Arizona is no stranger to discussion-worthy legislation over the past few years. Just this week Tom Horne, Arizona’s attorney general, announced his support for a new law that would bring guns into schools called “Defending Arizona.”
This bill was proposed in response to the Newtown massacre that occurred in December. This potential law intends to allow a school district or charter school governing board to designate one or more school staff members to carry a firearm on a school campus. These chosen individuals would be required to go through an annual three-day training program coordinated by the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Public Safety. According to Horne’s office, the training will not only contain a comprehensive review of firearms but also “use of force” laws, defensive tactics, simulations and how to properly secure a firearm.
Due to the controversial nature of this bill, participation would be completely optional and the school would be required to provide a secure firearm locker on campus for the weapons. Moreover, the elected official would also have adequate communication to be alerted of any emergency in any part of the school. According to the attorney general, the ideal solution would be to have police officers in every school, but that would be far too expensive.
There are a few questions that come to mind about this bill, one being “who exactly would be doing the alerting in the event of an emergency?” Most likely, I’d assume that the person calling for aid would be the person most wishing that they were standing next to the locked firearm with the key in hand. Additionally, it also raises the unsettling thought that schools would be locking up a weapon that could potentially get in the hands of the wrong person, or even worse – a child.
When I was a kid, and in Arizona I might add, I was never afraid of going to school. I never once thought that my safety was going to be jeopardized by someone with sick and hateful intentions. I am not sure if society’s capacity for violence grew since I was a child, or if my older age increased my exposure to horrific stories like that of Sandy Hook Elementary. A parent should never have to worry about whether or not their child will make it through a day of school safely.
Times are different and schools are pressured to take action, which may be why more and more schools are installing metal detectors. While I think that this is a good suggestion to move in the right direction for increasing campus security and keeping students and faculty from harm, I can’t help but think that there has to be a better solution out there. There has to be a way that leads back to a world where children are safe at school.
