Several parents in an Iowa town where a deadly school shooting took place earlier this month told school officials on Monday they want more preventative measures and transparency as the school board plans for students’ return.
Their comments came during a Perry school board meeting, the day after the death of Principal Dan Marburger, who was critically injured in the shooting.
Grace Castro criticized the school district’s policies, saying that “lives were lost due to our lack of preventative measures.” She suggested the installation of metal detectors at schools’ entrances and a temporary remote learning option at the same time, and enforcement of a clear-bag policy as “the absolute least you can do.”
Her comments echoed what many other many other parents — including some of the victims’ families — have been saying on the Perry Facebook page since the district first announced its reopening plan last week.
Wanting to spend money on metal detectors instead of teachers and students, while supporting blanket 2nd amendment rights, seems off to me. But then I’m a Canadian who’s used to having universal healthcare and gov’ts that aren’t full-on nazi apologists.
How the fuck is a metal detector going to stop a mass shooting in the first place? Most of these shootings aren’t done by current students on a whim. They are ex-students with a vendetta or random acts.
Clear backpacks and morning-metal detector lines aren’t going to deter a mentally unhinged shooter from entering a school. I get these parents are devastated, but their solutions don’t fix anything, maybe get a few kids suspended for drugs at best.
Not many shootings at court houses or government buildings. Those have metal detectors and guards. I think they want to make the schools into those types of buildings.
Guards are probably the biggest deterent. Metal detectors alone can’t stop anyone.
Anything except the obvious solution
There is no obvious solution.
If guns magically disappeared overnight, the people who would indiscriminately kill children would still be around. They’ll just run kids over with their car during recess, lock the doors and mix a ton a bleach and ammonia, run in with an axe, or anything else. People are creative.
We can point to Australia, Canada, or England as “proof” that banning guns = stopping murder, but people conveniently forget that they also have universal healthcare, a higher income compared to cost of living, free or cheap education, etc. These conditions breed fewer people with motives to kill indiscriminately.
The US government can continue trying to ban guns, which would start with amending the Constitution, and would end with police going door to door to round them up because most people won’t comply.
Gun control has only gotten stricter over time, yet indiscriminate shootings have only gotten more frequent. If you feel that isn’t explained by our decreased wages, social cohesion, and overall quality of life, then how else would you explain it? My grandparents could mail order machine guns to their front door, yet school shootings never happened. They could also support a family of 4 with a single parent working right out of high school, which js hilariously unimaginable today. Is that coincidence?
We’re also 12 months away from a potential dictatorship, yet people are still callling for their own disarmament. Some people think gun ownership is nuts, but I think not owning a gun right now is nuts. They might be ok with not protecting their family, but I’m sure as hell not.
It really is that simple. Guns are far better killing machines vs any other method you can come up with. Countries that ban them do not have the same rates of shootings and when they do have them are a lot less deadly. Sure someone could get an ax but it is far easier to deal with a guy with an ax vs your precious AR-15.
Blaming it on the lack of welfare is misdirection.
The Constitution does not need to be amended, it just has to be read. Are you in a well-regulated militia? No? You don’t get a gun. Go join up the National Guard if you want one.
And if you think your shotgun is go to stop a dictator you will have to excuse.me while I laugh too hard to type.
“Guns are far better killing machines vs any other method you can come up with.”
Murder is murder. Banning guns doesn’t get rid of violent people, so assuming nothing else changes, we’d at best have 5 dead children instead of 8 or something. Sure it’s an improvement, but not a solution. I don’t feel that’s with it given the tradeoffs.
“Countries that ban them do not have the same rates of shootings and when they do have them are a lot less deadly.”
I’m sorry, but no shit. “Country that bans cars sees no more deaths by car accidents.”
“Blaming it on the lack of welfare is misdirection.”
I’m not blaming it on lack of welfare, I’m mostly blaming it on our decreased quality of life. Since you’re ignoring that mass shootings basically didn’t exist 60 years ago when Americans had comparatively unfettered access to guns, then look at any poor country today and their violent crime rates. When moral, legal avenues for leading a fruitful and happy life are unobtainable, then people will resort to illegal means to make that happen. This is nothing new.
“The Constitution does not need to be amended, it just has to be read. Are you in a well-regulated militia? No? You don’t get a gun. Go join up the National Guard if you want one.”
Well-regulated meant well armed and functioning, and the National Guard is a branch of the military, which is literally what a militia isn’t. Sounds like you need to read it.
"And if you think your shotgun is go to stop a dictator you will have to excuse.me while I laugh too hard to type. "
What makes you think that dictator will be on your side? If you think our current political climate is bad, itll pale in comparison to the one your kids will grow up in if Trump wins. Roll over and let your kids suffer if that’s what you want, I’d rather fight so they don’t have to.
Gentle reminder that poor rice and goat farmers have won almost every conflict against our military the last 60 years. Regardless, if our military ever goes whole hog on us like you’re suggesting and starts bombing your neighborhood, I’ll be sure to message you to ask if you’re still licking their boots. Chances are, you probably will.
Serious question: if that dictatorship comes to fruition, what will having a gun help? Would shooting law enforcement improve the situation for the family involved somehow? I would assume, the result would be a family home bombed into oblivion with flashbangs and rammed with a SWAT truck for good measure.
Dictatorships are typically resisted with force and ended with force.
It is what it is.
This comment prompted me to look into what causes a dictatorship to fall. I ran across this article, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/02/protests-how-dictators-fall, which lists the armed rebellion as part 2. Part 1 is nonviolent consensus building that moves the ambivalent to action.
“Hmmmm……nah.” Republicans, almost certainly
“Give us security theater and give it to us now!”
I’ll never forget the dad who did everything he could to find meaning in the death of his daughter following Sandy Hook. He studied neuroscience, running a foundation dedicated understanding its relationships to violence or suicidal ideation… Yet in the end the grief was too much.
I’m appalled that our country was faced with that… And then countless more thereafter and just don’t really give a shit. That half or more of this country is too dumb to implement any meaningful change.
The kids deserve better.
District: Best we can do is thoughts and prayers.
Budgets cuts all around. Only thoughts or prayers. Pick one and keep going, gotta keep this line a moving.
Fuck thoughts and prayers.
Aaahahahaha, like those parents give a shit.
