De Blasio Removes Armed Security From NYC Schools Even As Liberals Nationwide Push Its Expansion

Originally Posted at Free Market Shooter

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In the wake of the Parkland shooting, a group of mothers from the area made a push to improve safety at schools.  Somewhat surprisingly, they decided to avoid gun control and partisan politics, as Alyssa Alhadeff opted to advocate for a more comprehensive (and politically neutral) goal:

She’s launched a nonprofit called Make Schools Safe (MakeOurSchoolsSafe.org) to lobby for measures to increase campus security such as metal detectors, armed guards, bulletproof doors and windows, and reduced access points. Although Alhadeff respects the fight for gun control, she feels she can most readily make a difference with these initiatives.

The mom, who has two sons, ages 10 and 13, is currently in New York City promoting the nonprofit with the help of six girls between the ages of 14 and 18 — dubbed the Dream Team. All knew Alyssa, and most were there that tragic day.

It was a bit of a shock to see liberals choosing to use their advocacy to promote a sensible position with a strong likelihood of reaching a bipartisan solution, instead of the typical gun-grabbing that emerges from similar tragedies.  However, no one was likely to be as surprised as Alhadeff when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio removed all NYPD police officers from NYC schools:

The last NYPD cops assigned full-time to New York City public schools are being moved out — despite nationwide calls for heightened security in the wake of last month’s Florida shootings.

As the nation mourned the 17 victims of the school massacre at Parkland, Fla., the NYPD was removing Sgt. Raul Espinet from his post at Francis Lewis HS in Fresh Meadows, Queens — where he had worked for more than a dozen years. Parents, teachers and students are livid over the beloved cop’s departure.

“My colleagues think it’s outrageous — and really stupid,” teacher Arthur Goldstein said. “We’re not enthusiastic about arming teachers, but we liked having a cop around.”

Why has de Blasio decided to direct his own city in opposition to a solution with bipartisan support?  Apparently it is because he believes firearms at schools are “terrifying”:

“There’s nothing more terrifying than putting more guns in our kids schools,” de Blasio said.

Surely Alhadeff had to question if she was in the right place to push for school safety, as she was in New York City promoting her nonprofit when de Blasio removed the officers from schools.  While the lunacy of gun control has gotten out of hand lately, no one would ever expect our leaders to willingly give schools no means with which to defend themselves from a possible assailant.

Before you hear about New York City’s “low” gun crime rate and about how police officers aren’t “necessary” in NYC schools, it has to be mentioned that early this morning, four people were shot dead in a murder-suicide incident in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood:

A 14-month-old girl and three men were fatally shot in the head in a possible murder-suicide that was discovered Wednesday morning by a grandmother, police and sources said.

While gun control advocates will certainly fudge the numbers to classify this tragedy as a “mass shooting”, these incidents occur with dizzying frequency in bad neighborhoods in inner cities (like Chicago) which inflate nationwide gun homicide statistics, and are hardly covered at all by the mainstream media, much less sensationalized like other incidents such as the ones in Parkland and Las Vegas.  These tragedies can happen anywhere, and are even more likely to occur at schools if they are confirmed “gun-free zones” with no armed security presence.

Only a guy like de Blasio in a place like New York City could it be considered a “wise” response to remove armed security from schools amid renewed calls for gun control following a mass murder incident… in a school.

It is difficult for gun control and gun rights to find any common ground these days – gun control advocates have resorted to committing felonies to make their political statements, and some gun rights advocates refuse to support even the Fix NICS Act, even with any gun rights infringements stripped out of the bill.  But somehow, Mayor de Blasio has found a way to take the other side of a universally-accepted measure designed to improve school safety, while still continuing his partisan gun-grabbing push on the national stage to make schools “safer” for children.

Already disliked for his anti-police policies that have put a target on NYPD officers’ backs…

…de Blasio has decided he wasn’t content with just police, but has decided to make NYC schools a target as well – which he has done, ironically enough, by removing police officers from the very place liberals and conservatives both agree needs armed protection now more than ever.