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furlibusea, if it was even vaugely economically possible for every school to have a cop or two on duty, I’d go for it. But look how glee’s squealing over a possible $500 expenditure.
I wish I could think of a better solution. Inner city schools, troubled schools have a better solution, but not all schools can keep that up.
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‘Squealing’?
You don’t think schools are undefunded, especially in inner cities where there is more violence?
And you propose spending $500 per school to have one gun usable by one teacher?
Also please stop saying you can’t think of a better solution. :rolleyes:
I have posted two that work in practice, and all you do is say ‘that wouldn’t work here’.
Glee, the differences between the US and England were noted in the other thread already. One of them is a matter of scale, the other is culture (especially organized crime thanks to our prohibition days and War on Drugs).
I think this is self-evident, a rare event is more frequent in a larger population. Laying aside the cultural differences, the population difference between the two countries is a factor of 6 (50 mil / 300 mil). If a school shooting such as Columbine or this latest Amish debacle happens every two years here, we would expect it to occur every 12 there; all other things being equal and pretending people are like dice with regard to “snapping” on any particular day. (Yes, I know about the gambler’s fallacy; I’m illustrating a point here about normalizing statistics for population size).
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I think it is ‘self-evident’ that I would allow for differences in population:
In the UK:
‘1996 Gunman mows down class of children leaving 16 dead with their teacher’
Incidentally the previous outcry here was when there was a street shooting in 1987. (I don’t know when there was a previous UK school shooting.)
‘…there were immediate calls for greater security in schools and tightening of the laws on gun ownership, last addressed after the Hungerford massacre in August 1987.’
In the US:
October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least three girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself
September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin
November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an assistant principal and wounds two other administrators
March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself
May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a school in Maryland
April 2003: Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a Pennsylvania school, then kills himself
March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students
February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by classmate in Michigan
November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a classmate in New Mexico
May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in Georgia
April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado
June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage student at high school in Virginia
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after taking a girl hostage
May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon
April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania
March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas
December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky
October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others