Talk of The Villages Florida - A Word to the Gun Ban Crowd

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinklesweep (Post 1546998)

After the initial post, after excluding all the 'nattering,' as described by one poster, after reading "Gun bans is not the answer," my question to the OP is "Well, it appears that gun bans are not the solution, then what are the answers?"

From the OP's next post, more questions: How viable is the suggestion of yet more mental health counseling, which is already prevalent in schools and does not necessarily pick up on who might be a potential shooter? And how does one create an atmosphere in schools of getting adolescents to squeal on other adolescents (even those whom they might hear about planning a shooting)? And how are we to address the situation of the father who not only provided the guns to his son (without realizing it, of course) but actually makes excuses for him? What of the suggestion to make the father bear responsibility for this horror?

And finally, "In the meantime, the immediate answer is to establish full security at the school buildings." Especially since the OP has worked in hostage negotiations, perhaps he can suggest how to implement this? I could be wrong, but I would think the problem of hostages comes after the fact, not before, in contrast with school or other mass shootings. And how does it help the situation to cite a large spread-out campus being problematic and so forth and not offering anything remotely addressing the problem?

I am not in agreement or disagreement, and I don't see that gun ban on one extreme or arming yet more personnel, including teachers, in schools the other extreme. These questions need answers for us to understand better what can be done in a realistic way. Can the OP provide cogent, sensible, practical ideas about how viably this can be dealt with? Or perhaps refer us to a source where these questions can be answered? I could never have made this post because, honestly, I have more questions than answers!

Also, while a solution must be found, who is going to pay for this? I constantly hear people griping and whining about having to pay taxes....

Twinklesweep is to be commended for a thoughtful posting, with serious questions.

Regarding the question of how to get adolescents to "squeal" on other adolescents, the answer is to discard the gangland reference to squealing, and emphasize that identifying the mentally disturbed in the community is both a service to the community and to the mentally disturbed person.

The State of Florida has addressed the issue of properly securing firearms with a law that punishes anyone who fails to properly store or secure with a trigger lock a loaded gun, to keep it from getting into the hands of a minor (age 16 or under.) The offense is a Second Degree misdemeanor. Second degree misdemeanors are punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500.00 fine. Arguably, the penalty should be increased.

I do not claim special knowledge in the field of facilities security based upon having been a Hostage Negotiator, but rather because for six years I was in charge of the Secret Service personnel assigned to intrusion detection and prevention at the White House. This included perimeter and interior locks; closed circuit television; intrusion alarms; and other electronic surveillance.

We also examined every delivery to the White House from any tradesman who delivered goods, such as food to be prepared by the kitchen. I once personally searched the suitcase of the President's brother who had arrived for a visit.

I'm sure you know that tourists who visit the White House go through metal detectors, just as passengers do at the airport.

Regarding spread out campuses, I thought I did offer a suggestion. More armed personnel, also spread throughout the campus.

Let me point out again that it is often the case in school shootings that the shooter is not a student at the school, as was the case at Sandy Hook, or he comes late to school, as was the case in Florida (end of school day) and Texas (lunch time.) If the person is not a student we are not faced with an internal threat. If a person is a straggler he should be subjected to extra examination.

Not enough has been done to create a system to effectively fortify each individual classroom with a relatively simple device to make the door impenetrable to a shooter. This would be a relatively inexpensive fix.

There have been cases where the shooter sets off a fire alarm in order to flood the hallways with targets. School fire alarms should be re-configured to ring in a central office where a monitor could establish through closed circuit television and two way communication with the person who set off the alarm whether or not it was a false alarm. Then appropriate action could be taken.

There is no completely effective solution, but a lot can be done.