Encouraged by the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead in May, school officials and Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood placed one of the semiautomatic rifles in each of the county’s six schools. Each of the guns will be locked inside a safe, Harwood said. A North Carolina school district and sheriff’s office are working together to beef up security after the Uvalde shooting exposed systemic failures and “extremely poor decision-making,” resulting in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman was finally confronted and killed by law enforcement authorities. in a report prepared by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives. “These officers were in this building for so long and this suspect was able to infiltrate this building and injure and kill so many children,” Harwood told the Asheville Citizen Times. “I just want to make sure my deputies are prepared in case that happens.” The idea of having AR-15s in schools doesn’t sit well with Dorothy Espelage, a UNC Chapel Hill professor in the School of Education who has conducted decades of study and research on school safety and student well-being. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to have accidents with these weapons,” Espelage told WLOS-TV. Only the presence of an SRO increases school violence. There are more arrests of children. Why Should They Make These AR-15s? Does not make sense.” Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said school administrators meet regularly with local law enforcement officials, including Harwood, to discuss updated security measures. Harwood said county school resources are trained with instructors from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Harwood said the safes where the AR-15s will be kept will also contain ammunition and breaching tools for locked doors. “We will have these tools to be able to breach this door if necessary. I don’t want to have to run back to the car to get an AR because that’s wasted time. I hope we never need it, but I want my kids to be as prepared as they can be,” she said. Schools are scheduled to reopen Aug. 22, according to the Madison County Schools website. While the prospect of school resource officers potentially wielding AR-15s in schools may be disturbing to some, Harwood said he believes it’s a necessary response. “I hate that we’ve gotten to a place in our country where I have to put a safe in our schools and lock it up for my deputies to be able to get an AR-15. But we can shut it down and say it’s not going to happen in Madison County, but we never know,” Harwood said.
title: “North Carolina Sheriff Supplies Schools With Ar 15 Rifles " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-20” author: “Marie Duncan”
When schools in one North Carolina county reopen later this month, the new security measures will include stockpiling AR-15 rifles for use by school resources in the event of an active shooter. Encouraged by the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead in May, school officials and Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood placed one of the semiautomatic rifles in each of the county’s six schools. Each of the guns will be locked inside a safe, Harwood said. A North Carolina school district and sheriff’s office are working together to beef up security after the Uvalde shooting exposed systemic failures and “extremely poor decision-making,” resulting in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman was finally confronted and killed by law enforcement authorities. in a report prepared by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives. “These officers were in this building for so long and this suspect was able to infiltrate this building and injure and kill so many children,” Harwood told the Asheville Citizen Times. “I just want to make sure my deputies are prepared in case that happens.” The idea of having AR-15s in schools doesn’t sit well with Dorothy Espelage, a UNC Chapel Hill professor in the School of Education who has conducted decades of study and research on school safety and student well-being. “What’s going to happen is we’re going to have accidents with these weapons,” Espelage told WLOS-TV. Only the presence of an SRO increases school violence. There are more arrests of children. Why Should They Make These AR-15s? Does not make sense.” Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said school administrators meet regularly with local law enforcement officials, including Harwood, to discuss updated security measures. Harwood said county school resources are trained with instructors from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Harwood said the safes where the AR-15s will be kept will also contain ammunition and breaching tools for locked doors. “We will have these tools to be able to breach this door if necessary. I don’t want to have to run back to the car to get an AR because that’s wasted time. I hope we never need it, but I want my kids to be as prepared as they can be,” she said. Schools are scheduled to reopen Aug. 22, according to the Madison County Schools website. While the prospect of school resource officers potentially wielding AR-15s in schools may be disturbing to some, Harwood said he believes it’s a necessary response. “I hate that we’ve gotten to a place in our country where I have to put a safe in our schools and lock it up for my deputies to be able to get an AR-15. But we can shut it down and say it’s not going to happen in Madison County, but we never know,” Harwood said.