Moderators: Chuck, Mustang380gal, Coordinators, Moderators
) 
I agree. My comment about the gun being completely unloaded was just sarcasm, but it was sarcasm based on something I heard an anti gunner say about a different school district doing the same thing. He was opposed to staff being armed at all, but also commented that having the gun in a locked box wasn't good enough, in his opinion. He said the gun should also be completely unloaded, and based his opinion on some gun safety organization that tells people in commercials that if you have a gun in the home, that ALL guns should be locked up AND unloaded. (regardless of the reason for you having a gun in the home in the first place. Locked up and loaded wasn't good enough.
The chances of a school staff member needing to use a gun is low, particularly since the SRO will be the 1st line of defense (assuming the SRO or police officer or security guard isn't the 1st victim of the mass shooter, as has happened in some one mass shootings here and abroad.)
You're right, that's a good point. In fact, that is exactly what is alleged to have happened in Uvalde Texas, where the school resource officer has actually been charged criminally in part for allegedly not being on the scene when the mass shooter started but had to respond to it. I've read varying accounts of exactly where the SRO was at the moment the shooter entered the property, and can't find so far whether his job was simply to protect just that particular school or if he had other responsibilities.
The one thing that I disagree with Mr. Trump on is the statement that "every minute counts." When you confront an armed person who has as goal to do harm, in reality it's "every second counts." A lot of injuries and deaths can occur in the 1st minute. Just one example, 9 deaths and some injuries in just the first half minute in Dayton Ohio's Oregon district. The active shooter started his attack in a part of the street where the police were not there and they had to respond quickly to the scene. He tried to get in a bar before the police got there but was locked out, thank goodness, otherwise there would've been even more dead and injured.Uvalde CISD, located 84 miles outside of San Antonio, is one of the smaller school districts in Texas. The school district has its own police department made up of four officers, a police chief and a detective. According to the school’s website, the district has also hired a security guard.
The district’s policy is to have security staff patrol door entrances, parking lots, and the perimeters of campuses at the middle and high school, according to a document listing the school district’s security measures from the 2019-20 school year.
It is unclear if Uvalde CISD typically stations its police officers at the elementary school campus.
The National School Safety and Security Services President Kenneth Trump said it is ideal to have a licensed, commissioned officer stationed on school campuses, but said, in reality, the practice is economically and logistically challenging for school districts.
“These incidents unfold in seconds and minutes. It helps to have a trained commissioned school police officer on campus when you can. The reality is manpower and budgets and costs across the country prohibit that, particularly at elementary schools,” said Trump.
Trump says even those school districts that have school-based police officers or school police departments typically place the officers at the upper-school level — middle schools and high schools. The districts usually share those officers with elementary schools, when needed.
“The challenge we have is that every minute counts. Law enforcement response, in this case, was highly effective and timely, but we need to train our school staff on everything they can do to buy time until that law enforcement response is on site,” said Trump.
Gonzales, 51, was among the first officers to arrive. He was indicted on 29 charges that accuse him of abandoning his training and not confronting the shooter, even after hearing gunshots as he stood in a hallway.