Oops

The National Gun Fetishist Association (NRA) wants to put armed security guards in every school in the United States because, as everyone knows, the only effective solution to gun violence is many, many more guns in our schools.

Besides, c’mon. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, in a word, THIS:

The security officer “made a breach in security protocol” and left an unloaded weapon in a restroom “for a few moments,” said Chatfield School Director Matt Young. Young said the school has been in contact with local authorities about the matter and wouldn’t discuss any possible repercussion for the officer, calling it “a personnel matter.” Young also declined to name the security officer. {…} Chatfield is a charter school that serves grades K-8 and has been open since 1997, according to the school’s website. {…} Lapeer County Prosecutor Byron Konschuh said since nobody was harmed, the incident likely would not constitute a criminal charge. “If you left a gun unattended and a toddler finds it and shoots and hurts someone, it could be some kind of reckless use of a firearm,” Konschuh said. Since that did not happen, it’s likely no criminal act was committed, Konschuh added. “It’s almost like no harm no foul.”

Yup, almost.

The guard was recently hired:

A Lapeer County school has hired a new security guard who they say is prepared for any situation. Chatfield School Director Matt Young told TV5 his school prides itself on being a safe learning environment for the near-500 students who attend. “In the process of reviewing security procedures, we felt there were some improvements we could make. Many you can see, some that are unseen,” said Young. The school installed new cameras and the teachers have received additional lockdown training, to name the not-so-obvious changes. But one obvious change is seen and that’s when you walk in the front door and come face to face with the school’s newest asset. “It’s probably slim to next to none that someone’s going to be needed in the school, but it’s that slim you have to worry about,” said the school’s security officer Clark Arnold. Arnold is the school’s recently-hired security officer. He patrols schools front entrance. The only doors open during school hours. He’s also armed. “It’s a tremendous asset to the safety of our students,” said Young.

I just want to ask everyone to consider the fact that we have over 130,000 public and private K-12 schools in this country. This incident didn’t result in any problems. The gun was unloaded and the mistake quickly discovered. But kids are in school around 180 days out of the year. That means we would potentially have 180 x 130,000+ = over 23 million opportunities for things like this or something much worse to happen every year. Over 23 million days when an officer with a loaded gun would be present in our K-12 schools and where life-threatening mistakes could be made if the NRA gets their way.

But, hey, what could possibly go wrong?