# How can we better prevent school shootings?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [December 14, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051 "2012-12-14T18:46:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 26
### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/501 "2012-12-21T18:19:15Z")
> [@XT](#):
>
> Kind of like [this](http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?s=5761116), right? A quick Google search for drunk driving accidents turns up that a person is killed in the US every half an hour in a drunk driving accident…approximately 16-20k every year in drunk driving accidents alone.
Didn’t I just ask you why you spend your time arguing about drunk driving if you favor reasonable efforts to curb gun violence?
Are you under the impression that I oppose regulations and restrictions that will reduce drunk driving? How the fuck is this relevant, except to troll the discussion regarding guns?
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/502 "2012-12-21T18:20:41Z")
You brought it up…I was merely responding. If anyone was trolling (and I’m not accusing you of it), I’d say it’s YOU with your idiotic jab at swimming pools, knives and alcohol.
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### Author:  [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/503 "2012-12-21T18:21:44Z")
Still with the alcohol canard?
And someone should point out to Mr. LaPierre that there was an armed sheriff & uniformed guard at Columbine.
I love they will blame anyone and anything OTHER than guns. Movies, music videos, video games, tollhouse cookies, ANYTHING other than the actual tool used to murder people.
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### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/504 "2012-12-21T18:24:11Z")
> [@XT](#):
>
> You brought it up…I was merely responding. If anyone was trolling (and I’m not accusing you of it), I’d say it’s YOU with your idiotic jab at swimming pools, knives and alcohol.
It was an obvious joke about how stupid it would be to blame something else for this incident. Then you provided a cite…
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/505 "2012-12-21T18:26:18Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#):
>
> It was an obvious joke about how stupid it would be to blame something else for this incident. Then you provided a cite…
Sort of like your stupid attempt to blame the gun, right? 😛 Good grief, Hentor…you really don’t see how ridiculously transparent your arguments are?
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/506 "2012-12-21T18:28:29Z")
> [@HoboStew](#):
>
> Still with the alcohol canard?
>
> And someone should point out to Mr. LaPierre that there was an armed sheriff & uniformed guard at Columbine.
>
> I love they will blame anyone and anything OTHER than guns. Movies, music videos, video games, tollhouse cookies, ANYTHING other than the actual tool used to murder people.
And the police fucked up royally that day.
[CNN](http://articles.cnn.com/2001-05-17/us/columbine.report_1_columbine-review-commission-law-enforcement-harris-and-dylan-klebold?_s=PM:US)
> [@](#):
>
> In addition, Erickson was critical of how law enforcement officers handled the April 20, 1999, shooting while it was in progress. **Instead of going into the school and searching for Harris and Dylan Klebold, they set up a perimeter and waited "for the assault to end.**" Fifteen people died in the rampage, including the teen?age gunmen, who committed suicide.
[Police response changed due to Columbine.](http://www.lohud.com/article/20121215/NEWS03/312150047/Columbine-changed-police-response-school-shootings?nclick_check=1)
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### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/507 "2012-12-21T18:33:11Z")
> [@XT](#):
>
> Sort of like your stupid attempt to blame the gun, right? 😛 Good grief, Hentor…you really don’t see how ridiculously transparent your arguments are?
Well, thank god this was the last mentally ill guy with a history of video game playing in the United States. We can all rest easily now.
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/508 "2012-12-21T18:50:16Z")
Fuck sakes, for the billionth time, car accidents are accidents - even when it’s a drunk driving - and we do everything we possibly can to try to make sure they don’t happen.
Some asshole shooting people with his big shiny gun is doing it on purpose and we don’t do shit to try to make sure it doesn’t happen except to complain about how violent fucking video games are.
Edit: All redundant, I know (but I didn’t see page 11 - shoot me)
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### Author:  [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/509 "2012-12-21T19:01:59Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> And the police fucked up royally that day.
I know! It’s almost like having armed guards in the school isn’t a panacea for gun violence. But don’t worry, I’m sure the new policies are foolproof.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/510 "2012-12-21T19:20:56Z")
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> How hard is it to cut the number of entrances?
That sounds very hard. High schools with more than 1,000 students are not uncommon. And I don’t see how reducing the number of entrances is a good idea: it inconveniences everyone and creates fire hazards (and fires are much more likely than school shootings). Not only that, but reducing the number of entrances and exits would probably make it harder to run away from a shooter in the very unlikely event that happens. It’s not practical.
Really, the security guard idea is the most impractical and least sensible of the options that have been thrown out there. And of course the NRA went with that one. I don’t know if they want cops to be taken off patrols or what, but it really doesn’t make any sense.
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/511 "2012-12-21T22:01:18Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> Fuck sakes, for the billionth time, car accidents are accidents - even when it’s a drunk driving - and we do everything we possibly can to try to make sure they don’t happen.
>
> Some asshole shooting people with his big shiny gun is doing it on purpose and we don’t do shit to try to make sure it doesn’t happen except to complain about how violent fucking video games are.
>
> Edit: All redundant, I know (but I didn’t see page 11 - shoot me)
For fucks sake, would you please try and understand that while this distinction means something to you and the rest of the echo chamber, not everyone feels this way? I know, you are used to being able to simply shut down discussion by repeating this tripe, but it’s not working this time. So, instead of saying ‘for fucks sake’ and handwaving things away, just address the point or ignore it but for the sake of the gods stop whining about it. Please? Pretty please? With a shinny bullet on top?
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/512 "2012-12-21T22:06:01Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Well, thank god this was the last mentally ill guy with a history of video game playing in the United States. We can all rest easily now.
Naw, it was the guns fault, clearly. If not for the gun, this guy probably wouldn’t have even been a crazy psycho. Well, that and those damned violent video games. But they probably had guns in them, so no doubt that was where the fault is.
So, all we have to do to prevent school shootings in the future is clearly get rid of all of the guns, get rid of all the video games…and then after some asterisks concerning the details of how that happens…PROFIT! Plus, a pony in every pot no doubt!
Sweet. Glad we cleared that up. We should ask you more often to fix complex problems, Hentor…you are a real wiz at this stuff!
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### Author:  [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/513 "2012-12-21T22:26:39Z")
> [@XT](#):
>
> Naw, it was the guns fault, clearly.
Would you please quit saying this.
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/514 "2012-12-21T22:42:38Z")
> [@XT](#):
>
> For fucks sake, would you please try and understand that while this distinction means something to you and the rest of the echo chamber, not everyone feels this way? I know, you are used to being able to simply shut down discussion by repeating this tripe, but it’s not working this time. So, instead of saying ‘for fucks sake’ and handwaving things away, just address the point or ignore it but for the sake of the gods stop whining about it. Please? Pretty please? With a shinny bullet on top?
Handwaving? I’m handwaving? I’m the one who wants some action on guns taken. I’m not the one saying, “well it won’t work so why bother?”
And golly, not everyone feels that deaths via accident are different than deaths via murder? What a fun club that must be. Of course there’s a difference. No one stands up for less restrictions on drinking and driving so that we can all bathe in the sweet, sweet liberty of it all.
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/515 "2012-12-21T22:54:51Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> Handwaving? I’m handwaving? I’m the one who wants some action on guns taken. I’m not the one saying, “well it won’t work so why bother?”
>
> And golly, not everyone feels that deaths via accident are different than deaths via murder? What a fun club that must be. Of course there’s a difference. No one stands up for less restrictions on drinking and driving so that we can all bathe in the sweet, sweet liberty of it all.
I’m not the one trying to shut down discussion of this point by histrionic ‘for fuck sake’ appeals. Perhaps you aren’t handwaving, simply raising your hands imploringly into the skies while shedding crocodile tears of regret and pain.
Well, and building strawmen or being willfully ignorant of the point I have been making on this. I mean, granted, I’m no font of clarity, but I HAVE gone to the trouble, repeatedly, of explaining my exact point on this, yet you still mischaracterize it.
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/516 "2012-12-21T22:56:42Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#):
>
> Would you please quit saying this.
Since you said please and all, I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure there are other ways to mock this ridiculous viewpoint without bringing up the obvious corollary to Hentor’s drive by snark.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/517 "2012-12-21T22:58:53Z")
Has anyone got a word to say in defence of the NRA’s proposal of an armed guard in every school? The obvious counterexample is Fort Hood, full of good guys with guns, still the site of 13 murders.
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### Author:  [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/518 "2012-12-21T23:11:19Z")
> [@tim314](#):
>
> Suppose it were your job to come up with a strategy, whether it be new legislation, new policies, etc. to prevent school shootings (or, if you’re feeling ambitious, mass shootings in general). Saying “People will always kill people; there’s not much we can do” isn’t an option; it’s your job to come up with the best solution that you can, flawed though it may be. You should respect the right to bear arms to whatever degree you think it deserves to be respected (i.e., I want to hear gun-rights advocates’ opinions as well as gun-control advocates’).
>
> Obviously I’m thinking about what happened today in Connecticut, but I’m trying to talk more generally.
Create an irregular militia unit akin to the French Foreign Legion (but less structured), so psychos can take out their aggression in some far off place against targets who actually deserve it.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/519 "2012-12-21T23:11:36Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#):
>
> Has anyone got a word to say in defence of the NRA’s proposal of an armed guard in every school?
I’m sure their mothers love them…?
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-better-prevent-school-shootings/644051/520 "2012-12-21T23:19:15Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#):
>
> Has anyone got a word to say in defence of the NRA’s proposal of an armed guard in every school? The obvious counterexample is Fort Hood, full of good guys with guns, still the site of 13 murders.
Sounds like an unfeasible plan to me. I can’t imagine what the costs would be to station trained and armed guards at every school in the country. It would be staggering. I’m also not keen on the idea of arming teachers, though I see where they are coming from on this. Personally, I’d say it would be a mistake, as half trained, and in a lot of cases reluctant teachers wouldn’t make the best armed protectors. This isn’t to detract from teachers, or their fierce desire to protect their students, I just think it would do more harm than good.
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