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Disaster averted

It’s a chilling thought that, just two days before high school students across the U.S.

It’s a chilling thought that, just two days before high school students across the U.S. took to the streets in a nationwide protest against gun violence, we would have a firearm-related incident at a school only an hour and a half away from the Hamlet of Lac La Biche.

As you may have read in this week’s Lac La Biche Post, a student at Bonnyville is now facing multiple charges after allegedly bringing a firearm to school on March 12.

Though the youth never actually used the firearm, school administration was informed the next day and they immediately contacted the RCMP.

That student was immediately removed from the school and their firearm was seized by police. The youth is now set to appear in Bonnyville Provincial Court this week on at least three charges.

We don’t know if this student intended to hurt anyone, though there’s a good chance they didn’t bring a firearm to school by accident.

Still, this incident serves us in two ways. First, it is a reminder that even here in northern Alberta, school shootings are a possibility; we should never dismiss threatening behaviour when it comes to the safety of our students.

Secondly, let’s consider the peaceful resolution of this situation. In the wake of the Parkland shooting, there’s a lot of talk in the U.S. about the prospect of arming teachers, an extension of the idea that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Let’s say we lived in a future United States where President Donald Trump has made it mandatory for teachers to carry guns in school.

In that scenario, instead of calling the RCMP, school administration likely leaps into action to prevent a mass shooting from taking place. The student is either gunned down by their teachers, or perhaps they end up getting into a firefight that leaves several students dead.

Except when they’re in the hands of a police officer, guns should be kept out of schools, period. That goes for both students and for teachers.




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