A North Carolina school district rolled out increased security measures to enhance security. Madison County plans to have AR-15s in its schools before the 2022 fall session begins. The move was a collaboration between the county’s Sheriff’s Office and school officials in response to the tragic May 24, 2022, Uvalde school shooting.
Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood indicated he did not want his deputies to be unprepared in the event of an active shooting. He referenced the systemic failures and poor decision-making of the Uvalde officers and their failure to adhere to active-shooter training as key to making the decision for Madison’s six schools.
The AR-15s will be locked in safes for use by the school resource officers as part of the district’s plan for enhanced security, explained Sheriff Harwood.
The Sheriff assured reporters he desires to ensure his deputies are ready in the event of a school shooting. His and the school superintendent’s offices will be in regular contact, and the school security will receive extra training, reported The Hill.
People expressed concern over the semi-automatic weapons being stored near children. Eric commented: “Sad reality. But isn’t this a bit dangerous?” Another thought, “Just wait until one of the kids gets ahold of that gun. They’ll change their minds then,” was written by a mom on Facebook who asked to remain unnamed.
Twitter posts:
- @theangriestbuni wrote, “And here we go [North Carolina]. AR-15s in schools: Wtf could go wrong?
- @AshIsHereForIt’s response was, “The solution to killing less kids in schools with AR-15s is not putting more AR-15s in schools. AR-15s are [the] problem.”
- @lindyli’s post added more perspective: A North Carolina school district will place AR-15 assault weapons in EVERY school. Ohio is aiming to arm all its teachers, including for kindergarten classes. Welcome to the killing fields of America where the only thing that matters are the profits of gunmakers.”
Dr. Jaclyn Schildkraut, the interim executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Center wrote: “Is this what our nation is coming to? We must stop normalizing mass shootings as something we’re prepared to respond to. Let’s work to prevent the AR-15 from being needed in the first place.”
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Citizen-Times: AR-15s put in all Madison County schools to enhance security in case of active shooter; by Johnny Casey
MWYA TV: Beefing up security: Madison County to put AR-15s in schools; by Kimberly King
The Hill: North Carolina county putting AR-15s in every school for security; by Chloe Folmar
Featured and Top Image by US Marine Corps. Courtesy of DVIDS – Public Domain License
Inset Image by Upstateherd Courtesy of Wikipedia – Creative Commons License
