Resource officers in public schools are allowed to carry real live ammunition for safety reasons. In schools, if there is an armed perpetrator loose in the school, the school issues a “Code Red Lockdown” where the students hide in classrooms not making a sound to give off the impression that no one is there. The Code Red contingency is meant to keep the students safe within school grounds.
“With all the technology advancing, it is very hard to get away with a crime,” said Emili Hall, forensics teacher at Athens Drive High School.
A “Code Yellow” would be when there is a threat outside of the school, such as a prison break or a bank robbery. A “Code Green” would mean “all clear” and the threat has been neutralized.
A firearm is a weapon that can shoot out tiny projectiles at supersonic speed. The “Guns don’t kill people. People do.” argument has been brought up multiple times by civilians during conversations surrounding gun control. A gun could be used in self-defense or offensive measures. The second amendment of the American Constitution says: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” People often abuse the power of guns in robberies and homicides. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 467,321 persons were victims of a crime committed with a firearm in 2011. In North Carolina, the legal age to purchase firearms is eighteen years of age. According to the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS), the first recorded use of a firearm was in 1364 in Europe.
“It’s different here than my country of Puerto Rico. It is more safe here because of the safety measures of gun violence,” said Normar Molina, freshman at Athens Drive High School.
According to CNN, the fourth deadliest mass shooting on U.S soil in American history took place on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Adam Lanza, (20), gunned down 20 children, ages six through seven, and six adults, school staff and faculty, before turning the gun on himself. Investigating police later find Nancy Lanza, Lanza’s mother, dead from a gunshot wound, making a total of 28 victims as a result of gang violence. Concerned parents of school students have then pushed for more strict background checks on owning a gun.
At Athens Drive High School, it is illegal to posses a firearm according to the school laws. Possessing a firearm is considered a Level IV rule violation. The penalty for violating a Level IV rule is a 365 day suspension according to the Wake County Public School System: Student/Parent Handbook in the state of North Carolina.
The two most deadliest shootings in the US have been Las Vegas and Orlando, both claiming over 49 victims, but the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas shooting left more people injured.
“I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and — you have to — and on military bases. My first day, it gets signed, okay? My first day. There’s no more gun-free zones.” said then presidential candidate of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
