Owasso, OK elementary school in lockdown.....

[rainbow4321]

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=67845

The gun laws in Oklahoma are about to change. Starting November 1st, employers cannot prevent workers with gun permits from keeping a gun in their cars at work.

The goal of the law is to protect the rights of gun owners. The law specifically says employers cannot create policies or rules to ban permitted guns in locked cars, unless the employee is a convicted felon.

______________________

Maybe this will get Oklahomans to rethink some of their gun laws???


Just spoke with my sis in Owasso, Oklahoma..one of their elementary schools is in lock down mode starting yesterday.
A custody battle is happening over one of the school's kids and the school now locked at all times, kids are not allowed to go outside for recess, claarooms are having to keep their mini blinds shut, a polic officer is stationed in the parking lot and when the kids leave school they are brought out to their cars under escort.

Northeast Elementary and the Owasso school district's superintendent has told sis that this is "normal" for a custody battle yet sis has never seen police outside ANY of the schools like this and she's had 3 kids in the district over a 20-some year period.

Some of the parents are calling Tulsa TV stations to report what the school is doing and how they are kind of blowing off all the parents who are concerned about the situation. A few have kept their kids out of school today but they have to send them back eventually. One of the PTA moms told sis "thank goodness we got those mini blinds up so no one can see in the classrooms now"....like those mini blinds are bullet proof, right?????

[sariku]

1. Any details on the custody battle?

That doesn't seem normal unless there have been threats or abuse- in which case, wouldn't the perp be arrested?

[havocmom]

2. My thoughts too. If the threat serious enough to lock school doors & keep

shades drawn, the person making the threat needs to be in custody.

Coming next week: Women forced to stay inside behind locked doors because there are sex offenders outside?!?!?

[rainbow4321]

3. School is tight lipped...

The teacher told my nephew's class "over my dead body will I tell you who it is"...poor choice of words to use with 4th graders in this situation ..
There is speculation that a little girl who just moved from Arkansas a few days ago might be involved but no one at the school will say. It is a small town so word will get out eventually but meanwhile the parents are scared for their kids.

[el_gato]

4. sounds like fearmongering going on at the school

custody battles are very common

[Nicole]

5. Am I missing something here?

I don't see what the article, for which you posted a link, has to do with a lock down in the Owasso school? I didn't see anything in the article or your post that indicates a gun is going to be used at the school.

So why would Oklahomans need to rethink their gun laws because of a custody fight? Has someone actually pulled a gun & attempted to use it at the school? Has anyone there actually been threatened with gunfire if the child isn't handed over?

It is against the law to threaten someone's life with a dangerous weapon. If someone is indeed doing that, he/she needs to be arrested.

[RoyGBiv]

6. "Lockdown"

This is not a gun issue.

With all due respect, I think the rhetoric here is a bit overblown, probably exacerbated by how the media seems to be treating it. Lots of "normal" things happen, and then someone goes off without thinking too heavily on the situation or considering anything that is actually happening, in part because they don't really have any idea what is happening and just make stuff up in their minds to fill the gap. There is a very good reason for secrecy in this case, and the adminstrator's answer should be sufficient. But, no, that's not good enough. Everyone wants to know the individual details, or they are certain someone is lying to them, and suddenly you have a breaking news story. A person in OKC recently convinced a news station that a local company was responsible for her son's death. That news organization had no evidence of this other than the woman's hysterical ranting, but it was a slow news day, and of course they just had to be on the scene to get the scoop. Too bad for them it turned out the woman's charges were a fantasy.

I'd like to insert a rant about so-called "Amber Alerts" here, but I'll refrain.

In any case, if one or more parties in a custody case files a restraining order against any other party, for whatever reason, these kinds of measures will be taken if a school administration is on its toes. This is a *good* thing. It shows that the school administration actually gives a damn and is planning against the most common scenarios, which usually involve parental kidnapping of the child. It has nothing whatsoever to do with guns. It has everything to do with one or more participants in the custody suit having convinced a judge that another party poses a risk of engaging in such an action. That party has likely done nothing that could result in an arrest. Restraining orders are intended to prevent that from happening.

Why the mini-blinds? They prevent an observer from seeing inside the school and being able to know, precisely, where the child that is the target of the custody case is located. They also prevent the damned news helicopters and camera crews from parking outside the school windows and recording every last movement of the kids, ensuring that absolutely nothing gets done in the classroom that day, little things like learning. The cop? Same thing, different focus.

There is no need to blow this out of proportion. Someone may well get a bad idea from that and end up fueled by the hysteria to the point he or she does take drastic measures.