Rep. Tony Cornish: Schools need firearms

 Schools need to hire police officers with guns. Minnesota state law already allows for armed teachers.
 
As one of your state representatives, I back the National Rifle Association's proposal 100 percent, inasmuch as it calls for an armed guard of some type in every school.
No. I'm not an NRA pawn, and I don't take a dime from them, directly or through other channels.
It's interesting how some legislators speak to the public with what they think might be a popular response for the media. U.S. Rep. Tim Walz recently said he was shocked with the NRA's proposal to put an armed cop in each school, in what he thought would turn schools into "armed encampments."
Actually, Walz's home school district in Mankato, where he taught, has had armed cops in its schools for years, partially paid by the district. Three surrounding rural school districts also pay to have armed cops in their schools. They are accepted well by teachers, students and staff and give a measure of security.
Churches in the metro area have had uniformed cops walking through the halls in back of their sanctuaries and around classrooms full of kids for years, armed with .40-caliber Glocks and with Tasers. If churches feel comfortable protecting children with cops, shouldn't schools?
Then we heard from the education community, which claimed to have "experts" in the field of security and doesn't want "armed teachers." These alleged experts don't seem to realize that armed teachers have been allowed by state law for years in Minnesota and that some have taken advantage of it. I know there are teachers who carry while instructing.
Here's the bottom line: When a psycho pulls up out front, you have seconds to act. A camera won't do any good unless there's a gun behind it. A window won't do any good unless it's bulletproof. All the counselors and therapists you can hire won't do any good unless they are armed.
You can't afford to completely encase your schools with bulletproof windows and steel locked doors -- but you can afford to share the cost of an officer with the city or county, as some districts are doing.

Rep. Tony Cornish: Schools need firearms | StarTribune.com