Deter, detect, delay and defeat
By The Bakersfield Californian
It strikes me that your editorial staff has an irrational fear of firearms which colors all of your thoughts on these matters. Let us look at your Feb. 2 editorial, "Train janitors to defend our campuses?" First, you mention Assembly Bill 202, a proposal that would allow (not require) that school districts be able to use funds to train school staff to carry and use concealed weapons to defend their school. Then you state that air marshals have training, and teachers and janitors do not. I guess you are forgetting your first paragraph where training is what this legislative proposal is all about. You continue with all sorts of suppositions. I can come up with just as many that end well for the students.
You state that thinking a teacher or janitor could stop a active shooter is delusional. Where do you get this fact? From Joel Myrick, the vice principal in Pearl, Miss., who stopped an active shooter there? Personally I know custodians and crossing guards that I would be happy to have carry a weapon. They already have training, some military, some law enforcement. They could get more training.
Many steps can be taken to reduce these evil acts at our schools. Lt. Col Dave Grossman believes in Deter, Detect, Delay and Defeat, a multilayered approach. But a "gun-free zone" should just be reworded to "guaranteed defenseless victims zone." A school having an armed trained staff member, whether a policeman or custodian, helps in both the deter and defeat categories.
Jim Mitchell
Bakersfield
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