Do You Approve of Armed Guards in Schools? [POLL]

It wasn’t long ago when Governor Christie was asked his feelings on having armed security guards in New Jersey schools.

Perhaps to the chagrin of some members of the NRA, his feeling was that schools are no place for guns and that’s it’s not conducive to a learning environment – saying, in effect, that the gun control laws already in place need to be strictly enforced – and that there needs to be better mental health screening.

All valid points, except for the time there's another school shooting - and then all bets are off.

The Wantage District in Sussex County isn’t wasting any time. They'll be brining in a retired State Patrolman this year with another to be added later in the year.

According to this from nj.com:

Starting in September, High Point Regional High School in Sussex County is expected to become the first district in New Jersey to have a gun-toting security officer patrolling the hallways as a school employee, said the school’s superintendent.

Under a policy unanimously introduced last week by the school board, the district’s current security officer, a retired State Police trooper, would be allowed to carry a handgun while on school property. A second armed security officer, also a retired trooper, is expected to be added soon, said school Superintendent Scott Ripley.

Ripley said High Point Regional needed an armed security guard on its staff because of its "unique location" in the rural northwest corner of New Jersey bordering New York state.

The school is in Wantage Township, a 67-square-mile, mostly farming community that does not have its own police force and relies on the State Police for police protection. The nearest State Police barracks is in the Augusta section of Frankford, nearly 8 miles away.

Ripley said he is unsure if High Point parents will accept the new policy. The salaries for the armed officers have not been determined, he said.

The idea of children being sitting ducks should an armed intruder decide to cause havoc is unsettling in the least.

And while I would agree with the Governor that an armed school guard isn’t conducive to a learning environment, should parents have to live with the unsettling notion that another crazed shooter could be lurking about?

If it gives even the slightest sense of security that there’s someone on the premises who might be able to quell a situation where a crazed gunman might intrude, can we not afford to look into the possibility of providing students with this means of security?

Do you approve of having armed guards in schools?