Sunday, December 4, 2022

BeSMART MOU w/Richland 2 - worthless?

What are the odds that a student will be killed by a gun in a school in the United States? 

Would you believe 1 in 5,000,000?

An article in The Boston Globe (5/27/22) reported, "Yet the risk of such fatalities at school is actually low. ... with more than 50 million school children in America, the likelihood is about 1 in 5 million that a child will be killed by an armed assailant at school in any given year."

I'm not a fan of anything to do with Michael Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety. In my book, it is an anti-gun organization, not an anti-gun-violence organization.

At the November 29th school board meeting, two representatives of BeSMART which, along with MOMs Demand Action, is aligned with Everytown, spent much of their three minutes asking "Did You Know..." questions. They didn't provide any answers. It was as "flat" presentation without any energy. If you want to watch it, go to (1:40:19) at   https://livestream.com/richland2/events/10692311/videos/233986166

It was a year ago that Richland 2, with great fanfare, announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with other area school districts, healthcare facilities, and law-enforcement. But it seems to me that the incidence of guns at Richland 2 schools has increased.

BeSmart has given away lots of gun locks. Gun locks are not the answer. Education is the answer.

It is the mindset of students that must be changed. Safe handling of firearms will reduce some injuries, but stopping the kids from bringing guns to schools or stealing them from Richland County vehicles is what is needed. And stopping them from using guns to settle differences and in crimes will not be accomplished by gun locks.

School administrators know the kids most likely to bring guns to schools. Identify them. Watch them like hawks. Engage with them. 

Is that profiling? Even if it is, do it. Are we going to reduce gun violence or just talk about it?