Defiant NRA leader rejects gun controls, asks to put police in schools

[IDemo]

Source: NBC News

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre defiantly blamed violent video games and movies, the media, gun-free zones in schools and other factors during the organization's first public statement following the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. last week.

LaPierre, who was interrupted by Code Pink protesters twice during a statement (during which he refused to answer questions), said that the students in Newtown might have been better protected had officials at Sandy Hook Elementary been armed. He said that putting a police officer in every single school in America might make schools safer.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said, asking Congress to immediately appropriate the money to put a police officer in every single school in the country.

The NRA executive's statement was nothing short of defiant in the face of mounting discussion of the need for tighter restrictions on guns — including renewing a ban on assault weapons — in the wake of last week's shooting.

Read more: http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16068647-defiant-nra-leader-rejects-gun-controls-asks-to-put-police-in-schools?lite

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In other completely unexpected news, large brilliant object appears in eastern sky

[George II]

1. What a despicable piece of dog-crap that guy is.....and he's a gutless coward, too!

Putting the blame on just about every around us BUT guns?

And the prick speaks just an hour or so after the one-week memorial observance, too? I'm surprised the bastard didn't travel to Newtown Connecticut to make that speech.

[riderinthestorm]

7. Surprising number of DUers have been doing the same spin - blaming ANYTHING else but easy gun access

Yeah, and the timing of LaPierre's speech can't be a coincidence.

Disgusting.

[jpak]

2. He should be forced to speechify that to the parents in Newton

Blame the victim fail.

yup

[johnnyrocket]

3. It's official, the NRA is an evil organization. Their argument means everyone, EVERYONE should...

...have guns at all times, because the boogeyman is going to get you. Seems like a lot of racial coding in that speech, also. No, that wasn't a press conference, that was another NRA propaganda spew.

Sick, sick people.

[atreides1]

15. Nothing to do with the boogeyman

All he was doing was trying to increase sales for the gun makers...the true owners of the NRA!

[George II]

22. A "press conference" involves the press, he could have and should have held that "conference"....

....in a toilet, where he and his organization belong.

[wordpix]

38. NRA are corporate hacks who only care about selling their wares, no matter the destruction

[byeya]

4. I second the above plus police are in many schools at least in VA & NC

[MADem]

5. It's actually a GOOD THING that the guy is such as asshole. Even though one might want to strangle

him (said rhetorically, mind you...!)

He's managed, with his hyperbole and idiotic ideas, to throw another log and a few cups of gasoline on the fire.

This will ensure that the topic stays in the news and is covered by the Sunday talkers.

I read a survey somewhere that said 74 percent of NRA members don't agree with their stance on assault weapons. Perhaps it's time for mass resignations. I wish some organization would step forward to "catch" these people who are disaffected, to give them some other outfit to join that is a counterpoint to that bunch of organized extremists.

[George II]

23. I had that same thought - that "speech" did MORE for gun control than if he'd just kept quiet

[Cosmocat]

32. Except

you can expect the House to have a bill put up to have armed guards in every school in the country the first day the morons come back to DC ...

This is what people just aren't getting.

What may be the will of the rational and sane people in this country, be they democrats, independents or republicans experience a momentary lapse in dickheadedness makes absolutely no difference to the lunatics in the House of Representatives.

[Rozlee]

45. Don't count on any new bills for armed guards.

That would create JOBS. And Rethugs don't want this president to get one single American employed if they have anything to say about it. That Wayne LaPierre would make a statement that schools should have police guarding them shows his hypocrisy. Those bastards have been all about LESS government and less police, firefighters, teachers and other public service workers.

[Cosmocat]

70. lol

there is that ...

[NYC Liberal]

81. No jobs because they want retired people to volunteer, if you can believe it.

So Republicans will love it. Getting people to work full-time jobs has been their dream for a long time; it's why they oppose the minimum wage.

[MADem]

59. Some idiots might propose it, but I don't think the "sense of the House" is to take that path.

It'll get tied up in committee and tabled.

[Cosmocat]

71. It has gotten no press

but these clowns passed a BOATLOAD of redmeat BS over the last two years ...

If Boehner goes down, all bets are off.

[Pachamama]

6. I dont disagree about having School Resource Officer (SRO) like my kids school HAD until budget cuts

We live in Ross California and had until this last May a full-time assigned police officer who knew all the kids and campus and patroled....these type of achool resource officers are police and do community policing and keeping our kids safe.....I want this program back and think it would be great that all schools have this.....

HOWEVER - I DONT WANT THE NRA ANY WHERE NEAR THESE EFFORTS, TRAINING, FUNDING, Or DECISIONMAKING WHEN IT INVOLVES OUR KIDS!!!!

[Little Star]

53. Agree. It's like putting the fox in the hen house.

[bobclark86]

66. The NRA...

ALREADY TRAINS THE COPS! They have more than 11,000 police firearms instructors nationwide.

Actually, I'd rather have the NRA doing training, rather than lobbying. It's what the group was founded for in the first place (in 1870, the NRA was founded by ex-Union Army officers who wanted the public better trained in marksmanship after the horrible experience during the Civil War... not by southern Klan members like Michael Moor wants us to believe... that said, the group is home to many a good racist nutjob these days).

[They_Live]

8. He offering to pay that expense?

I've got an idea! Let's legalize pot, and empty out the prisons so that we can use them for our new high security schools!

[IggleDoer]

9. Virtual weapons - bad

Real guns - good

When will the President declare the NRA a terrorist organization?

[maddogesq]

10. Same chit, different week.

Except we waited a week to here the same chit.

[MiniMe]

11. And who exactly would be paying for it?

[lolly]

14. And what if they want to join a union?

Would we then have (shudder!) UNION THUGS guarding our children?

Although, seriously, what would probably happen if we put more police in schools is that they would spend most of their time policing the kids--sniffing around for pot, trying to arrest them for coming in late, etc.

[lunasun]

83. I thought these types were in favor of smaller government

[snowgypsy]

12. Not a problem

putting police in schools . . . seize the NRA political fund to pay for them, that and tax the crap out of ammunition.

[dipsydoodle]

13. Someone should've asked him

which other developed nations need armed guards at schools. He's trying to manipulate the effect instead of looking at the cause.

He's a real piece that one.

[George II]

24. No one could have asked him that, they didn't permit questions at that "press conference"!

[RoccoR5955]

16. Who's gonna pay for all this police?

And why should schools be like prisons?

If he was really serious, he would propose an annual tax on guns and ammo to pay for this police, and any related expense.

I wonder how much could be raised from a dollar annual tax on each gun and a penny on each bullet?

[GoldenOldie]

26. NRA - Wayne LaPierre BAD CON JOB

His sales pictch was so bad he wasn't even open to answering questions!

He and his sidekicks answer to protecting schools, is to make each and every school, a military compound/Alamo. Thus the need to take taxpayer funds to purchase guns, train guards, etc., etc., all to be managed by the NRA and thus upping the income of Wayne LaPierre.

Citizens are fighting to keep them from closing schools in Tucson due to the budget shortfall. Yet we are asked for more taxes to cover contracting protection of schools by the NRA????

I was sickened by his continued attacks on the mentally ill, calling them terrorists. Wayne LaPierre has never held a job that entailed him to actually work, but has prospered very well on the ignorance of others and as spokesman for the gun industry. If he is not available to respond to questioning of his motives today during his "Press Conference," why would anyone think he would be available or responsive to his management of any school protections.

[high density]

62. NRA and anybody else who wants ubiquitous firearms

Just like the anti-choice people pay for all those unwanted babies out there.

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. Whose gonna pay for them ...

a significant segment of his audience have already voted to defund local government.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. Using government to protect us from anti-government policies

They want government out of the way so everyone can gave guns,

but they want police to protect us from guns.

It really is using government to protect us from anti-government policies

We are being tyrannized by pro-gun lobbyists

So we're going to pay $55,000+ to sit an officer in every school?

What is the policeman going to do all day? Snooze?

Absolute insanity.

[Rozlee]

46. *

K&R.

[Kablooie]

19. "The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters"

In other words:

We ensure that every monster in the country has unfettered access to mass killing weapons so the government had better pay for more police to protect you from them or you're going to die.

[lolly]

65. Yeah, that's a very slippery rhetorical move

I keep hearing that the shooter was motivated by "Pure Evil," and therefore we can't place blame on anybody else (read: the NRA).

I must have missed the section of Sunday School where they told us we were absolved from all responsibility for trying to resist evil. Hell, forget resist--we apparently have no responsibility to avoid aiding and abetting evil.

[Evasporque]

20. Gun Industry = Big Tobacco

the NRA like Big Tobacco associations for YEARS claimed their product was safe and healthy and promoted a high quality of life when they knew all along it was the cause of numerous problems. Freely available guns end up killing innocents just as massive marketing and sale of cigarettes did.

The allure of a gun is no less addicting to some people than cigarettes are. I will let the irony of the statements speak for themselves.


------------------Big Tobacco in the Waxman hearings--------------------------

MR. CAMPBELL (President of Philip Morris U.S.A.).
I believe nicotine is not addictive, yes.

MR. JAMES JOHNSTON (Chairman and CEO of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company). Mr. Congressman, cigarettes and nicotine clearly do not meet the classic definition of addiction. There is no intoxication.

MR. WYDEN. We´ll take that as a "no." Again, time is short. I think that each of you believe that nicotine is not addictive. We would just like to have this for the record.

MR. TADDEO (President of U.S. Tobacco).
I don´t believe that nicotine or our products are addictive.

MR. TISCH (Chairman and CEO of Lorillard Tobacco Company).
I believe that nicotine is not addictive.

MR. HORRIGAN (Chairman and CEO of Liggett Group).
I believe that nicotine is not addictive.

MR. SANDEFUR (Chairman and CEO of Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company).
I believe that nicotine is not addictive.

------------------------NRA and Gun Activists-----------------------------------

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,"

"The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters -- people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them. They walk among us every day. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn't planning his attack on a school he's already identified at this very moment?"

"You shoot the attacker and stop the attack," he said. "It stops people from getting killed."

"Lock up an AR-15 (rifle) or something in their principal's office so if something breaks loose they can get the weapon out of the safe and defend children,"

[johnnyrocket]

40. Agreed, it's time to take the NRA down.

There's a lot of country/city tension here, and a lot of 'Merican values and core 'rights' issues. But an evil group like the NRA is holding the country back from meaningful security solutions.

Holding us back, and making things way more dangerous for everyone.

[alp227]

84. +1!!

[RevStPatrick]

21. It would be really really sad...

...if something like what happened in Newtown were to happen at 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA.
Extremely sad, it would be...

[kentauros]

34. Except for one important fact with such "people":

Money trumps lives, every time. Find some hackers that know what they're doing (not Anonymous) and redistribute the wealth in all of their bank accounts. Empty them out. That would hurt them far more than loss of lives.

[sulphurdunn]

25. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun

is a good guy with a gun." Just how exactly would that chickenhawk rat bastard know? Maybe he heard that from other chickenhawk shrimp dick warriors like Ted Nugent. These right wingers are all disgusting, gutless pieces of shit. Maybe that's why they need the false security of their assault weapons, or maybe it's just compensation for being willing to send other people to die in wars they don't have the guts to fight themselves, but I really doubt if that bothers them.

[GoldenOldie]

27. CON-MAN does not relate to "Good Guy!"

[Historic NY]

28. Will the NRA be doing fund raising for paying school police salaries...

and pensions. Many small communities with tight budgets just can't afford to keep a cop off patrol in a school. School districts have taxing authority here where I live and they do pay towards some cops here and there along with security guards. In most cases its maybe one. They used to go under the guise of DARE or other programs which have been discontinued.
In my town alone we have 3 different school districts , 7 large schools, 3 private schools-academys, a Catholic School, a Yeshiva, a semi-private - state funded - youth school, all day kindergartens & nursery schools. My police dept. would need to have more than 12 cops available just to cover them everyday. If you figured in a 5 day school calendar and days off, vacations & sick time my town would have to hire a minimum of 16 cops. I don't see that happening, my town is barely scraping by and there is a 2% property tax cap in NY State. If the districts established their own police dept's. on top of the present school taxes here people would be not able to afford living here, some already have 5 figure tax bills. So I guess he is suggesting that Congress raise taxes. Wonder what his take would be on assessing the gun manufacturers, gun shops, dealers and owners.....

So perhaps the NRA is willing to fund this?

[BrightKnight]

44. ...and will their industry sponsors pay for the Bulletproof backpacks and child body armor? -n/t

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/19/bulletproof-backpacks-kids-body-armor-in-demand-following-connecticut-school/

[KatyMan]

29. y'know...

The NRA saying that guns aren't the problem is just the same as the tobacco execs who said cigarettes don't cause cancer.

[Disgraceland]

30. How is this playing in media?

My sense is that presser was a balls up disaster for NRA. Even Scarborough went after Kansas GOP rep with basically the same argument this morning. Where is the conventional wisdom of the mediocre press today ? This may have been a good thing, on balance...?

[maxsolomon]

31. turning the nation into a prison filled with prisons

armed guards keep you out or keep you in, and you drive from one prison to the next with your safety off and one in the chamber.

but nothing to stop crazy fucks from buying arsenals.

[madrchsod]

33. that would be at least 8 full time cops in my city...

and i`m not counting the 2 religious schools....

[dburner1]

35. Old Vets thoughts

Two examples that are burning my buns, One, there was a trained armed deputy at Columbine and two teenagers blew right by him. Two, Dick Cheney who at the time was VP of the US and a trained NRA gun owner almost blew his hunting partners head off. I'm sure more examples can be found, just had to get these two off of my chest. Thank you.

[bettyellen]

57. there was a trained armed deputy at Columbine? Wow. Thanks and WELCOME TO DU!

[BrightKnight]

36. "the next atrocity is only a news cycle away." - Wayne LaPierre - n/t

[caseymoz]

37. The new shooting in PA seems to answer this.

Where two well-armed State Troopers did take down the subject, but apparently barely came away with their lives. And they weren't surprised. They likely knew the situation they were going into. The school cop is going to likely be surprised.

Plus, what does he do in between school shootings? Twiddle his thumbs? I like how the NRA wants us to spend a billion or two of more taxpayer money over a decade so people can have guns that are statistically demonstrated to not effectively protect them against crime, and which aren't really needed to rebel against the tyranny anyway. See Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, and soon, Syria for proof of that.

Remember, most mass shootings are not in schools.

[wordpix]

39. Insane Wayne, is NRA going to pay for these cops in the schools?

Oh yeah, did not think so

[Jennicut]

41. So his answer is to have shoot-it-outs in schools.

And kids in the middle of the line of fire.

I am all for increasing some security in schools like automatic locking of doors to classrooms but a cop at every school is really impractical and there is no way to pay for it.

[johnnyrocket]

42. Saw this comment: "It's like Firefighters stockpiling fire for their next fire."

[liberal N proud]

43. That is a disaster waiting to happen

The shooter would know that the first person they need to take out is the guard. Now the shooter has an extra weapon.

Same thing if you believe the crap about arming teachers. You are creating a situation where there are MORE FUCKING GUNS available for use by the shooter.

[Historic NY]

47. Exactly one cop in a big building , one gun in a locked school office cabinet....

where do these people live in a fantasy world.

Guns on plane, guns in school offices, teachers with guns, guns, guns, guns...its not the answer.

[benld74]

48. Mike and Mike this morning,,,

stated that SOME of the schools in CT. that DID NOT cancel their Christmas Concerts, HIRED armed guards to prevent entry while the performance was going on. The parents THAN had to inform their kids WHY there were men with GUNS outside.

Quote from the show, "While my kids sang Jingle Bells, men with guns were guarding the entrances. What HAS this country become?"

[2AFE]

49. We Need More Waiting Periods and Background Checks

Seems there should be a waiting period on stories printed/broadcast by the media. So many 'facts' are so often very wrong. They should have to verify all the facts prior to broadcasting a story. I'm thinking a 2 week wait to verify information would be acceptable.

Background checks on those in the media reporting said 'facts' should all be implemented. A person of unsound mind can certainly convey much false information meant only to hurt and inflame others.

We should infringe on all of our rights, not just the 2nd Amendment, that would make this a much more wonderful nation to live in.

[on point]

50. Great idea. Let's register all the guns and tax them in order to pay for it...

[Hoyt]

52. The gun carriers will just shoot guards first. NRA is nuts.

[Agnosticsherbet]

54. NRA jumps the shark. Any elected official with a high NRA qualifications should repudiate the NRA

or resign from their office as unfit.

I will be looking at reps in California and seeking to have them recalled.

It is time for the NRA to go.

[Lifelong Protester]

55. NO TO HIM

NO TO HIS IDEA. We work at school to teach peaceful resolution to conflicts. His plan conflicts mightily with that.

[Zoeisright]

56. Fuck you, Wayne.

Why HE doesn't meet his end at the barrel of a gun I cannot understand.

[rppper]

58. Didn't he call police "jack booted thugs" years ago?

Nasty nasty little man...

[llmart]

75. I remember that too.....

and I also remember that then President, George Bush, Sr. denounced the NRA and denounced his lifetime membership in it. It was the only thing Bush Sr. did that I was impressed with.

[Toronto]

60. The way people having been waiting for

a response from the NRA, you'd think they were a government body, rather than a right wing organization with no real function other than to shill for the weapons manufacturers. Of course their solution involves more weapons, how could it not. They only stayed quiet for as long as they did to give people time to forget about Sandy Hook. That speech, were it given last Friday, may have resulted in a lynching...

[Javaman]

61. There was a fork in the road, one path was less traveled and overgrown...

one was paved with death and stupidity.

Guess which the NRA picked?

[Kelvin Mace]

63. Can't have a "police state" without the police

These are the "anti-tyranny" guys? Their solution is armed government intervention?

[bucolic_frolic]

64. When the only tool you have is a hammer

everything looks like a nail!

Not enough intelligence for any complexity.

[Skittles]

67. he represents cowards

what else CAN he say?

[Mr.Bill]

68. A school could hire a highly-trained police officer like this one.

What could go wrong?

[AngryOldDem]

69. What we need to do is bring back the old-fashioned concept of shunning.

Ostracize the NRA. Make it socially repellent, and repellent as an ethical and moral member of society, to own any kind of weapon whose only purpose is to destroy the body of a human being. Make it socially unacceptable to own a war weapon of any kind.

Wayne's brilliant idea will just lead to more guns and more gun deaths. As with most people who are in and of themselves the problem, Wayne is conveniently overlooking the root of the problem here: His fanatical group's fascination with things that kill.

Again. Make them all pariahs. If we can do it with smokers, then we should sure as fuck be able to do it with these assholes.

[llmart]

77. I have thought the same thing many times.....

the court of public opinion is a powerful court. We must all denounce them every time we're given the opportunity.

I was out shopping today. Saw a vehicle with an NRA sticker. It was cold and snowy today so there was enough on the vehicle for me to write "shame" on it near the sticker and walk away.

[Paladin]

72. Fuck You Where You Breathe, LaPierre. (nt)

[cstanleytech]

73. Thats not the answer but for a moment lets say they do it, is the NRA prepared to pay the bill

to train and keep the number of new officers in the schools out of the NRAs own pocket?

[Turbineguy]

74. If he had told the truth

they would have been hit with billions if not trillions in wrongful death civil suits.

[2on2u]

76. Maybe they can put sand bags, razor wire and some land mines as well. n/t

[cosmicone]

78. What will it take for these assholes to think rationally?

Perhaps a gun-nut gone berserk in their headquarters, mowing two dozen people down in a barrage of bullets?

[MADem]

80. Oh, they wouldn't care about their HQ....they'd play the Martyr Card and say "See? See? We need

MORE guns, not less!!!!!"

If one of their children/grandchildren was at the wrong end of a gun--say, one held by a teacher at the end of his/her rope...or a "school policeman" who was just told he was losing his job after being teased by the rest of the force incessantly....or even an angry relative determined to make someone "pay"--maybe then they'd "personalize" the issue.

For now, though, it's an US v. THEM game. They think they are the smartest guys in the room, because they have the guns and can bully (so they think) people into shutting up.

Those days are gone.

It's important that the gun control side of this equation speak very rationally and stay focused on one issue at a time. I think a good place to start is assault weapons. Next they can go after some of those crazy magazines, and unfettered access to insane amounts of ammo--to include ammo that isn't for hunting Bambi, but for hunting cops in body armor. It is going to be a long hard slog, but just as Porgie used to say "Nahn Wun Wun" to shut people up who did not want to go to war, our team can say "Newtown" to cut short a load of obfuscation and bullshit on this issue. At least we'll be on the right side of the issue, unlike Dumbya...

[George II]

79. According to those clowns (sorry for the insult Bozo and Clarabelle)....

the way to solve the gun problem in schools is to bring more guns into schools!

[Mr.Bill]

82. I honestly think there have been times when

Ted Nugent made more sense than Wayne LaPierre did today.

[Nativechef]

85. Not an advocate of the NRA.....

With that said there is a modicum of merit to having "Law Enforcement" in our schools. Let me explain before heads explode.... Here in Florida at all public Middle and High Schools there is an armed member of the county Sheriffs Office on staff. These individuals are what's refereed to as School Resource Officers more commonly called SRO's. Their job is to not only provide armed protection in these "gun free" zones, but they also serve as mediators in conflict resolution, they teach that violence is not the answer to any and all problems. They educate students on consequences of actions and promote critical thinking under duress. They identify and handle cases of abuse both at school and in the home. They handle repeat offenses of truancy and deter the possession and use of drugs in school and the community. This program was enacted in the early 1990's primarily to reduce gang violence and drug use and continues to be successful on many more levels than what it was originally designed for. These officers are highly trained not just as law enforcement but also as social worker, psychologist, mediator and confidant. These officers go through a very rigorous training program and only those with the right attitude and temperament are selected. These officers really do care about our kids and are upholding to the true meaning of 'Protecting and Serving our communities".

So... Yes there is merit to this idea. Unfortunately the NRA and others have chosen a "poor" way to "sell" the idea. We have to look at the bigger picture of how this can benefit our children and our communities and not just another WMD. These people are true professionals not rent-a-cops with an attitude.

[Elmergantry]

86. Schools doing it here

New Castle PA school district just hired 6 part-time police officers to guard the school facilities in direct response to Newtown.....

[drynberg]

87. WAIT JUST A MINUTE, CRAZY WAYNE

Armed guards would cost about $6Billion for one year and not cover the vast majority of the 11,000+ victims of homicide by gun in the USA, plus armed guards didn't stop Columbine, VATech, or Fort Hood...What a pile of dog crap your "important news conference" was! Plus, don't the press ask questions during a "Press Conference"...Instead of having free TV AD time. Repulsive to the core...Yuck!

[Elmergantry]

88. Another School District in a Blue State Hiring Guards.

Marlboro Township NJ

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/jersey_town_adopts_schoolhouse_glocks_ID5tknLmS1oOuWbD62d51K

Don’t mess with Marlboro Township.

The leafy, well-heeled New Jersey suburb will station a permanent armed cop in each of its nine schools starting Jan. 2.

It’s apparently the first district nationwide bent on packing heat in every schoolhouse since madman Adam Lanza gunned down 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14.

“We’ve made a collective decision as a town that we need armed security in each of our schools,” Mayor Jonathan Hornik told The Post.

“With this new evil, you can’t just sit there and hope that it doesn’t happen in your town. We must protect our kids.”

The mayor and other town officials had approved the initiative before the chief of the National Rifle Association ignited a firestorm on Friday by calling for armed guards for schools.

Besides putting a cop in each of its schools — one kindergarten, five elementary, two middle and one high school — Marlboro will consider fortifying entrances with steel doors and bulletproof glass and installing surveillance cameras “all over” to feed to the police department, Hornik said.

Cost won’t stand in the way of “state-of-the-art” safety, he added.

“This isn’t a luxury item. This is a necessity, based on what we saw happen in Connecticut,” said Hornik, a Democrat who supports an assault-weapons ban and stricter gun control.

The 40,000-resident Monmouth County town, home to many former Brooklynites and Staten Islanders, has taken groundbreaking safety measures before. In March 2001, it became one of the first towns in the nation to ban cellphone use while driving.

No other school districts in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut have decided to use guns to guard against an assault, officials said.

“If a district in New York state were to pursue that same solution — to bring armed police officers into the schools — we would support that decision,” said David Albert, spokesman for the New York School Boards Association.

But it won’t happen in New York City, said Department of Education spokeswoman Marge Feinberg, noting, “We are not considering having armed security officers in our buildings.”

The NYPD oversees 5,000 unarmed safety agents and staffs each city school with at least one. It also sends 350 armed cops to patrol and visit campuses — mostly junior and senior highs.

“On any given day, there are armed police officers assigned to schools. It’s not every school and not every day,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

He said the NYPD will step up efforts to detect danger signs, such as comments on public Web sites, to scope out potential killers.

Ed Massey, president of the National School Boards Association, said his home district in Boone County, Ky., took up arms in the late 1990s after Ryle HS junior Clay Shrout, 17, killed his mom, dad and two sisters, then used a handgun to hold his class hostage for hours. An assistant principal talked him into surrendering.

Each school or cluster of schools in the district has at least one armed cop on duty, and the community has embraced them, Massey said.

The cops “interact with students, respond to emergencies and deter bullying,” he said.

Despite an armed guard at Columbine HS, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 15 and wounded 23 in their rampage in 1999. A sheriff’s officer outside the school exchanged fire with Harris but missed him.

Massey predicts others will follow Marlboro’s lead.

“This has rung an alarm bell in the boardroom of every school district in the nation,” he said.

[redwhiteblue]

90. Agree with drynberg

Who is going to pay for all those guns and police? Repubs are trying to get rid of all social programs and now they want this? Just think the profit the NRA would make if all schools had to buy Assault guns.
Two more firefighters killed while trying to put out a fire. More sadness for families.Those of you who remember the Archie Bunker show, remembers that Archie and his son in law, meathead were talking about dangers of society. Archie said, they could fix that . Give everone a gun!!
The audience roared when he said that and here we are dealing with the Archie Bunker mentality.

[veers23]

89. To pass and sign a bill to shut down gun shows, ban High capacity clips, an assault weapons.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pass-and-sign-bill-shut-down-gun-shows-ban-high-capacity-clips-assault-weapons/xCM5VSk3?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

[drynberg]

91. Yes!

2nd Amendment Rights are bizarre, at best. " A well regulated militia"...and this translates to machine gun freaks like the ass that roamed the streets of Portland Maine exercising his 2nd Amendment Rights. What BullRoar! The lawmakers have been manipulated (bought and sold) by the NRA, Heritage...Blah Blah Blah. Fact is, more than 11 Thousand Americans are murdered by these firearms, way too high a price for the armament dealers bottom line for their huge sales of guns and bullets. We are not only the laughing stock of the world, but we citizens are victims of a huge con job focused on the Big Gun Profit Margin. This has to end NOW.

[LiberalFighter]

92. A $30 to $50 annual tax on all guns & rifles.

[jimbo92107]

93. Dear President Hussein

We would like to scour this nation for the poorest, dumbest unemployed gun fanatics and post them in front of our childrens' schools armed to the teeth with combat weapons.

Love,
The NRA.

PS: But gun owners don't have to pay for it, just unarmed people.