OUR TURN: Colt Elementary scare shows need for gun awareness

Cool heads and quick thinking prevailed earlier this month when an 8-year-old boy brought a loaded .38-caliber handgun to Colt Elementary School.

No one was injured, no shots were fired, the gun was quickly secured and the child was separated from the other students to prevent any further disruption. Other than a handful of kids in the physical education class where the incident occurred, the rest of the student body never even knew they faced a potential threat.

Ryder Warren, the superintendent of the Marble Falls Independent School District, said this episode shows why security drills are so important at local campuses; you never know what’s going to happen, and it’s always better for staff and students to be prepared.

Indeed, school personnel and the pupils are to be commended for their measured reaction to the episode.

Yet one can’t help but think the school literally dodged a bullet. On any other day, under any other random circumstances, this quiet little incident could have turned into a tragedy that would have shaken the community to its core.

That very same community must be vigilant to ensure episodes such as this one do not become commonplace. The first line of defense are parents and other guardians, not school employees.

Facts are facts, and guns are not hard to come by in the Highland Lakes. Folks live close to the land, enjoy hunting and keep plenty of weapons in their homes.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that, of course. But it is also important to keep those weapons away from young, grasping hands.

Because when that gun does go off, there’s no telling who may be standing in front of the barrel.

The third-grader is no longer at Colt, no charges have been filed against the parents and the matter for all practical purposes is over. But the case just goes to show that parents and other adults should always store their guns where children can’t be harmed by them or do harm with them.

The Web site www.kidsandguns.org — which says 22 million kids live in U.S. households where there is a weapon — offers these common sense safety tips to protect and preserve young lives:

• If you have a gun, unload it and lock it up.

• Lock and store ammunition separately.

• Hide the keys to the storage locker, cabinet or closet where the kids can’t find them.

• Parents should also ask if guns are safely stored at the homes and places where their children play.

• Talk candidly to children about the dangers of guns.

• Teach children not to touch guns and to let an adult know if they find one.

While those are good rules for parents, there are also some strategies the school district could follow to allay any lingering fears while also enhancing security.

For one, MFISD should hold on-campus sessions with children to stress the importance of gun safety. The district could partner with the Marble Falls Police Department.

The district and police might want to hold another session with parents; officials could even discuss trigger locks.

Also, where children’s safety is concerned, you can never conduct enough drills. The district must continue this practice so that teachers and staff are prepared as much as possible.

In the end, children are not prisoners to be guarded. Schools and parents cannot monitor their activities every minute; nothing else would ever get done. But gun-awareness programs, encouraging communication and conducting drills all go a long way to make schools safer places, where children focus on learning and not being afraid.

The Daily Tribune editorial board includes Dan Alvey, Amber Alvey Weems, Thomas Edwards, Daniel Clifton and Chris Porter.