Toledo Blade Makes School Defense About Itself (Update)
First the good news: A rural Ohio school district has decided to arm staff in order to make students safer from insane people looking for notoriety. From the Toledo Blade:
Montpelier schools may be the first in Ohio to ramp up security by authorizing employees to carry weapons.
The district has about 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and 75 teachers in one building in this Williams County village of 4,000.
Now the bad news: The Blade entitled their piece “Armed-janitor plan draws mixed reaction from Montpelier parents.”
So what’s the “mixed reaction”? The Blade found one person who allegedly “disagreed.”
Shannon Siler said she was not sold on the idea of having janitors holstered with guns. She said she prefers hiring police officers to tighten security in the school.
“I am a little leery. I know they are going to be doing all this training and stuff, but what if a janitor goes psychotic?” said Ms. Siler, the mother of two girls.
“There is a need to beef up security. … But, it all starts at home. Lock your guns up.”
That’s the most controversial interview the Blade found: Somebody who preferred police while agreeing that more security is necessary. And what if a police officer goes psychotic? How many janitors have gone psychotic and rampaged through the school? Didn’t Sandy Hook Elementary prove that psychotic individuals don’t need permission to carry a gun at school in order to mass murder? The Blade didn’t examine such questions.
Another mother, Teresa Hickman, said: “I don’t have a problem with it. With all the shootings going on in these little schools this will make me feel more at peace.” And:
Mark Earle, father of two Montpelier students, said that arming janitors to deter violence could become a standard practice for schools in Ohio and throughout the country.
Montpelier Superintendent Jamie Grime noted the school board gave unanimous approval. Montpelier Police Chief Jeffrey Lehman referred them to Tactical Defense Institute, which provides training for the National Association of School Resource Officers. So there’s broad community support.
This isn’t the first time the Blade exposed their anti-rights beliefs. Ohio Second Amendment group Buckeye Firearms noted the Blade’s belief that armed defenders shooting armed robbers is wrong because these “seemingly bad guys were shot while allegedly attempting to rob Toledo stores.”
Being robbed at gunpoint is frightening, and we do not presume to judge, as police would say, the righteousness of either shooting. But it must be remembered that robbery is not a capital crime, and it’s only by chance that no one other than the would-be robbers was injured. (Source here.)
Why would the Toledo Blade create “controversy” where there’s none?
UPDATE: Chad Baus, Buckeye Firearms Vice Chairman, reports that he talked with Superintendent Grimes. Baus says Grimes did not specify that only janitors would participate in this program. That’s a fabrication by the Toledo Blade.”
What did the Toledo Axe-Murderer paper have to say on the subject?
Go freedom. Its the easy answer when the voices of unreasonable ideas gets silenced.
Yes, Ms. Siler, all janitors are psychotics just waiting to happen. She might as well be John Bender in The Breakfast Club snidely asking how one becomes a janitor.
“Oh, really? You guys think I’m just some untouchable peasant, a peon.”-Carl the janitor.
The only difference is that Bender is purposefuly being rude. Ms. Siler is oblivious. In her elitist mind, janitors are one dimensional, having no skills outside of plunging toilets and mopping floors, just waiting to slip over to the dark side and go psycho.
“…I am the eyes and ears of this institution, my friends.” Carl probably knows a few other things too, like who belongs on campus and who doesn’t. Unlike other staff who tend to be mostly in their offices or classrooms, the janitor is out and about.
Having police in schools has it’s appeal but law enforcement is spread pretty thin in most communities so why stretch them even further?
“In her elitist mind, janitors are one dimensional…”
Excellent point. I don’t know Ms. Siler’s politics for sure, but I have seen this kind of elitist attitude rampant amongst the Left. They’ll spout platitudes about the downtrodden and masses, but their real feelings often come out in comments like this.
But it’s the mere presence of a gun that causes psychosis, doncha’ know. The proximity of weaponry causes people to lose their minds all the time!
I’ve often wondered, though, what is the range of this evil influence? Five feet? Ten feet? 500 yards? Ten miles?
Kind of makes you wonder how communities with any law enforcement personnel at all don’t all turn into some kind of homicidal zombie-esque horde.
“… what if a janitor goes psychotic?” said Ms. Siler, the mother of two girls.”
What if he does? What, precisely, is going to be the difference — beyond there now being the real possibility of armed co-workers around to stop him? Does this idiot woman really think the only thing restraining budding homicidal maniacs is that it’s against district policy?
I sure wouldn’t want to try to squeeze a janitor into a holster with a gun. All my holsters have just enough room for their respective guns. There’s no extra room even for extremely skinny janitors.
People who can’t write simple sentences shouldn’t try to masquerade as journalists.