The Douglas County School District of Colorado bought 10 semi-automatic rifles for security reasons. The school district claims that school security officers can use the rifles in case of a shooting, security or violent threat.
Richard Payne, director of security of the district explains that in the event that they are the first ones on the scene, they want to be able to handle the situation with the correct tools on hand. However, Payne explains that he hopes they will never have to deploy them.
The director of security explains that the $12,000 spent on Bushmaster long rifles offered officers a tactical advantage during serious events. The 900-sqaure-mile Douglas County School District of Colorado includes 86 schools and 67,000 students.
The guns are line with a proactive approach the district is trying to implement on school security, according to Paula Hans, the district spokeswoman. The rifles will also be kept locked in patrol cars, and not inside schools, according to Washington Times.
Only eight armed officers of the district's 64 security staff members carry handguns. They will also be the only ones allowed to use the newly purchased rifles, according to Huffington Post.
District Superintendent Liz Fagen made the authorization to buy the guns in January after learning schools officers and sheriff's deputies were not equipped with such weapons. All guards at the school district are former law enforcement officers and have been trained to carry the military-style rifles. The rifles can only be used at the discretion of the officers.
The purchases have garnered mixed reactions from parents due to the possibility of having weapons on campuses. The purchase also raised questions about how far school officials should go in arming employees, especially after the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Many districts in the country rushed to increase the number of school officers on campus after rampant violent events happened in schools across the nation. In a few cases, teachers were even allowed to carry concealed weapon themselves.
The decision to purchase the assault weapons in Colorado was not discussed with the school board. Payne said that the school board's approval was not required for the purchase.
Fagen mentioned that they have partnered with law enforcement at a level that has never been done before. School districts alone cannot solve the issue of unfortunate events having all over the country which makes it important to work together.
