Brian Manzullo

Detroit Free Press

For those who ridiculed Betsy DeVos for mentioning "potential grizzlies" as a reason for keeping a gun in schools for safety, it may be time to start lining up to apologize: A bear put a pair of Connecticut schools on lockdown this week.

Two schools in Southington, Conn., were placed in "Secure School Mode" when a black bear was spotted nearby Tuesday morning, according to WFSB.com.

Though the bear eventually moved away from the schools and the "Secure School Mode" was only brief, the report says emails were sent out to parents and the schools took precautions to keep schoolchildren safe.

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The timing of this incident is uncanny.

A few weeks ago, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos - a West Michigan native and Detroit charter schools advocate - was widely mocked when she suggested during her confirmation hearing that educators may need "a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies."

Her point was the issue of whether guns belong in American schools is "best left to locales and states to decide." But social media went off the rails after the "grizzlies" comment, with most people saying it's preposterous to suggest a gun should be in a school, around schoolchildren, due to a threat of bears.

Who's laughing now, huh?!

Seriously, though, even though a gun wasn't needed in this situation, a bear was found near a school - and in Connecticut, at that, and not out in Wapiti, Wyo., the school DeVos was referring to when she made the "grizzlies" comment.

DeVos was narrowly confirmed as Secretary of Education in a historic 51-50 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.

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