Force is not the answer to the problem, armed people in school is not the answer

We know what DOES work to prevent school shootings - and it is NOT armed guards in schools.

The NRA is a one-trick pony that will give the same answer to every question, the same solution to every problem, and have become the problem.

PBS ran a recent series of programming on our gun violence problem. One in particular was excellent in identifying what does work well in preventing school violence. That program is posted below, but here is part of the description of "The Path to Violence". It is worth noting that the day of the Sandy Hook tragedy there were two other school shootings that were prevented on that same day.

Ever since the wake-up call that was Columbine, schools and law enforcement have developed multiple strategies to prevent attacks. Indeed, the horror of Newtown must be seen in a context that’s not defined by defeat.

More than 120 school assaults have been thwarted in the past ten years. And remarkably, while security hardware and physical barriers can play a deterrent role, it’s been psychologists — working hand in hand with law enforcement officers — who have come up with the most helpful tools to prevent violent attacks.

The Path to Violence tells the story of a powerfully effective Secret Service program — the Safe School Initiative — that’s helped schools detect problem behavior in advance.

There are better alternatives, more thoughtful ways to understand our gun violence problem, and to address it than just more force.  The only thing that more guns in our society, our culture, have accomplished is more gun violence. It is time for that to end.

Our gun culture is a massive, epic failure.

Watch The Path to Violence on PBS. See more from After Newtown.