AZ Governor Wants More Police In Schools

In the wake of Parkland, political leaders are looking for answers. What will be the solution that inflicts the least amount of pain on the people while still ramping up the protection for our children?

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It’s a difficult conundrum.

There have been a variety of proposed solutions, ranging from gun bans to arming teachers. Support for this varies wildly, as well.

Perhaps one of the least controversial proposals is more school resource officers. While that didn’t work at Parkland, it wasn’t because the officer wasn’t there. It was because he didn’t do anything and waited outside as kids were killed. There’s little doubt that, had he acted, things would have been different. We saw that recently at Great Mills High School when an SRO stopped a potential mass shooting.

In Arizona, at least some seem to understand that. That’s why the governor just proposed a plan to put 100 more officers in schools.

Gov. Doug Ducey wants to nearly double how much money Arizona gives school districts to hire on-campus police officers — a move that could put 100 more cops in schools next year.

A draft of legislation outlining Ducey’s plan to prevent gun violence that was circulated Tuesday called for a $2 million hike in state funding for school-resource officers.

But a spokesman for the Republican governor said Ducey now will ask for $11 million.

Ducey’s spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, said the money would enable the Arizona Department of Education to provide grants for police officers to about 100 additional schools that have requested them.

The proposal faces a foreboding road in the Arizona Legislature given lawmakers from both parties vehemently oppose parts of the governor’s plan.

In addition to police officers, Ducey’s draft legislation calls for allowing restraining orders to keep guns out of the hands of unstable people, more counselors in schools and a school-safety tip hotline.

Scarpinato said a final version of proposed legislation is expected to be introduced next week. He said the governor, who’s met with teachers, law enforcement and students about school safety, believes it is a “consensus plan that any reasonable person could get behind.”

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There are costs associated with any plan like this, however, and those have to be taken into account as well. That may create some hurdles.

However, plans like this put more guns in schools, and contrary to what some think, that’s a good thing. Police officers are the only ones the left wants carrying guns anyway, so why not compromise and allow more armed officers in our schools. If the left is as terrified of school shootings as it claims to be, this should be a no-brainer.

But the fact is the left isn’t that worried about them. The left is using Parkland as a ready excuse to go after something it has wanted since 2004, and that’s a ban on so-called assault rifles. This is opportunism and nothing more.

If it weren’t, the left would be clamoring for this. They would be begging for more officers that would be armed and trained to respond to such threats.

Instead, leftists just want our guns. Who is really surprised?

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