on armed resposne teams.. they take time to 1) assemble 2) get there 3) time to assesss who and what the threat is once they get there..  Defense is just that defending yourself agsint the threat presented at the TIME it is being presented.
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the schools now have 3or4 security personal to 500 students. adding one with a gun? Who and what gets through the doors in the first place.... and breaking through windows, is what needs to be controlled. where these security personal are that are already there in the first place makes me think one with a gun might provide a false reality in ones safety.
Bill Williams, stop smoking crack, and do the right thing for the safty of our children, QUIT YOUR JOB!
what is the pta thinking of, and if we dont put a cop or an armed teacher in our schools more kids will die, i think the pta needs to shut the heck up and pull there heads out there arse's
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 @deadcandance what? not realistic? its real... yeah what ever happened to im ok your ok?
The PTA is a freaking JOKE!... have you even been to one of those meetings.. I remember attending a few and boy what a waste of air!
The Lakewood Police officers were targets by the psycho... they were not in schools! ... There would be money if the state would not go cutting police and fire services before they eliminate other money sink projects....those services specifically beneficial to exploitation by illegal aliens should be first on the chopping blocks.. the folks utilizing those welfare systems and low income assisted housing need to see cuts first before the majority public safety is sacrificed... instead they just cut programs most likely to allow them to pass a tax policy because the public wants and or NEEDS Police and FIRE!
Wow - pretty obvious almost everyone is commenting on what the media said the NRA said, and have not read what the NRA actually said. Here's a link: http://home.nra.org/pdf/Transcript_PDF.pdf
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Summary - "develop a model National School Shield Emergency Response Program for every school that wants it" on the NRA's nickel
- "properly trained â armed â good guy" at schools to stop the armed bad guy
- parents at the local level making the decision what's right for their kids (not a federal one-size-fits-none - I like that)
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At least read what they said for yourself. Don't take the word of the media, don't take my word for it, read it for yourself!
@NeitherParty - wow, thanks for providing that! We all should read that one! It's true, we don't seem to care much about our children anymore. We don't protect them from not only the nuts with a gun in a school but the lax laws on about everything regarding the safety of children. Thanks again!
 @Elaine2  @NeitherParty Children in America are the most endangered life form in the US. If we arent killing them through abortions, we are refusing to protect them in schools the PROPER way; either armed police officers, or allowing teachers to carry guns to protect their children.
For the PTA to be against this, shows their disrespect of children, and their lack of importance to our most precious of citizens; our children
For all of you that keep saying that armed guards or armed teachers is going to create some kind of "war zone" consider this: the idea is to create a deterrent against these kinds of events. Is it an end all? No, but it is a start.
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Using the logic of those opposed to armed guards, you would expect more "killing fields" in airports, banks, sporting events and the like, all of which have armed guards. If having armed persons prevents just one of these heinous acts its worth it.
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The next step is to stop creating "anti-heroes" out these monsters. The media has as much to blame in creating these types of events as anyone or anything else.
 @Zanshin You know what else needs to end? Government false-flag operations, especially ones designed to drum up massive emotional "support" for gun confiscation.
Every parent should be seriously concerned about the level and degree of flippant rhetoric being tossed about by those who would purposely put our children in harms way on a daily basis and as a standard practice.
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Have we as a society really come to this as a "viable solution"? Seriously? Asinine doesn't even begin to touch the appropriate adjective required.
Bill Williams is an idiot. Children aren't as stupid as he and people like him think. They know the threat of another shooting like in CT is very real and a child's simple logic is enough to figure out that armed good guys are the best way to stop armed bad guys. Waiting for the police to show up will give someone time to kill way more than 20 innocent children.
 @dg54321 We don't want children making choices for adults, do we now.  There's a lot more to this issue than good guys / bad guys.  This isn't children playing cowboys and Indians.  Â
Because the whole 'Gun Free Zone' thing has been such a tremendous success?
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Brilliant. No wonder our public school system has been turning out such stellar high achievers. We have people like this exercising their vast critical thinking skills...
I agree, turning the schools into a battleground is definitely not the answer. Stricter gun laws, background checks and psychological screening would help
 @Larry*X*K Stricter gun laws, because criminals follow laws, right? So logical...
 @Larry*X*K Only a simpleton would believe that having armed guards would create a battleground out of schools.
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With that said I do agree that better background checks and psychological screenings could also help.
 @Zanshin I got to admit I'm pretty impressed you can either spell simpleton or know how to employ a spell checker in your browser.
With that said, go make love to a donkey
The NRA's call for armed Officers in every school was a political stunt. The PTA's answer is also a political stunt. Of course it's not financially feasible to have at least one armed Officer in every school, but by saying so they look like they are trying. This is coming from me, a fiercely pro-gun individual.
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"The more people are armed, the more likely there are going to be gun deaths." -Â Such an idiotic statement. Yes, but let's keep in mind a good guy shooting a bad guy will be considered a gun death.Â
 @Gadsden But it will be a GOOD gun death.
 @Nuclearian  @Gadsden The Leftmedia makes no such distinction...but the rest of us know it would fall into the "Good Riddance" category...or as Ambrose Bierce but it, Praiseworthy Homicide.
 @Gadsden As will bystander collateral loss, accidental shootings, shootings involving mistaken identities, shootings involving "crimes of passion", road rage ... should I keep going?
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In no universe EVER has the logic stood that more of something on a personal scale will mean less use of it on a personal scale. EVER.
 @sonofnils You watch way too much TV. None of what you just mentioned is likely to escalate with the addition of armed guards. But thanks for the sensationalism. Are you sure you don't work in the media?
 @sonofnils Get rid of roads... no road rage. That's the logic you are using. How about teach responsibility and respect, don't go after a tool, go after the source. People.
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Do you want armed cops arriving 20 minutes after the shooting starts, or to be on scene so there will not be a shooting? (Or unicorns and rainbows?)
 @Jon H Funny, the same people who say MORE GUNS MORE GUNS, MORE COPS AT SCHOOL! are also saying HELL NO WE WON'T PAY MORE TAXES FOR SCHOOLS OR LAW ENFORCEMENT!
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 @sonofnils  @Jon H I guess you missed the part (more likely failed to read the whole story, and are now jumping to conclusions) about the NRA funding the armed guards.
 @JeepRex And I supposed you didn't hear him fall just short of actually agreeing to that on MTP on Sunday. When he was asked if the NRA would fund the program, his knee-jerk reaction was to say the government spends X amount on unimportant things, and if they stopped funding those they could easily afford this program [paraphrasing].
 @sonofnils  @Jon H It's not because people don't support teachers and cops, it's because we are tired of all the bloated salaries, pensions, and other financial waste.Â
 @sfvcyco  @Jon H Bloated salaries?? you're talking about teachers and cops.... and you're saying they're paid TOO MUCH? What planet are you from??
Having a cop at every school full time is not the solution. However, I wouldn't mind one bit if the principals and select (trained) faculty have access to weapons in secured locations or gun safes under their desks.
 @Magic 8 Ball have u not been in a school lately?
C'mon people, let's think a little more critically here.
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Of course the PTA leadership doesn't speak on behalf of every single member in its organization. Do you really think the POTUSA polls every single citizen and gains a consensus before ever making a speech on human rights or foreign relations? Does the CEO of Chick Fil-A consult every one of his employees before making a statement against gay rights? Of course not. If you don't approve of the job performance as demonstrated by PTA, there are avenues for that, but please quit the "no one asked me" garbage, its childish.
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Now, back to the topic on requiring guns in every single public school. Do you really think that makes our children safer? Let us not forget, that the main reason this happened was not guns themself, but that someone who has a severe mental disorder had "access" to guns.
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Yes, if there was an armed security guard at the school in Newtown, this tragedy could have been prevented, if not at least marginalized. However, once it becomes public knowledge that there's a security guard at every school, don't you think if some crazy or knucklehead is hell bent on doing something atrocious, this would be the first person they go after in their attack? Just because this person is armed, doesn't mean they can't be caught off-guard. I hate to use this as an example, but being armed did not save four of our finest in the coffee shop in Lakewood. Its foolish to think these security guards would be 100% on alert for every single second on the job. Itâs completely unrealistic.
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It's also completely plausible, you've now made guns available to every single knucklehead or wanna be thug at their school. Some crazy kid with an axe to grind with one of his fellow classmates or teachers can simply just go assault the security officer and commandeer their weapon. Easier access to guns is not the answer.
 @Heiberg No one said to arm the students, nice reach though.
@Zanshin Nor did I. Try reading what I wrote again.
@Heiberg Being a paid member of the PTA, I would expect that I was signing up for something that helped kids. Instead, the PTA takes a stand on political issues that makes teachers and parents angry and causes division. I don't want my name on something like that. That's the point being made here.
Yes That gun free school zone worked so well for those 20 kids! may they rest in peace.
@wynooheeman The armed security guard on campus at Columbine High School worked so well for those 15 people who lost their lives, and 23 other injured.
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Was there a point you were trying to make?
@Heiberg and they used what type of weapons? shot guns and pistols. and the security guard was armed with what? wait for it! NOTHING But a Radio! and your point was what again?
>> http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/DEPUTIES_TEXT.htm
The one "armed guard" (actually Sheriff's Deputy) was clearly outgunned. The other school security officer was in fact unarmed.
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How different this might have turned out, if he had a rifle handy. He could easily have neutralized Harris from that distance (60 yards, not realistic with 4 pistol shots).
@wynooheeman He had a gun!
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/columbine-armed-guards_n_2347096.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/DEPUTIES_TEXT.htm
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"In 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 15 people and wounded 23 more at Columbine High School. The destruction occurred despite the fact that there was an armed security officer at the school and another one nearby -- exactly what LaPierre argued on Friday was the answer to stopping "a bad guy with a gun."
Deputy Neil Gardner was a 15-year veteran of the Jefferson County, Colo., Sheriffâs Office assigned as the uniformed officer at Columbine. According to an account compiled by the police department, Gardner fired on Harris but was unsuccessful in stopping him:"