HOW WE SEE IT: Vigilance Needed To Deter Killing In U.S. Schools

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Vice President Joe Biden’s appointment to make recommendations on school safety and gun control is leading to a shotgun approach.

By that, we mean it doesn’t appear the proposals he comes up will be narrowly targeted. The Washington Post reported last week the working group Biden leads is seriously considering measures to require universal background checks for firearms buyers, to track the movement and sales of weapons through a national database, to strengthen mental health offerings and to stiff en penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.

In the wake of the Newtown school shooting, ideas are bouncing around from the Obama administration all the way down the local schools.

How, everyone is asking, can we stop such outrageous and inexplicable carnage?

Nobody has a perfect solution. But the desire to make the situation better, to make an assailant’s success farless likely, is a needed response to the tragedy.

We found it satisfying to see law enforcement authorities in New York use existing law to arrest 24-year-old Dawn Nguyen. She is accused of buying a semiautomatic rifle and shotgun in 2010.

Her crime, authorities said, was lying on a form that said she would be the owner of the guns. Two years later, if police are correct, we learned Nguyen bought them solely on behalf of William Spengler, who last month lured fi refighters by starting a blaze then killed two of them.

Spengler was a convicted felon who could not legally buy or possess guns.

Enforcement of existing gun laws needs to be strong and visible, so that anyone considering similar actions knows there will be a price to pay.

But we also know shooters are often willing to give their own lives when they have destruction on their minds. How to stop them is a debate that will consume much of 2013.

Some in this debate suggest armed adults at school buildings will add a layer of security, but our local school oftcials are wary of the introduction of more guns into the educational environment. Of late, local police have stepped up their presence in schools. Some have said they want to see oftcers or deputies in every school.

Us, too. But the suggestion doesn’t seem realistic.

The cost is prohibitive. And taking oft cers off the street to accomplish it diminishes safety in the rest of our communities, where the likelihood of violence is more likely.

It’s great to see oftcers being attentive to school campuses, but if we’re honest, we must recognize even they won’t be 100 percent eff ective in deterring violence.

We hope the discussions - whether it’s Joe Biden, the NRA or the mental health industry talking - can provide additional facility-based security: controlled access, stronger doors and windows, adequate escape routes, teacher and student training. School leaders have a responsibility to be the first line of defense, and we’re not suggesting that starts with throwing themselves in front of a bullet. It starts long before that with measures designed to severely limit a gunman’s ability to move freely within a lockeddown environment.

Hopefully, the full attention these solutions are getting today will continue long enough that changes are put into eff ect.

Education can’t be effective if there’s little school security. Parents, students, educators and school staffs must be vigilant to ensure real progress is made.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/09/2013

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