This headline in Education Week kinda caught my eye: School Police in Los Angeles Will Give Up Grenade Launchers. That’s nice, I thought, the school district giving up its grenade launchers. Not much call for those in schools.
Then the article continues:
But school police there plan to keep other supplies received from the federal agency—61 rifles and a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (or MRAP) vehicle, the paper reported:
“L.A. Unified says that the M-16 automatic rifles, which were modified to semiautomatic since they were acquired in 2001, are ‘essential life-saving items’ and will continue to be available to trained officers. The armored vehicle will be used only under extraordinary circumstances, officials said.”
When the issue is surplus military equipment like Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for police forces, at least there’s an argument to be made, though I disagree with it. But schools?
This Guns R Us defense department giveaway is going on in school districts around the country, at the K-12 and college level. Here’s a list of goodies given to Arizona colleges:
A review of state-level data on the Department of Defense Excess Property Program showed 70 M-16s going to ASU and nine M-16s going to Arizona Western College in Yuma. Pima Community College received nine M-14s that a school official said are used by an honor guard.
All this excess firepower lying around, not doing anyone any good. Maybe someone should propose an initiative to beat some of it into plowshares, or John Deere tractors, or iPads or something.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2014.
One of the worst things about this nonsense is that too many of these weapons end up missing after a year or two.
I can see the M~14s for ceremonial use though I would personally like to OWN one. The grenade launchers were probably used for tear gas or “flash bangs”. I agree that these give aways need closer scrutiny and better use made whether on campus or our in the community.
On the surface military surplus to schools does not look good at first, and there are legitimate concerns mainly dealing with control and professional instruction in their use. Its quite likely neither of those rquirement will be meet. It goes to who initiated that program, and more importantly what educational administrators accepted them?? But the school police should have known better and they should be the ones taking the heat!. On the positive side, IF there is control, expert instruction, and program development, rifleman shooting programs is a good outlet for those interested, and provides not only gun safety, but a taste of military training.
Copy machines, boxes of paper, pens & pencils and other office supplies would be welcome in most, if not all schools. Grenade launchers, not so much.