The two main proposals for making schools safer are: 1. Reduce or eliminate guns in the general population, and 2. Eliminate “gun-free zones” around schools permitting teachers and administrators to bring personal guns to school.
We should seriously consider a third way: build a variety of defensive systems into each school that could stop or at least slow down armed attackers.
These defensive systems could include extremely bright flashing lights; speakers emitting loud, piercing sounds; netting that could be triggered to fall onto an attacker; trap doors in the floors; buckets of ball bearings that could be released underfoot; tear gas cannisters built into the walls; strong fans that could blow 100 mph winds on demand; virtually invisible trip wires and many more devices limited only by creative people’s imaginations.
Many of these devices could be triggered automatically by the sound of gunshot, or could be controlled from decentralized control stations placed throughout the school for redundancy.
These devices would be inexpensive, easy to install, and would not harm students or teachers.
We landed men on the moon, we should be able to build safe schools.
Tags: school safety
