In February, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was the site of one of the worst school shootings since Sandy Hook in 2012 where 17 people were killed and 17 others were wounded when an expelled student opened fire. Now, the school is enacting stricter security measures to ensure a massacre like the one on February 14 never happens again.
Most importantly, they’re doing it without gun control.
According to the New York Times, Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie is imposing several new rules that would require every student to carry a clear and transparent backpack – which the schools will provide at no charge – and identification badges. Additionally, Runcie said the district is considering implementing metal detectors and metal-detecting wands at every school entrance.
It’s the type of move from a suburban school district that’s reminiscent of a school in an urban setting. Security experts argue that urban schools are less prone to mass shootings – compared to suburban and rural schools – because their security is so strict. Of course, not every urban school is not without it’s isolated shooting case. On March 7 in Birmingham, Ala., a 17-year-old high school senior was killed and another student was wounded during a classroom shooting. It was reported after the shooting that metal detectors were not in use that day.
After every red flag was missed or ignored with respect to the Parkland shooter, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office isn’t taking any chances. They filed a “red flag” risk protection order that would temporarily take the shooting suspect’s brother’s guns away and prevent him from purchasing new firearms after he was arrested and charged with trespassing on MSD school grounds.
While several MSD students have organized a supposedly massive “March for our Lives” to protest gun violence that will push for stricter gun control reform on March 24, their school district is actually taking steps to limit the possibility that not another innocent life is lost due to gun violence.
