Putting trained armed guards in US schools would help underpin the safety of their students, a task force launched by the National Rifle Association (NRA) after the Newtown massacre said Tuesday.
Releasing a 225-page report in Washington, the National School Shield program echoed the NRA’s position that more guns in the right hands, rather than tougher gun laws, is the best recipe for confronting gun violence.
“The specific finding is that the presence of an armed security personnel in a school adds a layer of security and diminishes response time that is beneficial to overall security,” said task force chief Asa Hutchinson.
“We recognize that the decision (to deploy armed guards) is locally made. Some school districts decide not to go that direction,” added Hutchinson, a former member of Congress and Drug Enforcement Administration chief.
“We want to make sure our resources are available whenever decision is made. I come from a rural state. The smaller school districts struggle. This is a key tool to provide more options for school security and safety.”
The NRA launched the National School Shield initiative in the wake of the December 14 killing of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in affluent Newtown, Connecticut.
The gunman, Adam Lanza, 20, who had earlier shot and killed his own mother, cut down his victims with a semi-automatic assault rifle in a matter of minutes before turning a handgun on himself, investigators say.
Last Thursday, President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for gun reform, infuriated by the notion that fading memories of the Newtown massacre three months ago were undercutting a push for new laws.
“What we’re proposing is not radical, it’s not taking away anybody’s gun rights,” said Obama, whose proposal for thorough background checks on all firearm purchases is running into stiff headwinds on Capitol Hill.
Tuesday’s report from the National School Shield task force including eight recommendations ranging from better door locks to a 40- to 60-hour training program for armed school guard volunteers.
It also proposed that legislators in the 50 American states amend existing laws in order to allow school personnel to carry firearms.
The NRA lobbies vigorously against any gun control initiative, in a country with more than 30,000 gun-related fatalities a year and a Constitution that guarantees all citizens the right “to keep and bear arms.”
NRA-backed group favors armed guards in US schools
