Leave it to The Veterans to Act to Protect Our Children

When all else fails, leave it to our veteran servicemen and women to protect our most precious commodity, our children.  There has been much debate following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida as to how we address what some see as a daunting task of protecting kids while they attend school.

Some may find this to be a daunting task, nonetheless leave it to a veteran of the US military to find a solution to the problem.

According to The Tribunist,

Mark Cowan, an Army veteran, has decided he will personally guard North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Cowan stands guard outside of the school with his AR-15 ready.

 

Cowan isn’t technically on school grounds, but he is close enough to monitor the premises.

 

He explained to WANE “that he is there to protect the students and ward off anyone who would pose a threat to their safety.”

If the government won’t act, if the government is to concerned with the politics of gun control, this just might be the next best alternative to avoid another mass shooting incident inside one of our nation’s schools. Mr. Cowan, a legal gun owner, and military veteran decided to take it upon himself to act with others will not.

School officials and local law enforcement are aware of his presence, and since he is not breaking an laws those opposed to his presence do not really have any recourse.  Mr. Cowan plans to stand guard at his post until measures are put in place to ensure our children are safe while attending school.

Fort Wayne Community Schools spokesperson Krista Stockman offered a statement to WANE:

“We take the security of our schools very seriously. We understand he has a right to be out there, but we do not believe it adds to the safety of our students. At North Side, as at all of our schools, we have security procedures in place. In addition, at North Side, we have armed police officers in the building every day.”

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This may seem like a valid solution to protecting our children as they attend school, but others aren’t so keen with having an armed veteran standing guard so close to a school.

The Tribunist continues,

Cowan is part of a group who takes these matters seriously. He’s an Oath Keeper.

 

The Oath Keepers describe themselves like this: “a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic’.”

 

The Southern Poverty Law Center see the group through a different lens. “The Oath Keepers, which claims tens of thousands of present and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, is one of the largest radical antigovernment groups in the U.S. today.

 

While it claims only to be defending the Constitution, the entire organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans.”

Whether or not you agree with the group this individual represents, The Oath Keepers, the idea of veterans protecting our children seems like a very logical solution to the issue we face with mass shootings.