The student who publicly posted to Facebook their support to overturn the decision to allow JROTC air rifle practice behind Nashua North has removed their post. The movement has been taken over by a new “student” notice on the Nashua Patch.
I am told the original post attracted several negative comments. I take that to mean people who support the JROTC practicing behind the school outnumbered those commenting who want JROTC approval overturned.
The new post, like the old one, expresses objection based on a generalized fear of guns. This is odd. Guns have always been allowed on campus. Federal law allows law-abiding citizens in possession of a carry permit issued by the local police chief (or other approved official) to carry concealed weapons on school grounds.
Additionally, resource officers, to the best of my knowledge, are armed.
People are carrying firearms on campus and have been for years. If you didn’t know does “knowing” change anything? Does knowing alongside the absence of any firearms incidents mean anything? Or, are you committed to your discomfort?
Does it Bother You that Your “feelings” are Based on a Lie?
I do not doubt that there are individuals who feel threatened by firearms (or air rifles), but this is no basis for policy. It runs contrary to the facts. Schools with armed employees are safer spaces than those that turn themselves into gun-free zones, regardless of the reasons.
A just-released report from the Crime Prevention Research Center compares real-world data. Armed schools are safer.
Twenty states currently allow teachers and staff to carry guns to varying degrees on school property, so we don’t need to guess how the policy would work. There has yet to be a single case of someone being wounded or killed from a shooting, let alone a mass public shooting, between 6 AM and midnight at a school that lets teachers carry guns. Fears of teachers carrying guns in terms of such problems as students obtaining teachers guns have not occurred at all, and there was only one accidental discharge outside of school hours with no one was really harmed. While there have not been any problems at schools with armed teachers, the number of people killed at other schools has increased significantly – doubling between 2001 and 2008 versus 2009 and 2018.
Any objection to firearms is, presumably, based an aversion to getting shot. If that’s true, then the best course of action to prevent being shot is the presence of firearms in schools, in the hands of law-abiding citizens — people trained in the safe handling and use.
As noted previously, that’s all part of the JROTC Air Rifle Marksmanship program. It encourages young men and women not just to shoot well but to respect the tools used to do that.
If you are uncomfortable with this perhaps the real problem is not the presence of firearms but that you’ve been misled about these tools and their benefit to your safety.
If it helps we all have fears we should outgrow regardless of age. This may be one of those. It is not unreasonable to have them. But is it reasonable to defend them in the face of contradictory evidence?
And if it is, then what are you actually after? Is someone pulling your strings? The same people lying to you about firearms and public safety?
