Ann Arbor Public--And School Board--Want Guns Out of the Schools

In case you missed it, at last night's board meeting there were some nice statements from Superintendent Jeanice Swift, President Deb Mexicotte, and Secretary Andy Thomas. And there was also agreement from the board to ask the state to change the law. Show the school board some love for stepping up to the challenge! (In other words, tell them thank you.

Meanwhile, Josh Wade, the guy who started the whole thing off by bringing his gun into a choir concert, called schools "mass murder enablement zones" during public speaking time. You can't make these things up! Aside from the Wade family, most of the "open carry" people came from out of the county.

Read: 

Dr. Swift's Comments

Nice quote:

The presence of guns in schools runs contrary to everything we are wired for in education, and we believe it is counterproductive to maintaining a rich, productive, and healthy learning environment for our children.

Deb Mexicotte's Comments

Nice quote: 

There are those that somehow think that this discussion is outside of our purview as a Board, or that we are somehow passive bystanders as the debate around school safety and the law ensues. That the law is the law and we are simply the willing sheep that follow and enforce it. That is not the case...We are bound to follow the law, but we are not required to agree with it. As a matter of fact, if there is law that is detrimental to what we believe is in the best interests of our students or our citizens, it is our responsibility to work to get that law changed. We pass resolutions, lobby Lansing and chide the Governor on a regular basis when we think something is in need of change. The policy on CPL owners in gun free zones is no different than railing against the funding model of Proposal A, or the interpretation of the State Constitution allowing alternate uses of the School Aid Fund.

Andy Thomas' statement

Nice quote: 

First, the “open carry” law as it exists in Michigan and as it applies to our schools places our principals and teachers in a completely untenable position. The presence in a school of an individual with a gun is a potential threat to the safety of children. Principals and teachers will have to act very quickly to assess the threat. The stakes involved in making the wrong assessment are incalculable, adding even more stress to an already stressful profession. Open carry needlessly turns principals and teachers into security guards instead of educators.

Teacher Trevor Staples asked people on twitter to show what they would like to open carry. I like this one: 

We definitely need more clipboards, fewer guns.
Screen shot from twitter, 3/12/2015.

I asked for haikus about Open Carry. I got these two: 

Thank you haiku artists! Screen shot from twitter, 3/12/2015.

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