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[GK86]

Link. Full article at link. Searched and didn't see a thread.

A suburban Denver school district is arming its security staff with military-style semiautomatic rifles in case of a school shooting or other violent attack, a move that appears unprecedented even as more schools arm employees in response to mass violence elsewhere.

The Douglas County School District guards are former law enforcement officers and already carry handguns.

District security director Richard Payne said he decided to spend more than $12,000 on the Bushmaster brand rifles for the district's eight armed officers to give them the same tools as law enforcement, including the sheriff's deputies they train with. Payne said the rifles will be kept locked in patrol cars, not in the schools.

The Bushmaster rifle is a semi-automatic descendant of the original M-16 automatic rifle used by the military in Vietnam.

Versions of it are made by different manufacturers, but a Bushmaster rifle was used in the Sandy Hook shootings. Victims' families are suing the company, claiming it is a military weapon that should not have been sold to civilians.

A gunman used a similar weapon in a 2012 attack on a suburban Denver movie theater in which 12 people were killed and 70 injured.

Mass shootings underscore the need for school officers to have access to rifles so they're not outgunned, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers.

They will have to complete a 20-hour training course before the rifles are distributed. The first few guns will be deployed by next month and the rest will be handed out in August, Payne said.

Colorado state law empowers school districts to arm their security guards. Other Denver-area school districts provide their security guards only with handguns; some have no firearms at all. Police officers who work as school resource officers carry police-issued weapons.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

Security checkpoints, security with quick access to rifles... Man, are we describing schools or prisons?

 

[UFO]

That's going to be a hell of a news day if they ever get used.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Just imagine if one day our schools have TSA. I feel like, that's the direction we're heading.

 

[zma1013]

Okay so uhh, dont google image search Prison School. You get some very R rated anime/manga with some, umm, graphic scenes.

But yes, thats insane. Armed soldiers patrolling the halls.

 

[Gallbaro]

Security checkpoints, security with quick access to rifles... Man, are we describing schools or prisons?

They're just no longer hiding truth!

/angst

 

[Toxi]

They will have to complete a 20-hour training course before the rifles are distributed. The first few guns will be deployed by next month and the rest will be handed out in August, Payne said.

Gun experts, is 20 hours a substantive amount of training to trust someone with a semi-automatic rifle on school grounds?

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Darkest timeline and all that.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Gun experts, is 20 hours a substantive amount of training to trust someone with a semi-automatic rifle on school grounds?

Not an expert but:

20 hours of training for this specific rifle w/ the user having plenty of previous gun handling experience? Perhaps.

20 hours of training for how to handle a rifle for the first time in a school setting? Absolutely not.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Gun experts, is 20 hours a substantive amount of training to trust someone with a semi-automatic rifle on school grounds?

I bet when it comes time for the test the person overseeing the test probably give them the answers to write down so they can all pass and get back to work defending people from themselves with rifles.

 

[Seth Enosh]

There's nothing magic about a semi automatic rifle that should require more than 20 hours of training. They are already using semi automatic pistols, rifles just have better range and accuracy.

Sounds like the rifles are gonna be kept locked in the patrol cars, not used for normal school days. What's the issue here? Civilians have legal access to this level of weaponry so it doesn't seem particularly bad for a security guard to have it in the event of a school shooting.

 

[kingocfs]

Glad to see that they will be safely locked in cars instead of being in the buildings. Good call, guys!

 

[TheSpecialOne]

I mean what could possibly go wrong? The U.S. police already has a stellar record so there is no cause for concern.

 

[ThusZarathustra]

So I read the article and the only reasoning I can see for doing this is ... fear?

Fear of a school shooting or similar on-campus violence, best as I can tell. I'll be the first to criticize the systemic problems with policing in this country, but are we really at the point where the police not adequate to doing fast-response high-threat work?

Is there a good history of security guards being able to resolve high-threat situations themselves, with guns or without?

 

[Escape Goat]

Why are they needed if they have handguns?

 

[Matsukaze]

Well, that's a pretty scary idea. I wonder how many students will actually feel safer.

Okay so uhh, dont google image search Prison School. You get some very R rated anime/manga with some, umm, graphic scenes.

You discovered this accidentally, or you "discovered" this "accidentally"?

 

[old manatee]

There's nothing magic about a semi automatic rifle that should require more than 20 hours of training. They are already using semi automatic pistols, rifles just have better range and accuracy.

Sounds like the rifles are gonna be kept locked in the patrol cars, not used for normal school days. What's the issue here? Civilians have legal access to this level of weaponry so it doesn't seem particularly bad for a security guard to have it in the event of a school shooting.

Why does the school need to perpetually be in a position to execute children from a distance?

 

[FStop7]

Littleton is in Douglas County and there is a high level of fear of another Columbine shooting.

 

[Dead Man]

Why are they needed if they have handguns?

In fairness, if you decide you need to be armed, rifles are much better than handguns. More accurate, easier to use. However, armed guards/police in schools at all is just an abhorrent concept to me.

 

[kess]

Meanwhile Fox News is worried about REEFER MADNESS in Colorado schools

 

[echoshifting]

My daughter was in a Douglas County school until December.

I don't see why this is necessary. The schools already have an extremely high level of security - locked doors during school hours, locking subsections, locking classrooms with strong doors, regular lock in and lock out drills, and guards with handguns.

Sure is different from her current school in the PNW. Very little security up here.

 

[zma1013]

Well, that's a pretty scary idea. I wonder how many students will actually feel safer.

You discovered this accidentally, or you "discovered" this "accidentally"?

I was looking for a photoshop image of a prison with a school name on it. Didnt find one.

 

[HStallion]

I'm imaging a future where teachers are basically Judge Dredd ruling over out of control overpopulated dystopian cyberpunk classrooms. They are armed to the teeth and willing to dole out death and dismemberment as much as they are knowledge.

 

[ezrarh]

Not surprised about this considering how conservative the Douglas county schools are.

 

[Toxi]

My daughter was in a Douglas County school until December.

I don't see why this is necessary. The schools already have an extremely high level of security - locked doors during school hours, locking subsections, regular lock in and lock out drills, and guards with handguns.

Sure is different from her current school in the PNW. Very little security up here.

And despite all that effort in school security, they can't be arsed to put that effort into education.

Which is sadly a problem with Colorado in general.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Ah, for those who don't know, Douglas County encompasses Highlands Ranch where helicopter parenting is a very real thing.

Also, depending on where you are in Douglas County, Columbine High School is around a 5 minute drive away.

Finally, like some people have mentioned here, Douglas County has a more conservative lean than other counties in the state.

 

[adj_noun]

Here's the reasoning:

Mass shootings underscore the need for school officers to have access to rifles so they're not outgunned, said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers.

I guess it's basically the escalation scene from Batman Begins.

 

[Darksol]

As a Canadian who never had to deal with metal detectors at my school, yet alone guards, yet alone armed guards, this just seems batshit insane to me.

 

[echoshifting]

And despite all that effort in school security, they can't be arsed to put that effort into education.

Which is sadly a problem with Colorado in general.

DC schools are pretty good actually. We were happy with her education there. I'd say they are better than Littleton schools at least at the elementary level. Denver schools are sadly a disaster.

The thing is, they have money come out their ears in Douglas County and they are in a conservative death grip. So arts tend to be underfunded, while they just pour money into things like crazy high tech locking door systems and rifles.

 

[VenomousCoffee]

There's nothing magic about a semi automatic rifle that should require more than 20 hours of training. They are already using semi automatic pistols, rifles just have better range and accuracy.

Sounds like the rifles are gonna be kept locked in the patrol cars, not used for normal school days. What's the issue here? Civilians have legal access to this level of weaponry so it doesn't seem particularly bad for a security guard to have it in the event of a school shooting.

The issue is that I trust school security guards to do the right thing with the weapon just as much as I trust police officers.

 

[Toxi]

DC schools are pretty good actually. We were happy with her education there. I'd say they are better than Littleton schools at least at the elementary level. Denver schools are sadly a disaster.

The thing is, they have money come out their ears and they are in a conservative death grip. So arts tend to be underfunded, while they just pour money into things like crazy high tech locking door systems and rifles.

God, that's exactly what it is.

Good to hear your daughter had a positive experience there.

 

[PopeReal]

20 hours? Jesus.

This is a bad idea anyway, but damn.

 

[commedieu]

Meh.


Wots the worse that can happen?

 

[Koyuga]

This can't possibly go wrong.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

This is what the terrorists want.

 

[Beefy]

Not too messed up.

 

[Sunster]

When will they start carrying grenades and patrolling the campus in humvees? that's what we really need to keep our schools safe.

 

[ahoyhoy]

When will they start carrying grenades and patrolling the campus in humvees? that's what we really need to keep our schools safe.

You want us to send our boys into the war zone that is modern day public schools with soft tops?

They need an armored column to patrol those halls effectively. We don't want another Faluijah.