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Former Navy SEAL Reveals 3 Ways to Protect Your Children

Dec. 17, 2012 9:28am

Brandon Webb is a former U.S. Navy SEAL with combat deployments to southwest Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan. His proudest accomplishment in the U.S. […]

Brandon Webb is a former U.S. Navy SEAL with combat deployments to southwest Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan. His proudest accomplishment in the U.S. Military was his role as Course Manager for the US Navy SEAL Sniper program. This is arguably one of the most difficult sniper courses in the world. Webb has received numerous distinguished service awards throughout his career, including the Presidential Unit Citation (personally awarded to him by President George W. Bush) awarded to his SEAL platoon after their Sept 11th, 2001 deployment to Afghanistan. After the Navy, he worked in Iraq in support of U.S. Intelligence interests as a private contractor, then left to focus on business and writing. He was formerly a contributing editor for Military.com, and currently the Editor-in-Chief of SOFREP.com. SOFREP (Special Ops Situation Report) is the #1 Internet site for timely and accurate information regarding the Special Operations and Intelligence communities. Brandon is regularly featured in the international media as a subject matter expert. He has appeared on ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, BBC, Newsmax, The Blaze, SIRIUS radio, The New York Times and more. Brandon is a New York Times best selling author with several non-fiction titles completed with his first novel in the works. His last book, The Red Circle, was a New York Times best seller and his last e-book, No Easy Op, was an Amazon best seller. No Easy Op was featured exclusively in the New York Times for it breaking analysis of the controversial book No Easy Day. He is an avid surfer, skier, member of the legendary Windansea surf club, and private (instrument rated) pilot. When he’s not flying his Yak 52 you’ll find him on the ground in La Jolla, CA or Lake Tahoe, NV.

[ x ]

media@sofrep.com

Author's Website

Killing and terrorizing innocent people appears to be the tragic, new trend among the mentally disturbed in America. So we tune in once again but continue to do relatively nothing to protect ourselves and children from these crazed maniacs. We do more to prevent weapons and bombs on planes than we do on school campuses.

And so another mentally ill man walked into a school and murdered 26 innocent people. Worst of all, most of them were children under the age of 10. How can we prevent this from happening in the future? What technologies are there that can help? How can we educate ourselves on prevention? Why are we not putting political pressure on our elected officials to provide meaningful solutions rather than sympathetic media sound bytes and pounding the anti-gun war drums? All good questions to ask.

There’s so many lessons learned in the Special Operations community that can be applied to everyday life. After the Aurora shooting, I was inspired to write a short e-book with tips on how to survive an active shooter.

Lessons Learned On Newtown Shooting From A Navy SEAL

I learned about the Newton tragedy while on vacation in Africa, and as a father myself (with kids in elementary school) I wanted to write something that would provide solutions. I decided to take a quick survey of former SEAL teammates, many of them now work in tier one corporate security, I asked them what their thoughts were.

Here’s what we came up with.

1. It Takes A Village

Right away, parents and teachers in local schools can start a School Watch. It would be a voluntary program augmented by parents. More adult eyes, ears, and cell phones around schools can only help and likely push predators away. Educating teachers on how to deal with active shooters is also key. Creating and implementing a standardized system of awareness.

2. Leverage Technology

Expensive? How much is your child’s life worth? I don’t know of any community that wouldn’t support their local school in raising outside funds to purchase some technology that could provide an early warning. Several examples are:

Metal Detectors
Conventional and high-energy X-ray
Active millimeter wave imaging (most of us have been through these at the airport)
Energetic trace explosives detection.

Lessons Learned On Newtown Shooting From A Navy SEAL

“If a airplane full of people is worth the screening, then our children should be worth it as well. We developed a lot of technology post 911 to detect box cutters, lets put some of that at our schools.”, said one former Navy SEAL who works in the security sector.

Schools are pretty good about funneling visitors through one entry way and adding technology to these funnels wouldn’t prevent but they would disrupt and warn. The further from the classroom the better.

3. Be More Aware

It is difficult to predict behavior, but easy to PAY ATTENTION to it, especially with all the paths of communication these days. In every case there have been warning signs, clues, and outright threats that go ignored. Whether its journals that go unread or disturbing tweets, we must start paying attention. We have to take cries for help seriously and OVER COMMUNICATE warning signs to those surrounding these potential murderers. Bottom line, if there are threatening clues or cues being broadcasted – tell someone, tell the authorities, retweet it, so that the warnings can be reciprocated with action.

Summary

There are things we can and should be doing right now to help prevent these things in the future. Churchill said it best. “I never worry about action, but only about inaction.”

It’s time for us Americans to take action.

Lessons Learned On Newtown Shooting From A Navy SEAL

As I was wrapping up this post a representative from Escape the Wolf informed me that they are working on an Escape the Wolf e-learn for kids as we speak. It’s very similar to their travelers eLearning but more interactive with a emphases sexual predators, active shooters, and online threats.

The company is comprised of former intelligence and Special Operations professionals, and also informed us that they are willing to consult with public schools about security measures for free. Please help us get the word out and share this post on your Facebook page now.

Brandon Webb is a former Navy SEAL and current Editor-in-Chief of SOFREP.com.

Read more from SOFREP:

Carousel image via AP.

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Comments (186)

FaithfulFriend
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:25pm
And what about outdoor playgrounds and school buses?

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- Jesterhead85
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:48pm
  @faithfulfriend
  
  police officers roam around (junior) high schools. the same should be done for elementary.
  all staff should be trained in defense/response as well. bus drivers, teachers, aids, yard duties…. etc..
  
  Report this comment
- Objectivist_John_Galt
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:56pm
  Sign the petition to allow school teachers to be armed. The link is http://wh.gov/RJ5d
  
  Report this comment
- jhrusky
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:59pm
  My gosh, people… do we really want America to turn into a country with an armed guard on every street corner? Cut it out with the frickin bandaids and fix the problem to begin with!
  
  Demand hollywood start making less-violent movies. Demand gamemakers start making less-violent games. Teach kids the benefits of good family relationships. Parents, take away the kids’ cell phones, ipads and every other technological gadget and teach them to learn to play and get along with other people without the benefit of hiding behind a screen.
  
  And, if you know someone having problems, get involved and help them! In some of these cases all the shooter(s) needed was true friendship. In others, the signs were there but no one wanted to get involved. Get involved! You may be saving lives. At the very least, you’ll be helping someone that needs it.
  
  Can we get any lazier as a nation? Damn!
  
  Report this comment
- Patrick Henry II
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 4:23pm
  Boy, an explosives detector would go crazy at our school, especially during deer season, dove season, etc…
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 5:00pm
  PATRICK HENRY II, I hear you on that. When dove then deer season opened when I was in high school a group of us would go hunting early in the morning, and even arrive in the dark for deer, then wait for daylight. Pack it all in a friend’s station wagon, go to school, then after school head right back to the same areas. Dove season in particular left us all covered with GSR.
  
  Report this comment
- Excomunicatedmarine
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:15pm
  Good start, but just a start. Me I’m Recon Marine Corp Vietnam…..for references, lets just say I am still alive.
  
  Any body who is against armed security in the schools is willingly or unwillingly not looking out for the kids. Period.
  
  There is no such thing as gun control in the real world. Make all the rules you want, argue it to death, live in la la land: “I just don’t want to live in a world where….” Forget it we do live in a crape sandwich world. Eat or starve.
  
  Any politician who doesn’t immediately provide for trained arm guards in our schools had danged well dismiss his personal body guards right now. Obviously he thinks he is more important than our kids.
  
  When was the last time 26+ people got killed in our capitol ? Yet they spend how much a year for armed security ?
  
  Wake up.
  
  Report this comment
- nzkiwi
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 8:38pm
  “And what about playgrounds and school buses?”
  
  This is how the teachers in Israel do it, as this photo of a teacher and her class shows…
  
  http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c60bf53ef017ee6545837970d-pi
  
  Report this comment
- Politijack
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 8:43pm
  Im with Exmarine on this one(ex army myself)
  
  I would like to add to the armed security guard strat in that I think having a canine with him would be a big plus as well.Also a well trained dog would be a good but disciplined friend for the kids in elementary schools.Just the presence of a canine can be very intimidating to the unstable..the animal can detect their fear and instability from a mile away….dogs just know when somethings wrong.
  Not to mention in altercations a charging canine can provide a crucial distraction giving the guard those precious few moments needed to get a kill/head shot off.
  
  Report this comment
- lani59
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 8:58pm
  Give every adult in the school at least a taser if you don’t want guns. Rushing a gunman will not work unless maybe your a 300lb NFL lineman. Wake up people.
  
  Report this comment
- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:13pm
  @JH
  
  The best solution is the one I’ve proposed and hold to. Revoke all CHL restrictions in Federal, State and Local government buildings. If you carry, you’re good. Problem solved, no police state erected, and safety is increased hundreds-fold.
  
  Report this comment
- VAScienceTeacher
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:15pm
  # 1… great…#3…of course…#2…no way. It is airports and schools where our constitutional rights as Americans have been consistently eroded. The problem is simple, people do evil things and we will not be able to prevent it. There is no way to arrest people for “pre-crime.” But since no one ever seems to care about the ideas America was supposedly founded on, just go ahead and have a nice bonfire with the constitution next time your approved for that fire permit! I understand that it could be a compromise, and I would rather have a scanner than no guns, but over-reacting is more damaging than not reacting. Here’s something new too. Living is not safe, we just like to think it is.
  
  Report this comment
- TOMCSM
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:16pm
  How about the idea of also constructing fortified safe rooms in schools???
  
  Report this comment
- AmerNDN10
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:41pm
  playgrounds could be monitored by parents or CCTV. Same with buses(CCTV) and most violence is on the bus but with kid on kid. I just don’t agree with the 2nd suggestion he gave. My oldest son went to this pretty high end school once and the bus drivers were coming into the office daily with little pen knives and such, confiscated from the younger kids!…this was in the 90′s but at least the drivers were vigilant and responsive. Unlike today where most people gone wishy washy with the “keep it to yourself” mentality
  
  Report this comment
- blazer809
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:16pm
  Right! I think we all know the solution. Let’s form a big long line of honest, hardworking Americans and turn in those nasty guns. Surely, that will stop the insane from hurting children at government run schools.
  How much blood of innocent children will the States accept before they train to stop THE THREAT? The REAL threat….the criminal, gun free zones, anti gun laws, unprepared/unwilling teachers and parents.
  
  Report this comment
- YAHSHUARULES
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:26pm
  JHRUSKY I agree there need to be less violent movies and video games – But lets get real – the makers wouldn’t be making them if people weren’t buying what they are selling. The problem is the culture – we are being disconnected from our Judeo/Christian values – The Founders knew that only a moral people were capable of handling freedom – freedom without morality destroys. But everyone wants to defend the right to have their perversion or vice; having the freedom to do does not mean doing…
  
  The breakdown of society in general is by design to take down a Judeo/Christian country from within to make the country so corrupt it stinks and drive us in a direction designed to destroy us. There is a deep cancer rotting us and there is no area this has not touched thanks to Fabians, Frankfurt School, Antonio Gramsci, Mattechine Society and Committee’s of Correspondence, Alinkski and his ilk – all the way to Obama.
  If you don’t know who all these people are and how they fit the Agenda to take America down
  This is the most comprehensive, best movie I have seen pulling all this together. Watch it. Share it.
  It is free on line for the moment
  https://vimeo.com/52009124
  if that is not working try this: https://vimeo.com/16647512
  
  Report this comment
- revel222
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:18am
  I don’t see as much reactive behavior focused on Mental Illness and tracking of these patients as I do on gun control and security in the schools. Don’t forget…crazy people find a way to go around the system that is in place. I want to see more emphasis on the Mental Health Patients being addressed. How can we identify these people early as children and demand they get help and be watched. When it comes to civil liberties…talk about the crazies before you talk about my gun.
  
  Report this comment
- FormerLEAcademyInstructor
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:40am
  I’m amused at how all the so-called “experts” are telling the world how to protect their children AFTER a psychotic gunman shoots his own mother in the head while laying in bed, then is welcomed onto school property so he can massacre women and children unimpeded. America, the police nor the military nor politicians can protect anyone but themselves. There is a lesson in that. Wake up and protect yourself, Americans! No metal detector will protect your children from pedophile teachers; no elaborate security system will protect your children from bullying; no ‘shelter in place’ drills will protect your children from becoming illiterate dropouts as they are being indoctrinated to a life of mediocrity by union thugs. Continue to abdicate your responsibilities to your children by turning them over to the care and keeping of the state while you work extra hours to buy that new flat screen, idiot.
  
  Emerging technologies and online curriculums have made B&M classrooms obsolete, and even a Dept. of Education commissioned study agrees that online home-based schooling is superior to archaic classroom instruction.
  
  If you don’t care or are not smart enough to either home school your own children or can afford to send them to private schools then the innocent will have to assume the risks of their parent’s misplaced trust in government to educate and protect. Good luck with that!
  
  Report this comment
- milez5
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 3:11am
  Yes, none of that is any good outdoors. I really believe that the only way to protect kids is with fully trained, and vetted armed guards. It has been said that when the shooter in Newtown knew the cops were coming for him he ducked into a classroom and emptied his rifle as fast as he could, and then pulled a hand gun and shot himself. If he had seen armed men when he arrived he might have fled. Of course, he picked the target location because he knew that there would only be unarmed women and children there.
  
  Report this comment
- CSL
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 4:27am
  nzkiwi…Anywhere Israeli children are on field trips in Israel they have armed security guards with them. The terrorists consider children soft targets. I was there in 2008 when the Yeshiva was attacked and many children 14 and up were slaughtered. In 2009 when there was a terrorist on a bulldozer waiting for a school bus to arrive so he could ram it. The terrorist got nervous when he saw a police car he rammed the police care…an Israeli with a gun shot and killed the terrorist before he could harm more people. Soldiers with their rifles are a common site on the streets. I was in the bank and there was a young IDF soldier behind me with his gun. It is a terrible way to live, but they have no choice.
  
  Report this comment
- justasurvivor
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 7:17am
  Those have not been a problem – yet. Let’s work to solve the problems that have actually happened first – then go to the next level. If we waste time over scattered issues, others might be hurt who could be saved. Attack the most damaging layer first, and then work our way outward from there.
  
  Report this comment
- inxy
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:36am
  Home schooling will eliminate many problems.
  
  Report this comment
- nowonuno
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 8:38am
  Good point NZKIWI, but wrong culture. In Israel, guns are respected as a means to survive. In America, guns are to be feared (useless gun control) and sensationalized (video games, Hollywood, rappers, etc.). Guns are made to kill, period. However, they cannot kill without a person pulling the trigger. Sure, screen out the crazies, but let’s stop treating guns as a glamour accessory that propels someone to their 15 minutes of fame. We ‘need’ responsible gun owners because crazies and criminals will always have them.
  
  The shooter’s mom was irresponsible by letting him shoot and not safeguarding the weapons. A tragic lack of judgment.
  
  Since most teachers are Libs and gun adverse, why not arm the front desk staff with Tasers? Non-lethal (usually) and better than nothing. Also, reinforced classroom doors that would allow a true “safe room” with a normal reaction of shutting a door.
  
  Report this comment
- BehindBlueEyes
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:15am
  @JHRUSKY
  Everything you said is right on.
  
  Report this comment
- nowonuno
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:16am
  Exactly right REVEL222. The problem is that dealing with the crazies requires real thought and action that might be politically incorrect. The oxymoron of gun control is easier to market in slogans and soundbites. America has become the biggest producer of hot air and ab insatiable consumer of spin. Good luck selling it to the knee-jerk reactionaries.
  
  The real underlying problem is that America is becoming Godless. We see another face of evil and are powerless to stop it with traditional means. God tips the scales by fostering morality in us. Faith gives inner peace, so owning a gun doesn’t mean you are salivating over the first opportunity to use it. Quite the contrary, you pray that you never have to use it and then, only for self-defense. I am not belittling non-believers–I am saddened that you cannot feel the greatest love that you cannot explain–but you will never understand the solution until you embrace it. Until then, we’ll have to settle for political theater. To all a very, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! :)
  
  Report this comment
- Xiccarph
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:30am
  @NZKIWI….that photo is exactly the type of “protect the children” mitigation we need. I think a concealed carry type of implementation would better suit our needs rather than a rifle (M1 Carbine it seems to be in the photo) slung over the shoulder. Point is, talk is cheap and solves nothing. Locked doors and being “buzzed thru” solves nothing, metal detectors solve nothing, armed guard at the door solves nothing, another “gun/magazine ban” will solve nothing. Not knowing who or where trained armed defenders are within a target area is what will solve the problem in American scenarios.
  
  Report this comment
- Trigus
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 9:32am
  @excom – correct there is no such thing as gun control because your local drug dealer will be selling illegal firearms besides the illegal drugs.
  
  Three things we must tackle as a society – Perception, Contributing Factors, and instruments.
  
  Perception by most: it will never happen to me or my family – I call this the bubble effect.
  
  Contributing Factors: most where mentioned here – The Glorifying of Violence (Mass Murder, Rape, and Torture) from Hollywood, Music, and Video games that desensitizing the population. A Disconnect from humanity and reality. Sensationalizing Tragic Events by the Media. Alcohol and Illegal Drugs are contributing factors to violence in America.
  
  Instruments: Firearms (353 murders committed using a rifle last year FBI), Knives (1688 murders committed last year FBI), box cutters, Airplanes, Automobiles (36,823 vehicle deaths last year)
  
  To secure schools then you have to look to Israel. I suggest people start pulling their children out of school and start home schooling. As a society we have allowed others to raise our children from birth to adulthood. Take a hard look at yourself to see how much time you actually spend with your children or family. Do you even sit down as a family for dinner?
  
  Report this comment
- MemphisViking
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 2:57pm
  @ Lani59
  
  “Rushing a gunman will not work unless maybe your a 300lb NFL lineman.” Really? I’m nowhere near 300lb but I bet I could take a gunman off his feet. Or what about five or six 100lb 6th graders? For that matter, how about twenty 40lb kindergartners? That’s got a better chance of stopping a threat than cowering in the corner. But armed teachers would work even better.
  
  Report this comment
4Stars
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:25pm
Sir first off thank you for your extraordinary service to this country. Respectfully, Tier1 security principles do not work in the world of facilities designed for public access. We as parents must ensure we push our kid’s schools to have proper life safety and security procedures. I agree with you on community involvement. Parents should be required to volunteer for security /safety patrols when school is in session. More cell phones, more eyes. They should be readily identifiable as a patrol so that prying eyes take note that their target may be a little harder thsn they would like. And every teacher, administrator, and volunteer should know how to react to an active shooter. Police won’t be there in time to help you. Remember: Evacuate, Hide Out, Take Action. See the DHS. gov website for more info.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:46pm
  And…arm yourself.
  
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- ICSPADES
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 4:04pm
  Most schools in our area teach students and perform drills in which they cower in a corner away from the door. This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard of. I tell my son to run away from the sound/ threat and not to stop until he can no longer hear a threat. Do not stop because of a teachers command. Until they teach a plan that is suitable I will make a plan for my son and will train him to follow it. To cower in a corner and wait your turn to be come a victim makes no sense to me
  
  Report this comment
- harleyman
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:09pm
  Just for your info, if one is required to do something then they aren’t volunteers. Secondly we’re not in a police state yet where you could require parents to do patrol duty and thirdly if there is a parents volunteer look out patrol at least one or two should have a 45 pistol and know how to use it.
  
  Report this comment
- OldVet
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 8:20pm
  “Required to volunteer”, what kind if liberal Krap is that?
  I am guessing that you intend for these parent “volunteers” to be unarmed but to be ready to throw them selves in front of your kids. You need trained employees such as teachers and staff which can have access to weapons when they are needed. To have 700 parents on your volunteer list, you would have to vet every one of them so that you could be sure you weren’t recruiting another bad guy.
  
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- 4Stars
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:32pm
  Yes. The world is made up of Sheep, Shepherds, and Wolves. Most people fall into the Sheep category. I choose Shepherd. The only way to defeat the violent threat is to overwhelm it with violence. This is why liberals cringe. They fear, fear. They are spineless handwringers. Lambs to the slaughter. If the liberal peace via capitulation was the foreign policy in 1941 we’d all be speaking German or wearing lamp shades on our heads.
  
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Txazz
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:21pm
The author, former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb is a respected combat veteran who spent many years protecting your favored fannies. His article was as initial response written with a heart as a father himself and concern for the children of America. Please take a moment and hit Sofrep site and READ all our comments by members, many who are also combat veterans. We followed up with many angles mentioned here first and foremost, arming school personnel, mental health issues, you name it. Get a move on – over to Sofrep.com to read our own well thought out professional comments.
http://sofrep.com/15255/navy-seal-lessons-learned-from-newton-connecticut/

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smwk
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:20pm
no thanks! I don’t want my kids going through a TSA search every time they go to school!

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- Blitz
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:02pm
  Then you won’t mind the teachers being armed? I’m all for it.
  
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- Brooke Lorren
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:53pm
  I agree with SMWK. I refuse to fly because of those airport machines, combined with “enhanced patdowns” (AKA let’s molest you). They violate my first amendment rights to freedom of religion.
  
  I do support allowing the teachers to be armed though.
  
  Report this comment
- FreedomIQ
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 4:41pm
  Agreed! Metal detectors, security guards, and psychological profiling are both paranoid and a false sense of security.
  
  It makes me wonder: Is this what passes for special forces advise in this day and age?
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 5:02pm
  That would be like the TSA. Treat the children as though they are the problem, and not the potential victims.
  
  Report this comment
Lotus503
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:09pm
My father, who is a WWII vet, thinks that there should be a “Grandparents Patrol” in the schools. Many retired people out there have military and even some police training, and could be used to secure the schools.

I’m sure that there would be many volunteers for protecting our children under a program like that.

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banjarmon
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:00pm
Teacher discount!!

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/12/17/austin-gun-store-owner-offers-teachers-a-discount/

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- Txazz
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:45pm
  Now, you’re talkin’. Frontsight.com makes a free gun training offer.
  Front Sight will accept for training up to three staff members from each school, college or university.
  
  Report this comment
- Objectivist_John_Galt
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 5:29pm
  Sign the petition to allow teachers to carry here http://wh.gov/RJ5d
  
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hi
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:58pm
I didnt think this was helpful either.

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- Fubared
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 7:28pm
  A. Wear a helmet
  B. don’t run with scissors
  C. Pay more in taxes
  
  But thanks for his service-
  
  Report this comment
bizzeebee1
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:50pm
With all due respect, this article is rediculously simplistic. Many of us loathe the TSA screening process at our airports and concider it useless. Furthermore, the young man who murdered the children and staff at Sandy Hook was DEEPLY disturbed, seemingly a psychosis brought on by symptoms associated with his claimed Aspbergers Syndrome. What would be helpful is for more understanding of Autism and related spectrum disorders. As a community, what, exactly, are we looking for. How we can help those afflicted with social disrders at the fore-front? Administrators and educators are not to be expected to accredit themselve with Hostage Takers: 101. Rather they should be expected to learn about those with anti-social disorders. The Blaze needs serious editting if this is what they call news worthy much less “helpful.” It is more like something CNN or ABC would put through.

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- steelpanther
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:05pm
  People noticed the guy’s mental problems, didn’t do them much good did it? I find it strange the left wants to solve the problem by taking away guns, instead of finding ways to find people like this and do our best to fix them and if we can’t make sure they don’t do this. As it was, apparently being aware of this kids problems didn’t help anyone because their wasn’t anything anyone could do.
  
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- JBee449
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 4:05pm
  People keep saying this guy was deeply disturbed and mentally imbalanced, etc. He was smart, lucid and sane enough to pick the most vulnerable victims possible. Notice these guys don’t shoot up the NRA offices, or police headquarters…they go where they know the people can’t or won’t fight back. He may be evil, yes, but not “insane.”
  
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mellowlady
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:33pm
Whatever is done the parents of the kids must pay for it, not the tax payers. I’m tired of having my property tax being spent on a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Not one penny of tax money!

If you want to protect YOUR kid, pay for it YOURSELF.

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- ranepowel
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:37pm
  This is exactly why there are school shootings. Because people want to deny the fact that we, as a community, are all in this together.
  
  What do you say to the people in lower-income areas, who cannot afford this type of protection? And I’m not talking about urban schools, either. I’m talking about a southern school district where there just aren’t a lot of parents working at jobs outside of menial labor?
  
  Who pays for those kids protection, since the parents cannot?
  
  Report this comment
- BrutalTruth
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 10:17am
  Rane, That is definitely not why there are school shootings. It is exactly your mindset that allowed the environment to exist for this shooting to happen. The issue here wasn’t more money (from somewhere). It’s about people growing up and taking responsibility. The so called “adults” in this country have been lulled into complacency by a doctrine of “Someone take care of me”.
  
  I think we all need to heed the Bible: John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
  
  True love protects. It doesn’t abdicate it’s responsibility by pandering to feel good emotions.
  
  The moment you as an adult turn your security over to another, is the moment you have chosen to be a slave to any other who wishes to do you harm. Sheep get slaughtered.
  
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shools23
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:19pm
All due respect, this post feels promoted and/or forced and everyone can tell there’s not much value to it. Here are some real solutions:

1) Eliminate gun-free zones at schools so teachers can protect themselves
2) Promote and encourage gun ownership among teachers and encourage weapons training and CCW licensing
3) If those don’t work, pull your kid out of public school and home-school them. I recommend looking into guided “un-schooling” (google it) which is becoming more common among home-schooled kids.

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- PingPongPing
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Along with the ACLU, far left groups defeated the Connecticut Mental Health Protection laws just months before shooting. This law would have allowed for more assistance for outpatient treatment and allowed “forced” treatment before they commit a crime.
  
  your thoughts?
  
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- chasbronson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:20pm
  Better advise than the navy seal. His advice seemed like one of the generic how tos to fix a toilet on fix ya.He is out of touch The kid killer broke in a window to get in.
  
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HUGGINGMYBABIES
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:50pm
What was the worst school killing ever? It was a bomb…..from the outside nonetheless. You can’t stop the crazy evil in the world by banning others from protecting themselves from whatever fear they seem to have. We are surrounded by evil. I was sent to tears by the message of our priest this Sunday. Its not the time to wonder HOW or WHY, its time to focus on the WHO. The common factor of all these men is their supposed detachment. Their existence on the fringe of our society. Their obvious sense of feeling “unloved and unwanted”. I’m not saying they were unloved, but for some reason they all seemed to FEEL that way. Isolated, unwanted, shunned, made fun of, bullied, ignored, avoided and in the end horribly detached from society. We kill more children every day in our Nation with abortion and we don’t even flinch. When we tell people everyday that we are a Nation of individual freedom where our CHOICES are more important than our VALUE and our VALUES, we can not hope to sway these sad and lonely children that the opposite it REALLY the truth. That we are ALL loved, we are all needed and we are all CONNECTED.

We are slowly burning holes in the beautiful tapestry God has woven for us. Its become weak and fragile and one tug (such as this) tears us apart. We need to patch this by loving the WHO and then we can sew them back into society and erase the HOW and the WHY.

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- Salamander
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:47pm
  Actually, there are defenses against bombs. One very simply one is to extend the perimeter within which one would allow vehicles. A second would be to use bollards, large (huge) landsape stones and/or trees/shrubbery, rain gardens, etc. to interfere with vehicular approach. A third would be to use blast berms to deflect and break up the energy of any explosive device. I think putting kids through daily xray and electronic metal detection equipment (which is totally ineffective against liquid and plastic explosives and thus would require yet another detection device, would be a bit extreme.
  
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- JediKnight
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 3:17pm
  Way to not see the forest for the trees Salamander.
  
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MissEllaneous
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:38pm
This article is nothing but fluff and filler. Our society has been conditioned to ignore the sound of alarms. Set off the theft alarm at Old Navy and the cashiers don’t even look up. Set off your car alarm in a parking lot and no one flinches. A metal detector is meaningless when a gunman rushes through while shooting.

I agree with the comment that homeschooling is the best way to protect our kids. This is our first year homeschooling and, I have to admit, until Friday I didn’t think it was a great fit for us. I’ve had a major attitude adjustment and will never complain again that it inconveniences me. We know where our kids are, we know who they’re with, and we can teach them about the harsh realities of life in the safety of their nest and not fill their heads with peace, love, and revisionist history. All morning I’ve seen Facebook post after Facebook post from friends, most of whom are already at-home moms, who tearfully drove their kids to school today. Why continue to be a slave to this feeling of fear and insecurity? One way to take control is to get your kids out of a system where they’re sitting ducks in a gun-free zone for 8-9 hours a day, the vast majority of their waking hours. Until the other day, I was going to give up homeschooling because I couldn’t go to lunch with my friends like I used to! I’d argue that it’s often a similar petty reason that keeps mothers from making the leep into schooling.

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dado7
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:33pm
Hey Blaze – you really thought this information was news worthy? Just another narcissist that wanted to get his solution out as quickly as possible. I hope this is not what the Navy Seals do to address shooting threats that come upon their base position. The answer is simple: free american citizens should be allowed to carry firearms, even in schools. If one or more school employees was carrying or had access to a gun, they might have been able to stop the shooter before he got to the classroom. Instead, all they could do was hide, pray and wait for the “State” to arrive. By then, it was tragically too late for so many.

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- glassaudioguy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:05pm
  Absolutely. It pretty much shatters the myth that the people in our military want to protect our freedoms to be suggesting these airport-style scanners. How can we applaud this dude for suggesting it when not that long ago these same people were threatening not to fly unless less physically intrusive measures were instituted?
  
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Hickory
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:25pm
An armed policeman at every school can make a big difference.

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- thara
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:39pm
  Hickory, I’m in 100% of what you said. How many towns would be willing to have their taxes go up a little each year to pay for an armed police officer at the school. I think someone coming up to a school bent on doing damage would think twice if they saw an officer standing right inside the door….
  
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- Mapache
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:54pm
  Since many law enforcement officers are retired at 50-55, it would make sense to have legislation to allow them to be hired on a contract basis for school security roles with proper indemification insurance, comms with local police and regularly scheduled training and practice. No sense occupying duty officers to sit in a school when it is generally a low risk environment.
  
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- Michelle44
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 2:25pm
  I agree with an armed policeman at the door, and parents watching out for trouble… A block watch works for neighborhoods, why not for schools..there are always going to be people who are whacked out in our world,, they need help so they do not hurt others,, hard task, but something has to be done, and taking weapons away isn’t the answer either, take our guns away, only people who will have them are the ones who want to do harm anyway,, anyone can get a gun from any where and any one..
  
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- Ohio Guy
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:38pm
  I would be more receptive to armed private security than gov’t paid police officers. Can anyone say slippery slope!
  
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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:15pm
  @Ohio Guy
  
  As a fellow Buckeye, I totally agree. In fact, I’ll go further. Remove firearms carry restrictions on Federal, State and Local government properties. Let free people be armed as they will, which includes all Americans, including teachers, principles, janitors and visitors to the school.
  
  Don’t make a police state, make a free state.
  
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banjarmon
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:58am
Please sign this petition at: http://wh.gov/RLsR

We ask President Obama to support law abiding gun owners in this time of tragedy.

We ask President Obama to stand with law abiding gun owners in this time of tragedy. Guns laws could not have prevented Adam Lanza from killing 27 innocents. The real question is what made this disturbed young man into a murderer of children. Where is the outrage at the violent video games he played? A piece of plastic and steel doesn’t have a will Mr. President. Evil is not law abiding, and Adam Lanza stole those guns after failing to buy one legally. it is America’s law abiding gun owners who would have died with Victoria Soto and Dawn Hochsprung defending the children with only our bodies on December 14th, because it was already illegal to bring a gun into that school. Please don’t pander to the politics Mr. President. A feeding frenzy of new gun legislation is not the answer.

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spfoam1
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:54am
So, the shooter is revealed as he passes through the metal detector and the staff can alert everyone that a shooter is in the building, and lots of adults are running around with communication devices in their hands……what difference does that make when you can’t stop the shooter? What do they do then, write the shooter a ticket? They may as well be standing there with their peckers in their hands. What this guy wants is for schools to hire his friends in security organizations as if the public is incapable of using a firearm. The shooter was a 20 year old kid, not a trained professional, and that is proof enough that the average citizen is more than capable of using a firearm.

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Tom K
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:53am
Obama wasted enough Stimulus Money paying back his cronies and political supporters to Update Security in EVERY School in America IF only he really cared about our children. Arming the Mexican Drug Cartel AND the Muslim Brotherhood IS NOT Caring For our Children or Us. Proceed with the Benghazi Impeachable Offenses and let’s clean house.

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dnewton
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:34am
How about a police siren mouned near the school that is activated by a loud noise? The siren could phase in volume as if it was coming toward the school. This might get the suicide portion of the shooting started a little earlier.

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sdvausa
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:26am
Really, a Navy Seal came up with this? This is fiction.

Really like a metal detector would stop the Sandy Hook murderer? “Sir, I said please put your weapons down before entering the metal detector or you won’t be allowed in…”

How about every teacher having a code combination locked cabinet with an AR-15 beside their desk.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:39am
  My thoughts exactly.
  
  1. Wouldn’t stop a narcissist
  2. Wouldn’t stop somebody from walking to the front and shooting the screener and then walking through.
  3. Wouldn’t stop a narcissist.
  
  This is most idiotic hoopla I’ve read in a long time. He’s suggested a Watch Your Neighbor Orwellian state, combined with a useless “feel good” suggestion that will stop nothing.
  
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- searcher619
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:00pm
  Hey genius. If they had checked him for weapons BEFORE being allowed on school grounds the shooting would have been averted.
  
  Personally I would change the unarmed security they currently have on school grounds to armed security or even armed off duty police.
  
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- searcher619
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:03pm
  GhostOfJefferson:
  
  How is that an “orwellian state?” My god do you know how ignorant and naive you sound? Do you know why small towns have less violent crime over all than cities? Because everyone knows everyone. you clearly don’t value the safety of our children. If we are going to be serious about wanting to make sure our children are safe then this is the sort of approach that needs to be taken.
  
  If you don’t agree with this then please tell us what you idea is of a better plan.
  
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- frust@ted
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:40pm
  I don’t see how any of the three things listed above would have helped, they are all feel good measueres that sound good and comforting after a tragedy but won’t stop a mad man.
  
  The shooting would have started with the person working the security station.
  
  Maybe fire doors at classroom doors that can be dropped in case of emergency. I know this will be very sensatvie, but why not allow teachers to carry a handgun. they would need rigourous training and recertification every year as well as a full psych exam.
  
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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:45pm
  @Search
  
  Small towns? I lived in a small town. I can’t recall people monitoring others for mental instabilities there, in order to get them “treatment”.
  
  As to your “if they’d searched him first!” comment, that is simply absurd. Say you queue up waiting to be body scanned for weapons. Long line behind you. Some guy walks straight to the front of the line and shoots the scanning personnel. Walks in. So much for “searched him first!”. You assume madmen will queue up and wait in line to be searched. That’s insanity and a very fatal assumption.
  
  If you want to stop this kind of thing, how about we start examining the very uncomfortable questions about modern culture that the Left refuses to examine?
  
  My answer? Start here: http://www.patriotsdonotcomply.com/index.php/articles/insanity-and-culture-death/
  
  My solution? Start here: http://www.patriotsdonotcomply.com/index.php/articles/harshness-reality/
  
  In short, get rid of Criminal Protection Zones entirely (on government land/facilities). A person doesn’t go from law abiding, tested and background checked good guy, to insane evil bad guy simply by walking into a school with a CHL and a sidearm. Anything else is madness.
  
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- memyselfandi
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 1:11pm
  Any teacher who is willing to undergo firearms training should be allowed to have a weapon in their classroom in a fingerprint activated lock box. The weapon should have an electronic trigger lock which is activated only by a special electronic ring on one of the authorized users fingers so that a kid can’t break into it and fire the weapon.
  
  Glass entry doors should be fortified with metal grid work so the shooter can’t just shoot out the glass and walk right through, or make the glass bullet proof. Classroom doors should also be fortified to make it very difficult for an intruder to get in.
  
  The entry ways should be a double entry system with steel gates (like the malls have) that will quickly close at the press of a panic button and secondary gates could also be installed at various places through out the building and trap the perpetrator in a confined space.
  
  Place an armed security guard at every single school in the US and spread out the cost of his yearly salary among the parents of the Children, It wouldn’t be that much money per child. For example; 50K a year salary / 400 students = $125 per student / 12 months = 10.41 per month per student. That’s pocket change…
  
  We don’t need less guns…we need more of them…NO MORE SHOOTING GALLERIES!!!
  
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- Dismayed Veteran
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 11:22am
  A metal detector may have helped at Columbine but only if there was an armed guard. An unarmed security screeener would just be the first casualty.
  
  I started school in 1952. The most dangerous situation I faced was “would I have to fight Don Harter for my lunch money?”
  
  Crazy people have been with us forever. The big difference between my childhood and my granddaughters is the crazies were locked up in mental hospitals for the most part.
  
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Comcast3
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:24am
As much as I respect Brandon Webb, I was a little disappointed. There is nothing of real value here. Everyone know the loner students that seem to have problems…..however, only one in tens of millions actually do something of this magnitude. Profiling doesn’t really work well in these situations. When there is no water, you fight fire with fire. There should be several guns in each school. Placed in different locations…locked away, but with quick and easy access. School boards should do this in secret and offer training if required, so that several faculty members feel confident when handling cold steel. Most important; the majority of most school rooms do not have a secondary entrance/exit…..so you make them like a fortress. Solid doors with bulletproof glass and a bar that could be placed across the back, would be sufficient. This would buy the occupants many precious minutes to either escape or wait for law enforcement to arrive. Metal detectors/scanners are a joke….the Newton massacre proves my point. The shooter, shot through a secured glass door and walked right in. Doubt, he would pause to go through the scanner before continuing on is rampage. Really? Have heard a lot of talk about posting security guards in all schools; this won’t prevent another school shooting. Although, we are dealing with very sick individuals, their plans are well thought out. It would be easy to befriend security and take them out first when they least expect it. Fire and fortress.

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- dnewton
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:44am
  Making an urban fortress only enhances the Bengazi method of killing people with gas or diesel fuel. Once they are locked into their bathrooms or hiding behind the classroom doors doors, they suffocate from the fire and smoke. The fuel will go under the doors. Locked doors slows down the fire department. I didn’t say do nothing because it is hopeless or easily defeated, I just said anticipate a change in offensive tactics for every defensive change in tactics.
  
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- searcher619
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:05pm
  Several guns in each school just laying around? That’s not a smart idea. They should arm staff. they should arm the school security guards. This kid wouldn’t have made it very far had the staff been armed.
  
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- Comcast3
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 12:23pm
  with all due respect, are only idiots responding? Guns locked away only know to some faculty and and not students. Firebomb, smoke…really? These sicko’s would not take the time. I did not say “make a prison”. Doors that can’t be shot through and can be secured from the inside. When, the police come….you open the door; fool!
  
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galicant wiseword
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:20am
I would like to second the point made by Le Sellers, get your kids away from public school. The U.N. funded “IB world schools” are communism indoctrination centers that don’t even pretend to be anything else. I wanted to add a few things.

If you have kids in a public school look into the watch D.O.G.S. (Dad’s of Great Students)
Teach your kids about awareness and give them one scenario a day “what would you do if you heard gunfire close to your playground?”

May god bless and keep you safe in the troubling times ahead.

G.W.

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CS Lewis FAN
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:14am
metal detectors didn’t help much in Chicago & Detroit. The perp can just find another way in. The best answer is to allow the teachers and parents to be armed. Just like any other law, it’s just the good guys that obey them, whether it’s crony capitalists, the leaders of our country, psychos, or the common thug. The best deterrent is a well armed public. We trust teachers with our (not mine, we home school), well…your kids for everything else. Why not trust them to be armed?

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- Trigus
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 11:34am
  Home school is the best way to protect your children. The government cannot even stop the drug trade in America and you want them to protect your children. The government cannot stop vehicle fatalities – 36,000 plus last year. and you want them to protect your children. Elected officials and courts have armed security and yet your children are left unprotected. American government armed Mexican Cartels, and terrorist to over throw legal governments like Libya and Syria and now they want to disarm Americans.
  
  The United States is the largest supplier of Arms in the World and yet these same people want to disarm Americans. How much protection do you think your children will have then.
  
  UK Home Office reported 11,726 crimes committed in the UK and Whales involving Firearms. Last I checked Firearms are illegal there. Who will protect your children?
  
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Le Sellers
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:07am
The best, easiest, and most effective way to protect your children from this ind of mindless disaster is to keep them away from government-run, tax-funded welfare schools in the first place. This kind of monster sees grtf-welfare schools as shooting galleries for his warped pleasure. Save the children: GET THEM OUT!!! Get them out, NOW!!!

Nothing the state offers in their walls is worth anything, much less your child’s life. From their importation (from Prussia in 1852 — no, USmerica was NOT founded on grtf-welfare schools), their goal was to weaken your family, to undermine parental authority and the bonds between generations. These “schools” exist solely to create the problems that require more government.

You, as their parents, are far more qualified to tech your child than any hireling or bureaucrat. But even if you feel you must use “professionals”, do not abdicate your responsibility and right to be in charge of your child’s learning.

The Bible demands that we, as parents, teach are children. Common sense dictates that we do so. Family-Centered Education (F-CEd) is far more effective than grtf-welfare schooling. Do what’s best for your child, not what’s best for politicians and bureaucrats.

Mr. O’bama, will there ever BE any Jobs?

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- Comcast3
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 10:25am
  Well said.
  
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Uechi
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:51am
The best way is home school your children so they aren’t being educated by unarmed lefties, unless you are going to make your home a Gun Free Zone.

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- artarien
  Posted on December 18, 2012 at 5:10pm
  We homeschool and we have guns….lots of them. Need I say more?
  
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NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:43am
Wow. Someone with some intelligence and common sense instead of a knee-jerk ban-all-guns idiot. How refreshing!

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- Wigglesworth
  Posted on December 17, 2012 at 6:38pm
  It’s refreshing especially considering he is not conservative or Republican. I’m pretty sure he voted for Obama in 2008.
  
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