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Meet the Army Veteran Who Could Once and for All Destroy One of the Left’s Key Gun Control Arguments

Dietz could be the guy who — once and for all — destroys the left’s argument against putting more guns in schools. And it’s all based on numbers and facts.

That research? More guns in schools equal fewer deaths during active shooter situations.

FWIW, I'll post this here and not start a new thread.

I didn't get to read my question (didn't think I would, so I had a short version prepared). Turns out all questions had to be handed in and read by the moderator, so, I was ahead of the game.

When the question was asked, it was done with little qualification. I'm fairly certain that the majority of candidates did not know any details about the program. They heard "School Marshal" and in their minds eye saw "Federal Air Marshal". Here's how they responded..

Place 4
~~~~~~~~
Craig Allen (Incumbent) : Against (in favor of armed officers, but not teachers)
Ed Allen: Qualified Yes... Wants to be sure there's "sufficient training".
Michael Goolsby: Unequivocal Yes. (Exactly what I would hope from a Marine with combat experience [Afghanistan])

Place 5
~~~~~~
Jim Joros: Against (former KISD principal)
Shane Hardin & Jo Lynn Haussman: Qualified Yes - With Training
Terry King: Not present (family emergency out of town)

Unfortunately, I did not get to explore reasoning or do any redirect.

Afterward I spoke at some length with several candidates on other issues.
Goolsby is a straight shooter. Likely to be a burr under the saddle with other board members. I addressed this with him rather directly on-on-one and was satisfied that his contention would be kept constructive. He's a "focus on the basics" guy too... No ponds and artwork until every student has text books they can take home if needed... He also has lots of business experience. I'll be voting for Goolsby for place 4.

I think C Allen (incumbent) and E Allen were both qualified guys (other than Craigs objection to arming trained volunteers). I wish one of them was running for place 5, because I didn't find anyone I wanted to vote for in place 5.

Hardin is a Democrat and staunchly against school vouchers. I pressed him one-on-one and his strongest reason was (paraphrasing) "if parents can afford to pay the difference between the voucher and what it costs to go to private school, they can afford to pay the whole thing". I made several very succinct arguments against that ridiculous reasoning and we eventually agreed to disagree. No way I'll be voting for a statist.

Haussman was the well-intended grandmother, a very pleasant woman, but did not strike me as a competent administrator. I might hire her to teach grade school, but not run the system. Good intentions are not the same as having the skills to reach goals. Just my opinion.

Joros seemed to be a well reasoned dedicated public servant, but I don't see him thinking outside the box he's developed over a full career in education. I can see him working to fix things incrementally and be a good voice for teachers. Unfortunately Terry King was absent, so, Joros is my current (reluctant) favorite for place 5.

I did have the chance to chat with our Superintendent after the meeting. Myself, Mr. Goolsby and Super. Reid. Of course I asked him whether he'll support the Marshal program and he was an unequivocal "No". He of course will support it if the Board tells him to do it, but he will recommend against it at every turn. So, I asked "Why" and he gave the the same "blood in the streets" (my words) answer that every anti gives. "I am a gun owner" he said . I pointed out that there's been no blood in the streets since the CHL program was implemented and he came back with (paraphrasing) "teachers will crack under pressure and innocent kids will get shot" and (again paraphrasing) "the kids will know who the Marshals are, and that will expose their guns to tampering" (very paraphrased, actually). I gave him what I thought was solid reasoning against those concerns, but it fell on deaf ears. He feels it's better to wait for police. He went on to point out that most school shooters commit suicide, and Mr. Goolsby and I both pointed out that the sooner you can bring counter-force to bear, the sooner the shooting will end. To no avail.

In the end, I offered to make a bet with him... That in 10 years if he's right, I'll host his Superbowl party... and if I'm right he'll do the same for me... He declined (more like didn't reply directly).

So... Goolsby for place 4
Reluctantly Joros for place 5, unless I can find more to like about King in the next few weeks.

Sorry for the somewhat off topic content here... If you're in Keller ISD and have a specific question, might be best to PM me rather than stray further off topic.

Cheers.

Anyone planning to attend the Keller ISD school board Candidate forum tonight?

http://www.kellerisd.net/community/comm ... il-21.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It appears that the forum will be moderated, so I'm not certain whether I'll be able to ask my question....
If not, I'll be submitting this to all candidates following the meeting.
If I am required to be brief, I plan to skip the first 4 paragraphs and start with "last session...."
Feel free to comment on content... but if anyone steals this and reads it to the meeting tonight, I'm gonna feel pretty cheated.

Dear Candidates,
I'd like to ask a question related to school safety.

It's hard to believe that just yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the shootings at Columbine. Last Wednesday was the 7-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings. It's been nearly a year and a half since Sandy Hook. And as we know, not all school violence involves guns, as was seen in Pittsburgh just weeks ago, on April 9th , where 22 people were stabbed by one 16-year-old student carrying multiple knives.

It's long standing knowledge that schools are designated “gun free zones”. In fact, in practice, schools are “weapon free zones”. In some extreme cases, students have received suspensions for chewing a pop tart into the shape of a gun or pointing their finger and saying “bang” during recess. Absurd.

I hope it's plain to all of us that passing a law and putting up a sign does nothing to prevent school violence. Crazed minds will never be stopped by a sign. And despite the fact that Keller has an outstanding police force.... “When seconds count, the Police are only minutes away.”

Last session, the Texas State Legislature reiterated it's belief that the “weapons free zones” status quo is bad policy when it passed HB1009, the School Marshal Act. The Bill passed in the House with nearly 85% support (123 to 22 - 84.8%) and it passed the Senate with over 90% support (28-3, 90.3%) before being signed into law by Governor Perry on June 14th of last year.

Prior to HB1009, it had already been longstanding Texas law that School Boards have the authority to permit people (anyone actually, not just police officers or school employees) to carry weapons in schools. Harrold ISD became the first to do so in 2008. At least 30 Texas districts (including most recently, Argyle, just a few miles North of here on 377) now have programs to authorize and train employee volunteers to possess guns on campus. Weapons that can be used to PROTECT children, should someone decide to ignore the paper laws and plastic signs, and come to campus seeking to inflict mass harm.

Please tell us, if you are elected to the Keller ISD school board, would you advocate to implement a School Marshall Program (or some similar program) for Keller ISD, and if not, why not?

Thank you.

Respectfully,
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