Peter Greene reports the selling of heavily clad bunkers for classrooms to protect children against killers.
We have a problem. There are 400 million guns owned by the population. One of our major political parties is adamantly opposed to any restraint on buying and selling more guns.
Other societies insist on background checks, proof of training, safes for guns, and a dozen other ways to minimize the misuse of these deadly weapons. Even the most tepid effort to limit gun ownership will be loudly opposed in this country. The recent bipartisanship deal on gun control won’t change any of that.
The recent assassination of the former Prime Minister of Japan, which has rigid limits on gun ownership, was held up by gun lovers as proof that gun control doesn’t work. Japan had a total of ten gun deaths last year.
So, Greene points out, since we do nothing to restrict gun ownership, we create a response to the problem. Buy bunkers for children in classrooms. This could be a billion-dollar business.
PS: then there’s the case of the Uvalde elementary school. Just-released videotape showed that the police, fully armed, stayed out of the classrooms where the killer was, for 77-78 minutes. As children and teachers died, the police held back. Why? They didn’t need a key. They didn’t need more weapons. They didn’t need more armor. They needed courage.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
How many times have we seen videos and heard testimony of cops beating, tazing, tear gassing and outright killing unarmed (often Black) people allegedly because they believed the person was armed and they had reason to fear for their lives?
Now we see graphic proof of what cops actually do when they know someone is armed and their lives are genuinely in danger – they run like little girls (apologies to actual little girls who are probably a whole lot braver).
So now we know, in those situation in which they beat and kill Black people, they’re doing it because they know the person is unarmed and they are perfectly safe to abuse at will.
In a guano-looney society we should not be giving the guano-lunatics any more ideas.
The video, unsurprisingly, is absolutely horrifying. I hate to say it, but I recommend watching it.
I thought something about this comment smelled funny. Note the concern above.
I went back, and the first post Diane made about the delay in police response in Uvalde was: https://dianeravitch.net/2022/05/26/uvalde-parents-pleaded-with-police-to-enter-the-building-and-save-their-children/
The tenor of most of the comments was something to the effect of, “this looks really bad, and if it turns out to be partially true that’s horrific. But the commentator above, in response to speculation about reasons for the response was, “Weren’t there similar issues with the police response to the Parkland shootings? Police were at the scene, heard shots, knew or should have known that students and staff were being murdered, and did not enter the building.” This was a false assertion. And how does it compare to the remark above this comment?
A fair answer would have been, “At the time, I gave the benefit of doubt to authority and dismissed the other claims, which is something I regularly do. The video, unsurprisingly, is absolutely horrifying. I hate to say it, but I recommend watching it.” That would have satisfied the the public record. But if one were to read just the comment above, the sentiment behind it looks a bit different when taken into correct context. I’m not saying people have to be correct immediately. But they should have the honesty to admit their views had changed. It’s easy to rewrite history when one leaves out key details.
Greg,
Go back and check the Parkland events. I recall that there was an armed guard. He was stationed outside. When the shooting started, he stayed outside. He was excoriated, maybe fired.
Uvalde seems so much worse because there were many armed officers. They lingered in the hall outside the classrooms for 77-78 minutes.
I saw the video without sound. I hear the unedited version is on YouTube.
I can’t bring myself to watch and listen. The screams of the children is more than I can bear. However, I do think it should be played unedited to the state legislature in every state. To Congress. To the NRA.
Greg, do you have something better to do than to trying to “bust” me in every other comment?
Diane, the screams were edited out. There’s a chilling note in text in the video to that effect. The gunfire is not edited out, though.
Sorry, Diane, I read too quickly and misunderstood your comment.
One of these dudes actually walks across the hall to get hand sanitizer. Says a lot.
I remember that.
I think they just need to add a powerful electro magnet (like they use at wrecking yards) to the wall of each classroom which can be switched on by the teacher whenever someone enters with a gun which will then suck the gun out of the hands of the potential shooter and stick it (and possibly the shooter if he won’t let go) to the wall.
Of course, that wouldn’t work with plastic (or stainless steel) guns, but how many assault weapons are made of those?
To answer your question at the end: I’m sure a gun manufacturer would figure it out very quickly. Thar’s money in making them thar guns.
So true, Duane, so true.
Aren’t ghost guns plastic? (Just banned in IL–May, 2022.)
No, ghost gun refers to the fact that the gun ownership can’t be traced. Not sure what was banned across the River but many modern firearms have plastic components.
No, retired. A ghost gun is any gun that lacks a serial number. This includes a lot of handmade guns, for examples, ones created using 3D printing technologies. Most ghost guns are created from kits.
BRILLIANT, SDHP (I continue to think of you as Hysterical)!
There’s nothing funny about this, but, once again, your comment made me laugh.
What type of country tolerates the slaughters of its children in school classrooms on a constant sickening regular basis? One political party is devoted to obstructing and knee-capping any sensible efforts to stem the tidal wave of blood and human tissue because of an insane love of guns and a distorted and biased interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. When will things really change, can things ever change after all these horrifying massacres? Maybe if the Democrats control all 3 branches of the government by an overwhelming margin, legislation with real teeth can be enacted to ban the semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic pistols? Not looking even remotely possible. I’m just dreaming.
Missouri’s Harrisonville Christian School Tries Out A Bullet-Proof/Storm-Proof Bunker.
$15,000 – $30,000 PER Classroom
And if it Floods, will it float?
Yikes, just when you thought things couldn’t get weirder, they come up with armored bunkers!!?? Seriously, packing 30 kids into that small space for any length of time? I guess the bunker must also have some kind of ventilation system so the class doesn’t suffocate for long stays in the cramped space. It would be an incredible expense to equip each class with a bunker. It would be cheaper to surround the school with a moat and drawbridge. I’m assuming that Harrisonville Christian School is a private school so it can do as it pleases. It would be even cheaper to devise some kind of steel bar that could be lowered or slid into place over the locked classroom door in case of a shooter emergency.
There’d have to be an underground bunker under every classroom separated from all the others but also connected with a way to move the student down there really fast like a playground slide.
Each bunker would have to have an armored hatch that the teacher could easily open from the outside and close from the inside. Since all those underground bunkers would have to be linked, that means every bunker would have a second hatch underground opening into a hallway.
There’s have to be military style dehydrated field rations in packets, safe water, and restrooms for each bunker.
The air supply would have to be protected so the lunatic couldn’t pump poisonous gas into those underground bunkers.
Why not just spend a few trillion dollars to build all new underground public school rated to survive a nuclear war, or an invasion of violent ETs, or human eating zombies.
Ka-CHING ….. $$$$$ for a few.
Doesn’t solve anything.
Sounds like a great bandwagon for the supe adminimals to jump onto!
Duane: looks like your “Show Me State” has come up with the answer.
NOT.
Just read the link. “A big metal box.” I guess this is what’s meant by “hardening” a school.
From the news today – a mile long caravan of 52 yellow school buses with 4,368 empty seats representing the number of children shot dead this year are on their way to Ted Cruz’s home.
Amazing (and sad) artifacts in the lead bus, which serves as a museum and memorial
The guy in Japan had to construct the weapon that he used in that attack on Abe. Not many are going to do that. So, the right wing is, as usual, totally misrepresenting the reality.