We believe Frontier Academy’s Executive Committee wants to make things safer for students.
We also want to make things safer at the Greeley charter school. That’s why we’re calling on the school’s board to reject a proposal to arm staff members.
We believe that arming staff members and administrators, no matter how much training you give them, is a dangerous answer to an exaggerated, albeit serious, problem.
We can’t say it won’t happen here. Sandy Hook, Columbine and shootings at other schools taught us that. We will not, therefore, talk about Frontier’s relatively safe neighborhood, or the fact that Greeley as a whole is a relatively non-violent city.
What we can say, still, is that the odds of something like that happening at Frontier are low. Really low. So low that the chances of Frontier’s students getting struck by lightening are higher. Much higher.
It is not worth the risk of increasing the odds of someone getting shot at Frontier for the unlikely chance a staff member could stop a crazy person brandishing a gun.
That’s right. We think there are reliable studies showing that bringing more guns into a school such as Frontier increases the odds that someone, such as a teacher, a parent or a student, would get shot. It increases the risk no matter what kind of training you give to those hoping to carry concealed weapons.
Gun deaths make up more than half of all completed suicides and more than two-thirds of all homicides. Last January, the University of California published a study in the “Annals of Internal Medicine” where researchers found that those with the ability to get to a gun are three times as likely to commit suicide and twice as likely to be the victim of a homicide than people without access to guns.
Studies show, time and again, that owning a gun in your home increases the risk of your death by a gun.
Even so, homeowners have the right to put themselves in danger. They have the right to keep guns. Teachers, however, won’t be able to make that kind of a choice unless they quit their jobs. Students won’t either unless they leave school. This is why one teacher, Sandy Spahr, choked up when she spoke out against the proposal at a public meeting attended by more than 100 last week. And it’s why of the 14 opinions offered, four were in favor of arming staff members. No teachers spoke out in favor.
Tempers flare at school. Adding a gun to a fight or a disagreement between a student and a teacher will never make things better. What if a student rushes a teacher with a baseball bat? Does that student deserve to be shot? What if a student grabs a gun from a staff member’s holster? What if a student hits a teacher in sight of another armed staff member? What if a weird-looking stranger comes into the school wearing a long black leather jacket, and he reaches into his coat pocket to get his wallet and scares someone? Do these scenarios sound unlikely? They’re more likely than a gunman rushing a school to commit mass murder.
Let’s say, however, that the infinitesimal odds don’t matter, and someone enters Frontier with the intent to harm or kill. We can’t even say for sure that an armed staff member would be able to do anything about someone with a grudge and a disturbed mind shooting up a school. That takes a steady hand, guts and a pretty good shot.
We understand the desire to upgrade Frontier’s school security. We like the idea of adding video surveillance, locking down entrance doors and upgrading its intercom system. We like the idea of trained professionals patrolling the grounds of our city’s schools, such as the Greeley police officers who are stationed at Greeley West, Northridge and Greeley Central high schools.
We can’t say we don’t need additional security any longer. What we can say is we’d prefer Frontier doing that without it ending in tragedy.
– The Tribune Editorial Board
