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Wednesday 3 April 2013

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Okay I am not going to lie to you, this interview is long (Just over 25 minutes). But do yourself a favor and watch it, because Lawrence REALLY puts this guy through the meat grinder, and does NOT allow him to bullshit his way out of ANYTHING.

There were a number of times that Hutchinson looked like he wanted to just crawl away, and a number of questions, such as on the extended clips, that he simply could not answer adequately.

This is one of O'Donnell's best interviews, and I think he deserves serious props for getting Hutchinson to come on, and then doing his job as a journalist once he did.

As much as it pains me I should also say that I am impressed that Hutchinson showed up for an interview that he had to know would be hostile, and then sat through it without ripping off his mic and running for the exit. I think a lot of people would have bailed.

By the way to go along with this there is also a report on Raw Story which undermines the very premise of the NRA's "School Shield" findings: 

The proposal appears to be based on a faulty — although widespread — opinion. The NRA has said schools are not safe places for children because gun-free zones make them “utterly defenseless.” However, the article contends schools are in fact safe places. Though gun violence is the second leading cause of death among those ages 5-9 and 15-24, nearly all of those deaths occurred outside of school. In fact, Stephen Brock of California State University, a leading expert on school violence, described schools as “the safest place for a student to be.” 

“To try and reduce something that already is rare… is tricky business,” Crews remarked, noting that there is only 1 homicide or suicide at school for every 2.7 million students. 

Crews and his colleagues found there was little evidence to suggest that placing armed guards in schools would actually prevent gun violence. About 27 percent of schools in the United States already have armed or unarmed security officers. Both Columbine High School and Virginia Tech had armed security guards, but that did not prevent two deadly mass shootings. A 2011 study found schools with armed guards actually had higher rates of violence than similar schools without armed guards. 

Having armed guards in schools also raises the troubling possibility that a student could get ahold of their firearms. 

“Ongoing research that we are conducting with incarcerated perpetrators of school violence also indicates that school shooters have easy access to weapons, often getting them (either as gifts or stealing them) from their parents, neighbors, or friends who may have purchased them legally,” Crews explained. “Putting more weapons in schools just makes more weapons available because inevitably, someone will forget to lock their drawer, misplace their key, or otherwise lose track of their firearm, making it easy for kids who want to have one to take it.”

Personally I think that just about anybody with critical thinking skills could have worked this out on their own, but nice to see a report by experts which backs our commons sense.

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