An Illinois community southwest of Chicago is astir after the local police chief proposed a new method to protect students: bring more guns to school, the Huffington Post reports. Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek wants officers regularly assigned to district high schools to be allowed to keep an AR 15 semi-automatic rifle under lock and key in school offices so they are better prepared to handle school shootings, if the situation were to arise. School officers will be the only ones able to access the weapons, NBC Chicago reports. Konopek notes that training exercises have shown that officers are “much better equipped to handle this type of incident” while using a long gun — with greater range, accuracy and stopping power — versus a handgun.
“Unfortunately, in today’s society, active shooter incidents are no longer something we see on TV,” Konopek said in a statement according to the station. “They are reality.”
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