A number of school shootings as of late has had a number of people wondering whether guns should actually be allowed on campus. For one Georgia professor, that answer is clearly “yes.” Dr. Kevin Lee Elder teaches at Georgia College & State University, and recently wrote an op-ed for the website “Guns Save Us”, claiming that an armed guard would indeed make schools safer.
In writing his piece, Elder referred to an incident that happened here in Atlanta in which an armed guard at a local middle school was able to stop a school shooter by disarming him. Although one student was injured, Elder claims that it was a far cry from the amount of devastation seen during other school shootings.
He also cites statistics that show that more than 15 percent of all mass shootings occur inside “gun free zones.” Elder claims that not only have gun free zones not proven to be effective, but they have also prevented others from having access to a weapon that could be used in order to thwart the perpetrator. He claims that if armed guards were inside schools, criminals would be deterred from committing massive acts of violence.
Gun control advocates often claim that having an armed guard at school would make children feel uncomfortable. School officials in areas that have already implemented them state that this is not the case, and that having an armed guard on campus actually makes both faculty and students feel safer.
The number of recent school shootings is heartbreaking; however, there is one thing that we can learn from them, and that is that gun free zones are dangerous for everyone who is forced to be in them. Knowing where and when a tragedy might strike is not possible, but being ready for one is. Contact us today to find out about putting armed guards in your school in order to maintain a safe learning environment for all.