Colorado County To Arm School Security Guards With Semiautomatic Rifles

A variety of military-style semiautomatic rifles obtained during a buy back program are displayed at Los Angeles police headquarters on Thursday, Dec. 27,2012. Similar weapons have been used in at least four high-pro... A variety of military-style semiautomatic rifles obtained during a buy back program are displayed at Los Angeles police headquarters on Thursday, Dec. 27,2012. Similar weapons have been used in at least four high-profile shootings in the past year, including most recently the Connecticut school shootings and the Christmas Eve killings of two New York firefighters. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) MORE LESS
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Douglas County, Colorado, will begin arming school security guards with semiautomatic rifles within the next month in order to protect students from mass shootings, according to the Denver Post.

Security officers will begin using the rifles after they complete the same 20-hour training that police officers go through, according to the Denver Post. Some security officers will receive the guns within a month, while others will get them in August.

Richard Payne, the school district’s director of security, told the Denver Post that the security guards are all former law enforcement officers and will keep the semiautomatic rifles locked in patrol cars while they are on duty at county schools.

“They will not be in the schools,” he said.

Payne told the Denver Post in that he decided to spend more than $12,000 on 10 rifles for his security guards in January. He said that the security officers at the schools had been undergoing training with local law enforcement and that the police officers had been training with rifles.

“We want to make sure they have the same tools as law enforcement,” Payne said.

Payne did not consult with the Douglas County school board before purchasing the new firearms, according to the Denver Post.

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Notable Replies

  1. Simply wrong. This country on guns has lost its frickin’ mind.

  2. Avatar for grack grack says:

    We shot our way into this mess, and we’re damn sure gonna shoot our way out of it.

  3. Can’t see anyway this could go wrong…wtf.

  4. Well now we know where the next mass shooting involving kids is probably gonna be. I don’t care what anyone says! Guns and children are a bad mix!

  5. This will not end well. Kids and guns. WTF are they ‘thinking’???

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