Community Magazine May 2013

happened yet, but we have a need …. I hate to say this, and this doesn’t sound so good, but most yeshivas do not have any real security.” As for the call from many lobbies and advocates for stricter firearm laws, Hikind is adamant that such moves will do little to stem shooting attacks. “If you’re asking me whether more gun control is the answer, whether we need more gun laws, I’ll tell you flat out, quite simply, absolutely not,” he said. “All the rhetoric that’s going on nationally, if you’re asking me: ‘Boy, a ban on assault rifles is going to end violence’ – I’d say no. But we can ensure that guns – legal guns – are obtained legally. I’m not interested in saying, ‘Let’s just ban guns, and that’ll solve all of the problems.’ That I don’t think is the answer. "No one at my office had received a call yet and said, ‘You’ve got to control guns.’ The bad guys got a hold of a weapon and… they find a way to use it.” Andrew Lawton, who has written on the gun controversy for the popular Huffington Post blog, stands by the notion that armed guards at schools or shuls can only benefit the community. “If there was one person with a gun at Sandy Hook, or at Virginia Tech – one well-trained person with a firearm to defend against criminals – there might not have been these tragedies,” said the television and radio pundit, who has also appeared in international media. “Otherwise, the children were defenseless.” Advocates for armed guards often cite, like Lawton did, the gunman of the 2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute massacre, who killed 32 and injured 17. And many note the contrast between this outcome and that of the shooting perpetrated by Charles Whitman in 1966, who fired from an observation tower at University of Texas, killing 17. A police officer shot and killed him, sparing further lives. Looking across the ocean, most Israeli schools and preschools are protected by guards. And the terrorist who shot at students at Merkav Harav yeshiva in 2008 was stopped by somebody shooting back. Lawton says that Israel’s system of a armed guards in schools and plazas is “a classic example” of taking necessary precautions, adding, “I’m not sure that volume is necessary in America. But I don’t think guards are a bad idea.” ANTI-GUN Of course, not everyone is pleased with the prospect of guns in the schoolyard – even in the hands of a trained officer. Many groups are lobbying for stricter gun laws overall in order to prevent violence. In their view, the best strategy is to make it impossible for potential shooters to obtain weapons, so armed guards become unnecessary. The mission of New Yorkers against Gun Violence (NYAGV), says its website, is “to reduce gun violence through legislative advocacy and education...” The group was established in 1993 by Brooklyn mothers who wanted to take a stand after the shooting death of a teacher in Prospect Park. “When felons, the adjudicated mentally ill, domestic violence criminals and other prohibited people have such easy access to firearms, something is terribly wrong,” they wrote. Americans are murdered with guns at the rate of 32 people a day, according to NYAGV, and they note that state and There are currently 18 states that allow adults to carry loaded weapons onto school grounds with few or minor conditions: • Alabama (which bans possessing a weapon on school grounds only if the carrier has “intent to do bodily harm”) • California (with approval of the superintendent) • Connecticu t (with approval of “school officials”) • Hawaii (no specific law) • Idaho (with school trustees’ approval) • Iowa (with “authorization”) • Kentucky (with school board approval) • Massachusetts (with approval of the school board or principal) • Mississippi (with school board approval) • Montana (with school trustees’ permission) • New Hampshire (ban applies only to pupils, not adults) • New Jersey (with approval from the school’s “governing officer”) • New York (with the school’s approval) • Oregon (with school board approval) • Rhode Island (with a state concealed weapons permit) • Texas (with the school’s permission) • Utah (with approval of the “responsible school administrator”) • Wyoming ( as long as it is not concealed) 38 Community magazine