JOPLIN, Mo. —
In an attempt to show the futility of having armed guards or personnel (teachers) in our schools, Ron E. Scrogham (Globe Voices, Jan. 22) pointed out that one of the law enforcement officers at Columbine High School had fired at Eric Harris four times, but missed, allowing the gunman to continue with the killing.
Rather than showing that armed guards are useless, this tells me that if the officer had not missed, the bloody day would have been over for Mr. Harris. We need to find ways to stop these deranged people before they reach our schools. But once they make it inside, in almost every case, it requires deadly force to stop them, not good intentions.
My suggestion to the colleges and universities that train our teachers is to require in their course work a block of classes that will familiarize them with the mechanics and use of firearms and voluntary qualifying at the firing range. The classes would also include simulated lock-down situations.
These suggestions would not make our schools 100-percent safe, but they would give our teachers more options than just placing their bodies between a gunman and schoolchildren.
God bless our teachers. They have a tough job. Let’s give them all the protection and options we can.
Ron Thomure
Joplin
Opinion
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