Nonlethal Deterrents

[McKenna]

I don't know, does it make too much sense? This is so clever I wish I had thought of it:

Bear spray instead of guns (in schools).

Missoula, Montanta - Sentinel High School Junior, Madison Thomas, came up with an idea and now she'll present it in a taped discussion on national TV.

"When the shooting in Connecticut happened, our journalism class has been working a documentary for PBS and it's about bear spray," Thomas said.

Sentinel High is one of 45 schools from around the country that's participating in PBS' Student Reporting Labs" project.

After doing some research on the bear spray topic, Thomas suggested that something like this non-lethal deterrent can also be used to protect staff and students in schools.

"Similar to a fire extinguisher box. When you open the door, the bear spray would be in there," Thomas said.

"The teacher would have to go over to the box and open it and then the alarm would sound throughout the school. It would be sent to the police department and the school would automatically know that there's somebody in the school with a gun," she continued.

Link to news story and video.

As I understand bear spray, or pepper spray, you don't have to be a marksman to do some damage. Get it in the area, and it will deter an attack. This seems more fool-proof than a gun (to me).

I also like the idea of the spray being in a box like a fire alarm.

It's simple and clever. Am I missing something? Is this not a logical solution?

 

[koalabear]

You guarantee it would stop everyone?

 

[kbate]

Pepper spray is a great deterrent if you are deterring a bear, a barking dog or a person at arms length. When the person is equipped with a ranged weapon capable of killing with a single projectile, it is not quite as effective.

It is not unreasonable, but it is also not an automatic knockout that I'd trust against a firearm wielding lunatic. And when the first firearm wielding lunatic arrives equipped with a gas mask or even just a simple set of goggles we can then proceed with the idea of banning or at least passing common sense regulation on civilian possession of gas masks, body armour and/or eye protection.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Classroom doors that self lock would solve the problem. Gotta have a key to enter. And remove the door windows.

 

[richard_daily]

Schools are are prisons.

 

[kbate]

Classroom doors that self lock would solve the problem. Gotta have a key to enter. And remove the door windows.

The basic problem is that we've got a hundred thousand schools each with 250 doors and safety doors aren't free.

Perhaps we can remove some from courthouses, federal offices and police stations in order to speed and cheapen the process?

 

[Tryharder62]

Classroom doors that self lock would solve the problem. Gotta have a key to enter. And remove the door windows.

The door windows were put in especially to keep teachers from thinking they couldn't be seen if they wanted to molest a child. Someone would see inside the classroom. It's frustrating trying to think of safety for all the things that are happening out there.

 

[unregistered]

 

[McKenna]

You don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Some folks need to be killed.

I don't disagree; let the justice system kill them. Or prison justice. Baby killers don't last long in prison.

 

[McKenna]

Pepper spray is a great deterrent if you are deterring a bear, a barking dog or a person at arms length. When the person is equipped with a ranged weapon capable of killing with a single projectile, it is not quite as effective.

It is not unreasonable, but it is also not an automatic knockout that I'd trust against a firearm wielding lunatic. And when the first firearm wielding lunatic arrives equipped with a gas mask or even just a simple set of goggles we can then proceed with the idea of banning or at least passing common sense regulation on civilian possession of gas masks, body armour and/or eye protection.

You bring up some good points, certainly. It's not a guarantee, but I don't think guns are either. Unless our teachers are highly trained, there's no telling what they would or even could do in a crisis situation. Would they freeze up? Would they decide they couldn't take another human life? I don't know.

An army of commandos at my kid's school is equally less appealing. Honestly, this bear/pepper spray idea was the first idea since Newtown I've run across that held more appeal than adding more guns to the problem.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

I don't know, does it make too much sense? This is so clever I wish I had thought of it:

Bear spray instead of guns (in schools).



Link to news story and video.

As I understand bear spray, or pepper spray, you don't have to be a marksman to do some damage. Get it in the area, and it will deter an attack. This seems more fool-proof than a gun (to me).

I also like the idea of the spray being in a box like a fire alarm.

It's simple and clever. Am I missing something? Is this not a logical solution?

Bad idea on the fire alarm box deployment. Just give each teacher their own canister.

I don't think it has a chance of working against a lunatic with a rifle, but since it is hardly an expensive measure, there is no reason not to try it.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Anyone notice how few rampage campus shootings (and rampage shootings in general) happened before and after we hung these little bright ideas up?

20 and some change in the 50 years prior, hang up the signs and rates more than quadruple over night with bigger body counts than ever before to well over 100 in the past 20. Every fucking one of them in a gun free zone.

Just a thought but after a couple decades of it blowing up horrifically in our faces maybe we should think about getting rid of them.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The basic problem is that we've got a hundred thousand schools each with 250 doors and safety doors aren't free.

Perhaps we can remove some from courthouses, federal offices and police stations in order to speed and cheapen the process?

All doors come with locks, all classrooms have doors. Locked doors are a cheap, even a caveman can do it, obstacle to whackjobs. Its inconvenient! Its a pain in the ass! And it works. And its a pain in the ass for the whackjob, too.

If a school has the money it can install card-swipe locks or keypads. Elsewhere I suggested fences with razorwire and controlled gates if you dont wanna lock doors inside.

 

[JohnnySavage]

See, it's funny

 

[shoulderblade]

An army of commandos at my kid's school is equally less appealing. Honestly, this bear/pepper spray idea was the first idea since Newtown I've run across that held more appeal than adding more guns to the problem.

Bad idea on the fire alarm box deployment. Just give each teacher their own canister.

I don't think it has a chance of working against a lunatic with a rifle, but since it is hardly an expensive measure, there is no reason not to try it.

All things considered I think it is at least worth a try. Most public institutions were never built with security in mind and retrofit would be expensive. Manning schools wih guards would be expensive, possibly ineffective and certainly the pinnacle of a boring job.

The cannisters, kept as acessable as possible, are relatively direct, cheap and possibly as effective as anything else. Worth a try I think.

 

[remy_lebeau8]

Invest in the riot cans that spray somethin like 25 or 30 feet. Classrooms arent thst big. 25 feet is plausible

 

[McKenna]

 

[shoulderblade]

Invest in the riot cans that spray somethin like 25 or 30 feet. Classrooms arent thst big. 25 feet is plausible

Good idea. A delivery device like the one pictured in post #17 that could do that would be ideal.

 

[remy_lebeau8]

Good idea. A delivery device like the one pictured in post #17 that could do that would be ideal.

I know the tazor pistols have a 25 foot range. Probably too expensive though. My school had a cop with a glock. Seemed to work

 

[imalickin]

Good idea. A delivery device like the one pictured in post #17 that could do that would be ideal.

I know the tazor pistols have a 25 foot range. Probably too expensive though. My school had a cop with a glock. Seemed to work

But a Glock can not only shoot down the hall farther than 30 feet, it can shoot through the wall, door, window. And that's just a hand gun.

 

[KingOrfeo]

I know the tazor pistols have a 25 foot range. Probably too expensive though. My school had a cop with a glock. Seemed to work

Don't taze me, bro!

 

[LadyVer]

Bear spray sounds like a good cheap option.