Hey Officer Friendly!

The school police in Fontana, California are not going to let themselves be caught in the crossfire. The school district purchased fourteen LE6940 rifles last fall, and took delivery a week before the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Officers spent their Christmas break undergoing forty hours of training on these fancy new guns. And to think I spent that time hanging around the house with my family.
Fontana school police Chief Billy Green said he used money from fingerprinting fees to purchase the guns for fourteen thousand dollars after identifying a "critical vulnerability" in his force's ability to protect students. The officers, who already wear sidearms, wouldn't be able to stop a shooter like the one in Connecticut, he said Wednesday.

"They're not walking around telling kids, 'Hurry up and get to class' with a gun around their neck," the chief said. "Parents need to know that if there was a shooter on their child's campus that was equipped with body armor or a rifle, we would be limited in our ability to stop that threat to their children." That might get your everyday tardy student to start considering body armor, however. 

There were some who wondered if spending fourteen thousand dollars on assault weapons was a wise expenditure in a district that recently saved millions by restructuring guidance services. Of course, the price is right. For every kid who falls through the cracks and doesn't get the counseling he or she needs, the friendly folks in Fontana have a way to correct the problem. If necessary. 

Now hurry up and get to class.