Posted on 10/28/2009 6:13:12 AM PDT by grady
PLYMOUTH – Reports of a gunman walking across campus put Plymouth State University and the nearby Holderness School in a lockdown last night.
By 9:43 p.m., the lockdown was lifted after officials located and talked to the individual, who was not a student, and learned he was carrying a martial arts device that resembled a gun.
(Excerpt) Read more at unionleader.com ...
Even if it was confirmed to be a gun - so what? One would think that there would be some level of intermediate alert or caution before going to a lockdown. I guarantee that are many "men with guns" in the same location, legally, every day...no lockdown necessary.
Not necessarily true...
I was referring to the fact that no lockdown is necessary despite the common daily prevalence of guns in this neck of the woods. I acknowledge that that’s “not necessarily true” if circumstances so dictate. A simple report of man+gun, with nothing further, is not such a circumstance.
What a bunch of wussies we’ve become.
Lock the citizens in their cages for their own protection.
And there are people who think a revolution is coming. Ha.
Is the school campus a “gun-free zone” ? That might be the problem.
On the flip side, had it been a gun and some warning issued, but ignored; I would not like to be a one explaining to the parents why the school did not go into lock down.
This is one of those cases where it is better to be safe than sorry. Now if they throw the book at this guy, then I will defend his right to do what he did. It was not a gun or even an imitation one.
My concern is that this type of overreaction will invite people to ignore a legitimate threat. An unconfirmed report of something that appears to be benign and legal conduct might warrant letting students know to use caution while something suspicious is being investigated.
I think your fear of not wanting to explain the use of judgment is what leads to the instant lockdown, zero-tolerance mentality. We should be encouraging appropriate response levels, not panic mode "just in case."
We used to make Chinese stars in metal class, oh how times have changed.
By the way, is there a new PC term for a Chinese Star?
Absolutely. The nation is becoming more gutless... screaming in fear if someone even draws a picture of a gun. And it isn’t gonna change with that White House Weakling as an example to people.
No, not by law. I have no idea if PSU has a policy about it, but colleges are not off-limits by statute in NH.
Case in point: A driver with your kids stops at a stop sign. A car is close, coming from the other direction pretty fast. The driver has two choices.
1. Proceed to cross the road, because by law, he stopped and the other driver has too.
2. Use caution and wait until he/she KNOWS the driver has seen the Stop sign and is going to stop safely.
Common sense says wait and play it safe.
As for the comment “I think your fear of not wanting to explain the use of judgment is what leads to the instant lock down, zero-tolerance mentality.”
I will take exception to this: What do you know about the situation, were there armed security guard present, trained in swat team exercises?
I am not saying that the path they chose was the perfect one, but given the possible outcome, it worked.
Oh and I abhor the zero tolerance mentality
Better hide the vibrators and French ticklers.
LOL...I made a custom rifle stock in woodshop. The shop teacher told me I better bring the action in so we could make sure it was bedded properly!
Mr. A. was the archetype of the cool woodshop teacher, right down to his two missinger fingers.
PSU — When I read the headline I thought they were referring to Penn State University. Common problem when acronyms get used too much. Another pet-peeve is using ‘PA’ for Palestinian Authority. Probably works for most people that aren’t Pennsylvanians.
I was there. Plymouth, State Police and Grafton County Sheriff's deputies responded. I saw units responding from 20 miles away on my way home a full hour after the initial alert went out.
Word from local LEO is that the initial report was of a suspicious individual, possibly armed. As more students began receiving info that a lockdown was in effect, they began circulating more inaccurately exaggerated info to family and friends that a gunman was on campus.
Responding LEO never got panicked...the school and students did. That's why I think the lockdown promotes problems when the situation doesn't warrant it. The students appeared to be thinking "lockdown=shooter."
I respect your point about being cautious, but based on what I observed, the fear among the students was heightened by the lockdown response.
I have no idea what that might be. Guess I haven't watched enough kung fu movies.
It was on a university campus, where it’s presumably a violation of state law to carry a gun (an unConstitutional state law, since it’s a state university supported by federal and state tax dollars). The whole situation is absurd, but I can’t blame police for responding to a call from someone saying they think they saw someone violating the law, and notifying campus officials that they’re responding to this call. The school “lockdown” craze is a bizarre phenomenon, but it’s driven as much by the general insane state of liability law in this country, as by pathological hoplophobia.
They aren't locking us up for our protection, they are locking us up to control us, but if they said that, who would go into the cages?
Not true...see post 10.
It will take 40 years in reverse. We spent 40 years letting the schools teach our children to act like little socialist, false self-esteeming brats. Now we pay the piper.
It's not Obama's fault. It's not the teachers fault. It's not Bush's fault. It's ours.
And the indicators were much earlier before Obama.
When we let the fedgov burn out Waco...regardless of whether they were child molesters or whatever drug dealers...doesn't matter. The Federal government proved they had us under the boot that day.
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