05-23-2018, 01:11 PM
A single point of entry with metal detectors could work efficiently in smaller schools, but not for the thousands of schools with large student bodies.
At Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, for example, it would take over 5 hours to screen all students before they entered the building if there was only one entry, one walk through metal detector (fastest and least invasive mode), one security staffer manning the walk through detector, and one security staffer using a wand to check students who set the walk through detector off. That assumes only 6 seconds per scan with an enrollment of 3,100.
But, the entry/scan process could be made more efficient for larger schools if there was space and funding for multiple detectors and security staff at a single point of entry, or if there were multiple points of entry with separate detectors and security staff.
That would be expensive and would in no way replace the need for more gun safety/control legislation. A lot of the citizens who object to increased taxes are also the ones who object to gun safety/control laws, in my observation. But, the funding would need to come from somewhere (which should not include reallocation of education budget).
Perhaps the funding could come out of existing Homeland Security or Defense budget; that seems appropriate and would require those agencies to prioritize and cut back somewhere else. Or, maybe a school safety tax could be applied to all new gun purchases to create the additional funding. The NRA, in my opinion, should not be permitted to play a role in any of it -- which I think they might suggest in order to create a new profit center and further embed themselves. If conservative politicians entertained NRA involvement, I could easily see that motivating a whole lot of voters to get to the polls in protest.
At Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, for example, it would take over 5 hours to screen all students before they entered the building if there was only one entry, one walk through metal detector (fastest and least invasive mode), one security staffer manning the walk through detector, and one security staffer using a wand to check students who set the walk through detector off. That assumes only 6 seconds per scan with an enrollment of 3,100.
But, the entry/scan process could be made more efficient for larger schools if there was space and funding for multiple detectors and security staff at a single point of entry, or if there were multiple points of entry with separate detectors and security staff.
That would be expensive and would in no way replace the need for more gun safety/control legislation. A lot of the citizens who object to increased taxes are also the ones who object to gun safety/control laws, in my observation. But, the funding would need to come from somewhere (which should not include reallocation of education budget).
Perhaps the funding could come out of existing Homeland Security or Defense budget; that seems appropriate and would require those agencies to prioritize and cut back somewhere else. Or, maybe a school safety tax could be applied to all new gun purchases to create the additional funding. The NRA, in my opinion, should not be permitted to play a role in any of it -- which I think they might suggest in order to create a new profit center and further embed themselves. If conservative politicians entertained NRA involvement, I could easily see that motivating a whole lot of voters to get to the polls in protest.