Beefing up security: Madison County to put AR-15s in schools

MARSHALL, N.C. (WLOS) — This year, Madison County Schools will have AR-15 semi-automatic guns locked in safes for student resource officers to use if there’s ever a gunman in a school.

“Having a deputy just armed with a handgun isn't enough to stop these animals,” Sheriff Buddy Harwood said. “That's why I've decided to arm all of my school resource officers with AR-15 rifles.”

Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman confirmed that he and the county school board fully support the program.

In a Facebook post in June, Harwood announced his plan and said the SROs would get hours of training.

SEE HARWOOD'S STATEMENT HERE:

“It’s called hardening of the schools,” said Dr. Dorothy Espelage, a UNC Chapel Hill professor in the School of Education.

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Espelage has conducted decades of study and research on school safety and student well-being.

“What's going to happen is we're going to have accidents with these guns. Just the presence of an SRO increases violence in the schools. There's more arrests of kids. Why is it that they have to have these AR-15s? It doesn't make any sense.”

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But those in Madison County leading the decision think it makes all the sense in the world in light of mass school shootings like Uvalde.

“I have mixed opinions,” a Madison County woman said of Harwood’s decision. “I would prefer to have the children safe, but then anyone, you don't know, could get hold of an AR-15. Locks can be broken.”

Harwood said the guns would be locked in an undisclosed location, and the safes were being paid for by the county. He said donors paid for the guns.

CHAOS, CONFUSION, LACK OF LEADERSHIP PLAGUED UVALDE RESPONSE, REPORT FINDS