The price tag to place an armed police officer in each of California's 10,200 schools would top $1 billion.
The National Rifle Association's solution to school shootings is not only unfeasible financially but also fails to address the real needs of schools and communities, Bay Area, state and national educators, policymakers and police officers said Friday.
The armed-guards suggestion came during the NRA's first public response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that took 26 lives on Dec. 14.
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre at a news conference.
The response was immediate and overwhelmingly in opposition.
The American Federation of Teachers called the suggestion "irresponsible and dangerous," while the National Education Association described it as shocking and based on the "delusional assumption that everything other than guns contributes to these tragedies."
[h=3]Widespread opposition[/h]Representing U.S. mayors, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called it as the "equivalent of an arms race."
Locally, few supporters were to be found.
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, described the idea of placing armed guards at every school in the nation as pathetic and completely unacceptable.
And what about malls, movie theaters, supermarkets, churches, synagogues, mosques or sports stadiums, asked U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez.
"Those locations would still be vulnerable to a deranged person wearing bulletproof vests and carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition and semiautomatic pistols and rifles," Miller said in a statement.
[h=3]Assault weapons ban[/h]Instead Friday, local officials repeated their calls for bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition as well as a better mental health system.
"More guns are not the answer to protecting our children, as evident by the fact that armed guards weren't enough to stop the tragedy at Columbine High School," Yee said.
The Littleton, Colo., shooting in 1999 happened despite the presence of armed police officers. Two teenagers with bigger guns killed 12 students and one teacher.
State education officials said the presence of police officers must be a decision parents and educators make in each district or at each school. Not every community wants its schools to look and feel like a fortress.
"It varies so much from site to site," said Giorgos Kazanis, California Department of Education public information officer. "So many different variables go into a decision like that."
Few Bay Area schools have full-time police officers on-site.
[h=3]Oakland schools police[/h]Oakland Unified is among the rare district to have a school police force, with 12 officers, four sergeants and a chief on staff.
But even in Oakland, the number of officers falls well short of the city's 100 schools.
For the most part, the officers visit schools and walk the halls to build relationships with youth while also keeping tabs on community violence or turf wars that could flow onto school grounds.
While they train for active shooters on school grounds, it isn't their primary mission. A lot more is needed to protect children, said Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith.
Schools need more mental health programs, community events and support services, he said.
Lost in the conversation are the children shot and killed one by one on the streets every day - almost 50 Oakland Unified students in the past four years, Smith said.
Each death is as heartbreaking and shattering as those in Newtown, and each one evidence that the solution involves much more than adding armed guards in schools, he said.
"I just don't think having a conversation about increasing the adults with weapons is the right way to go," Smith said.
[h=3]How Benicia does it[/h]The city of Benicia also assigns police officers to schools, one at the middle school and one at the high school.
But they aren't placed there to stop a crazed gunman, said Lt. Frank Hartig, police public information officer.
In part, they help enforce traffic laws around schools or perhaps address drugs or alcohol on campus, but their role is so much greater than that, he said.
Since the Newtown shooting, police have stepped up presence at all the schools, for example, having officers park their cars on campus when they need to write reports.
"We, like everyone across the country, are saddened by what happened and I think we're being more visually present at all our schools to help reassure parents and the community," Hartig said.
But just as important, the school officers are mentors, role models and caring adults to help guide and support students at schools, he said.
"We're not going to put an armed guard at every school or a police officer at every school," Hartig said. "They're not there to be an armed guard."
The National Rifle Association's solution to school shootings is not only unfeasible financially but also fails to address the real needs of schools and communities, Bay Area, state and national educators, policymakers and police officers said Friday.
The armed-guards suggestion came during the NRA's first public response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting that took 26 lives on Dec. 14.
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre at a news conference.
The response was immediate and overwhelmingly in opposition.
The American Federation of Teachers called the suggestion "irresponsible and dangerous," while the National Education Association described it as shocking and based on the "delusional assumption that everything other than guns contributes to these tragedies."
[h=3]Widespread opposition[/h]Representing U.S. mayors, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter called it as the "equivalent of an arms race."
Locally, few supporters were to be found.
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, described the idea of placing armed guards at every school in the nation as pathetic and completely unacceptable.
And what about malls, movie theaters, supermarkets, churches, synagogues, mosques or sports stadiums, asked U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez.
"Those locations would still be vulnerable to a deranged person wearing bulletproof vests and carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition and semiautomatic pistols and rifles," Miller said in a statement.
[h=3]Assault weapons ban[/h]Instead Friday, local officials repeated their calls for bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition as well as a better mental health system.
"More guns are not the answer to protecting our children, as evident by the fact that armed guards weren't enough to stop the tragedy at Columbine High School," Yee said.
The Littleton, Colo., shooting in 1999 happened despite the presence of armed police officers. Two teenagers with bigger guns killed 12 students and one teacher.
State education officials said the presence of police officers must be a decision parents and educators make in each district or at each school. Not every community wants its schools to look and feel like a fortress.
"It varies so much from site to site," said Giorgos Kazanis, California Department of Education public information officer. "So many different variables go into a decision like that."
Few Bay Area schools have full-time police officers on-site.
[h=3]Oakland schools police[/h]Oakland Unified is among the rare district to have a school police force, with 12 officers, four sergeants and a chief on staff.
But even in Oakland, the number of officers falls well short of the city's 100 schools.
For the most part, the officers visit schools and walk the halls to build relationships with youth while also keeping tabs on community violence or turf wars that could flow onto school grounds.
While they train for active shooters on school grounds, it isn't their primary mission. A lot more is needed to protect children, said Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith.
Schools need more mental health programs, community events and support services, he said.
Lost in the conversation are the children shot and killed one by one on the streets every day - almost 50 Oakland Unified students in the past four years, Smith said.
Each death is as heartbreaking and shattering as those in Newtown, and each one evidence that the solution involves much more than adding armed guards in schools, he said.
"I just don't think having a conversation about increasing the adults with weapons is the right way to go," Smith said.
[h=3]How Benicia does it[/h]The city of Benicia also assigns police officers to schools, one at the middle school and one at the high school.
But they aren't placed there to stop a crazed gunman, said Lt. Frank Hartig, police public information officer.
In part, they help enforce traffic laws around schools or perhaps address drugs or alcohol on campus, but their role is so much greater than that, he said.
Since the Newtown shooting, police have stepped up presence at all the schools, for example, having officers park their cars on campus when they need to write reports.
"We, like everyone across the country, are saddened by what happened and I think we're being more visually present at all our schools to help reassure parents and the community," Hartig said.
But just as important, the school officers are mentors, role models and caring adults to help guide and support students at schools, he said.
"We're not going to put an armed guard at every school or a police officer at every school," Hartig said. "They're not there to be an armed guard."