Make Our Schools Safer

[StrawberryFields]

Campus security

Dixie State to use phones to tell students of trouble

College also to install surveillance cameras as part of emergency preparedness plan

By Sheena McFarland

The Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated: 04/22/2007 12:39:01 AM MDT

Dixie State College will be able to reach its students via cell phone in an emergency due to new security measures implemented in response to the Virginia Tech shootings.

The school will partner with TCN Broadcasting, a Utah-based automated messaging company, in a deal that will allow the college to contact its students immediately by cell phone, home phone or other registered emergency contact number.

"With the numbers of students with cell phones, we realized that this was a very real possibility," said David Ross, Dixie registrar.

In addition, the school will install $50,000 worth of surveillance cameras throughout the St. George campus and the Dixie State College Hurricane Center.

The campus police will double its patrols through commencement on May 5, and train faculty and staff on effective emergency responses, campus police director Don Reid said.

Roos said these additions are augmenting "one of the safest campuses in the nation; however, we cannot take for granted that any campus is safe."

“The events of this past week really underscored the importance of these initiatives,” Roos said. “We're being responsive to what happened and we felt that these actions will better serve our students and ensure their safety.”

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5725496

[Dr T]

It must be another CONSPIRACY (sound the conspiracy music-duh dun dahhh) to keep tabs on the people.

[StrawberryFields]

It must be another CONSPIRACY (sound the conspiracy music-duh dun dahhh) to keep tabs on the people.

HUH?

Dude we are talking UTAH here!!!

[Dr T]

I'm not sure what that means Berry. (Maybe you are a partner in the conspiracy) :)

[StrawberryFields]

Maybe I AM

[Dr T]

[a-train]

CCW's GALORE!!!! That's my theory. I can't help but ask: 'Why wasn't one person on that V-Tech campus packing?' While I'm certain carrying concealed weapons on campus is against the rules, I am just as certain that there are plenty of rule breakers on campus both willing and able. Where my gangsters at?

Teachers and other faculty should be allowed to pack and if I don't trust an individual to conceal and carry, then I don't trust them to teach my kids either, whatever their age.

I personally carry at all times and plan on coming home to my family each day. I have no intention of allowing murderous thugs to deprive my children of their father and make my wife a widow. Armed robbers will get far more than they are looking for from me. My dad was murdered by some fools with a .22 and he had nothing. I learned the hard way from the age of six and up, criminals will gladly take advantage of having a weapon that the victims don't have.

We had armed robbers fire at members in the parking lot of our Stake Building in Platte City, MO today. They shot and ran and luckily missed. This is not in the ghetto, this is not in a foreign country. This is at a beautiful Stake Center in a nice new neighborhood in the Midwest. If we don't protect ourselves, we will not be protected.

-a-train

[JcDean78]

All the cameras will do is let us watch the horror after the fact. If VT had cameras it would not have done any good.

Also the cell phone text thing is a neat idea but not THAT many kids use it and the ones who do might change phones often. I have a friend who changed numbers more than she changed underwear.

What we need is to allow faculty and students to be trained in the use of firearms and allow them to carry. Such practices have been used in the past to stop criminals on school grounds and end killing sprees. Also take into account that people with carry permit are law abiding citizens and only 1 has ever used their permit illigally.

[StrawberryFields]

Also the cell phone text thing is a neat idea but not THAT many kids use it and the ones who do might change phones often. I have a friend who changed numbers more than she changed underwear.

All you need is just a few ppl in each class to receive the text there has been a shooting to clear each room.

What we need is to allow faculty and students to be trained in the use of firearms and allow them to carry. Such practices have been used in the past to stop criminals on school grounds and end killing sprees. Also take into account that people with carry permit are law abiding citizens and only 1 has ever used their permit illigally.

Allow firearms in school?

[sixpacktr]

Yes, A train and JC. If ONE person in that classroom had been packing, there would have been much less carnage.

And if VT hadn't done the PC thing and declared themselves GUN FREE, then maybe that disturbed individual would have thought twice about shooting things up. If he even thought that there may be a chance for someone to kill him before he could become infamous forever, he might have thought twice about it.

We need to get over our crazy fear of guns. My having weapons is the only thing keeping the gov't out of my house and hauling me off to jail for whatever reason. Or even the idea that MAYBE I have weapons keeps them at bay. That is why the 2nd amendment is so important. It keeps gov't at bay.

[Dr T]

I think that is a great use of technology.

[StrawberryFields]

We need to get over our crazy fear of guns. My having weapons is the only thing keeping the gov't out of my house and hauling me off to jail for whatever reason. Or even the idea that MAYBE I have weapons keeps them at bay. That is why the 2nd amendment is so important. It keeps gov't at bay.

Wait.

What?

You would use a weapon against the government/cop?

I just plain don't like guns... maybe I do need to get over that.

[JcDean78]

Allow firearms in school?

Yes, exactly. They should be allowed there in the first place, not really sure why they are not. Chances are it is to appease the PC and lib crowd who fear firearms because they do not know any better... but I guess irrational fears are like that.

I carried in school... because I would rather have been arested under an unjust school rule rather than being murdered by some loser. I owe it to myself, my friends, the other people in class, and my family to do the right thing and keep and bear arms to prevent a day like what we saw at VT last Monday.

BTW, I live near VT and drove past this weekend. Never seen so much traffic there in my life. I agree with the students, the media just needs to move on and allow these kids to move forward with their lives.

[Blessed]

SF, I don't like guns either. You are not alone. There are used for one tbing only and that is to cause harm to something or someone. Period.

I will say that I do like the idea of using phones as an extra measure of caution.

[sixpacktr]

<div class='quotemain'>

We need to get over our crazy fear of guns. My having weapons is the only thing keeping the gov't out of my house and hauling me off to jail for whatever reason. Or even the idea that MAYBE I have weapons keeps them at bay. That is why the 2nd amendment is so important. It keeps gov't at bay.

Wait.

What?

You would use a weapon against the government/cop?

Yes, I would. Now, I'm not advocating armed violence or rebellion, but like I said, the only reason the cops and gov't don't trample on our freedoms more than they do now is because they are not sure what is or isn't in my home, and unless they have just cause they really don't want to find out.

The 2nd amendment had two reasons: one was to protect the land against armed invasion, and a civilian militia was one way of doing it. The other reason was to keep gov't from overreaching their authority and doing exactlywhat had happened to the colonists prior to the revolutionary war, which was to be subject to the whims of gov't.

Remember Missouri and what happened to the Saints there. They wanted to fight but instead gave up their weapons. And then, who had the weapons? The mob didn't really start the hard core persecution until after the guns were gone. Then, who or what was to stop them?

I don't carry. I am thinking about getting a permit, just because of the crud that is happening all around. But the absolute naivete that exists about guns and how dangerous they are is alarming.

Neal Boortz, a talk radio host in the Atlanta area, related a story that happened in Florida. Apparently someone went into a 7-11 and stuck a knife at the attendant's throat and said give me your money or you die. Luckily for her, a woman had a gun in her purse (a .38? I think, with a permit) and pulled it out and basically said drop the knife or I'll drop you. Since you don't bring a knife to a gun fight, the guy dropped the knife, and was arrested later. Here is the appalling part: the news showed up and talked about what had happened, and they got some soccer mommy lollipops and roses idiot in front of the mike. The first words out of her mouth? "Thank heavens someone stopped this?" OH NO! The first words out of this idiot's mouth was "I can't believe that someone in this day and age walks around with a gun in her purse!" Never mind that quite possibly she just saved this woman's life, since if the perp made good on his threat he isn't going to leave witnesses, no, no, the woman with the GUN is the bad guy here.

Our society is messed up, and the libs and their sheep are the ones doing it (libs can be Republicans too, so don't shoot at me for saying things about certain political parties! )

[BenRaines]

I carry concealed and am proud of it. As a former police officer I never wanted to go in to a law-abiding citizens house without permission so not sure what the paranoia is about the "cops just waiting to bust in but fear your guns". Police officers are law-abiding citizens too.

By virtue of training I would not want to be sitting in a bank, restaurant, college and have an armed idiot willing to shoot and kill unarmed people and not be able to respond.

Ben Raines

[JcDean78]

I would also like to add the the threat of a gun is enough to stop the issue before shots are even fired.

Peace through strength, it beat the Soviets... it can beat the thugs in your area too.

[sixpacktr]

Yeah, after I sent that I kind of knew that I'd phrased that wrong. I have no fears of law abiding cops coming into my house, but I guess I'm more along the lines of what happened in Nazi Germany when they took the guns and then the Gestapo and the SS and others could come in with impunity for whatever reason.

I wasn't taking potshots at the police (except those that sit in speed traps!), but rather that as guns are taken away then the gov't will not have anything to stop them from doing what they want. And I hope that none of us are naive enough to believe that what happened in Germany couldn't happen to us. It is just a matter of time with the PC crowd out there...

[a-train]

Although I don't possess any current fears of any unified conspired effort on the part of government, national or otherwise, to ultimately usurp all powers and institute martial law over the people, I do recognize that this sort of problem has arisen in the past on almost every portion of the globe. I further agree that the Framers had this, as well as other things, in mind when introducing the right to bear arms.

Still, my object in bringing this notion into the discussion about school safety was to say that while law enforcement and security services can be rapidly dispatched, the VT and other examples show vividly that a much more capable first response is required on campuses and everywhere for that matter.

I think this line of thinking is what has caused the CCW laws to proliferate across the country in the past decade. I agree with the logic and like the idea of arming law abiding citizens while stripping felons of such rights.

Perhaps if every student at this most recent and horrible event were armed and capable, our disturbed perpetrator would have still engaged them knowing he would ultimately die in a messy gun battle and at least take out a few victims on a suicidal mission. His taking of his own life would suggest so.

Regardless, I would prefer my own daughter to have something for the guy when he comes into the room rather than be huddling helplessly under a desk.

-a-train

[Traveler]

I am sorry but I do not know if I can finish this post. I tried but I cannot say what I feel - just that taking a life - even in defense of innocient is not something that will make sleeping at night easy. I do not want to live in a society where we must defend ourselves from within. After Vietnam I do not hunt or fish, sadly I somethimes turn away when my wife smashes a bug. I fear that we have convinced ourselves that killing, regardless of the reason, has become too easy.

The Traveler

[a-train]

Stun Guns? TASERs? I actually don't care, but nothing just won't do.

-a-train

[StrawberryFields]

I believe in armed security in schools as a deterrent or more if necessary. To allow teachers and students to carry weapons isn't reasonable in my mind.

It is proven that our brains aren't exactly wired right to make rational decisions until around 25 years of age. To allow students to carry guns in school is just not a good idea in my mind.

Students who carry guns would not be focusing on school.

Teachers who carry guns would also not be doing the job they were set to do.

Security YES. Gun packing students and teachers NO.

[JcDean78]

Anybody who gets a permit to carry must go through a long process including taking training classes. No offense to any security guards but they do not get much training at all and the ones I know have way less experience with a firearm than I do. All a security guard would be is a big old target and the first person to go down being caught off guard.

The painful truth and reality is that there are evil people in this world who want to harm you and I. These people will do things that we can not even comprehend. They will go to any length to achieve thei goals of murder. It is our duty to be ready and to stand up to such thugs and protect the people around us as best we can. I totally understand the irrational fear and bias against firearms but we need to let facts and reality find us a solution instead of emotions.

[StrawberryFields]

Anybody who gets a permit to carry must go through a long process including taking training classes. No offense to any security guards but they do not get much training at all and the ones I know have way less experience with a firearm than I do. All a security guard would be is a big old target and the first person to go down being caught off guard.

The painful truth and reality is that there are evil people in this world who want to harm you and I. These people will do things that we can not even comprehend. They will go to any length to achieve thei goals of murder. It is our duty to be ready and to stand up to such thugs and protect the people around us as best we can. I totally understand the irrational fear and bias against firearms but we need to let facts and reality find us a solution instead of emotions.

I am not trying to be emotional

No offence, but how many students are allowed to carry firearms in school before utter mayhem breaks out?

[JcDean78]

Thats an emotional idea based on your bias against firearms and those who use them.

People who go through the process to obtain a carry permit are some of the most law abiding people around.

Your comment about "utter mayhem" is exactly what the leftists in Florida said before they got carry permits and crime went down. Are you aware of how many people with CCP stop crimes here on a daily basis? Do you know 99.999999999999999% of all gun crimes are not by people with CCP? Are you also not aware that in the past several years several school shootings sprees were cut short due to people having CCP?

I have a gun and carry it. I have never had to fire it at another human being. I am trained to use and carry it and a decent shot too. If a crazy came into a store you were at or your childs school, would you not hope that somebody like me was there?

Also have you not noticed that most shooting sprees are in "gun free zones"? They also result in the most robberies, rapes, and other violent crimes. Like I said before, I understand that you have an irrational fear and bias against firearms but we must face reality and be prepared to defend ourselves and our family.