That is what we, the public, pay them to do. Just because some right-wing SCOTUS gave them an out doesn’t mean it isn’t their job. It’s their only job.
And that ruling really needs to be re-evaluated. Police organizations now market themselves as being the line between the public and violent criminals - otherwise they can’t justify shooting unarmed people for looking at them funny. That marketing is clearly fraudulent.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that those cops wouldn’t go in there.
They were obviously In Fear For Their Lives 
The ultimate effect of arming teachers would be to discourage even more qualified people from that profession (while possibly attracting the wrong types). I don’t know that GQP strategists we’re smart enough to see that angle, but it would be icing on the cake for them to further undermine public education.
Parkland was one officer. Uvalde was at least a dozen from at least three agencies. They massively outnumbered this shooter, knew he was alone and what he looked like. They had more than enough people to both overwhelm this shooter and protect the other students and staff while they were evacuated.
I want every tv station that shows cops bravely and professionally entering an active shooter situation to be legally required to show an equal time of cops either running away or having a coffee and doughnut with gunshots and children screaming in the background. Because that’s the country we live in.
Just saw on the news this evening that those police officers conducted an active shooter drill at the area high school a week ago.
Yes and…
I just can’t give that a like.
I guess I am not in a mood for even bitter laughter right now.
No problem, I think I was going for despair rather than humour this time.
(excerpt)
And apparently you missed that my point was, in this case, IT DOES. There were armed police already at the school fulfilling the “good guy with a gun” role when the shooter first arrived. “Good guy with a gun” excludes the police normally because they’re not there when things first go down, not because they’re police. That they were police in this case is neither here nor there. Hell, they were fulfilling the role better than the ‘regular citizen’ could have, as they have training and the freedom to shoot first. And they still didn’t manage to change anything, because the whole “good guy with a gun” idea is a fantasy, not how things work in reality.
I count at least four.
The police have collective bargaining contracts. These contracts are typically 5 year contracts. The police union has had the upper hand in the propaganda portion of CBA negotiations for the better part of a century. Elected officials come and go, making it difficult for any given city to affect meaningful change in policing in our communities. Some communities have managed to direct their police to turn away from “broken windows” policing (my area has been fairly successful at going this direction). It’s slow community driven work.
Even in the fantasy version the “good guy with a gun” generally doesn’t play any role until after the massacre has already started.
The best case scenario for arming more civilians is “maybe we can kill the shooter before he has a chance to keep shooting additional people until he runs out of ammo.”
The best case scenario for restricting gun ownership is “maybe we can prevent the would-be shooter from killing anyone at all.”
That’s not fair - often they protect white supremacy and the patriarchy as well! They’re multi-faceted! Credit where credit is due.
Cross-posting from the other thread:
I think this is even suspect at this point. I saw a video on CNN of the shooter who seemingly strolled up to an unlocked back entrance, which completely refutes the earlier narrative that shots were exchanged with law enforcement outside the school.
If they are unsure about what, how, and when the events unfurled, they should keep their collective mouths shut until they get all the facts. Right now, it just seems like they know they royally fucked up and they’re trying to concoct an elaborate story to cover their asses.
Yeah, that always makes me crazy because it doesn’t get acknowledged by the people advancing the fantasy. They talk about shootings being prevented. Which doesn’t even make sense. It doesn’t prevent shit, it’s purely a response and you literally can’t respond until the massacre has already started. So in school shootings, a certain number of children must necessarily die in their “best case scenario.” It’s perverse.
Well the earlier narrative I saw from them was that the cop “engaged” but didn’t fire on, the shooter before he entered the building. Either way, there was a cop right there. And even the first wave of subsequent cops arrived a few minutes later, before he entered the class and didn’t stop him.
What a shit show.
