It's the same story after every tragic school shooting. Leftists respond by pushing for gun control, while those on the right call for willing and able teachers to be armed. Greater access to mental health and a hardening of schools are also proposed solutions. One company has thought outside the box, however—or should we say, in the box?
What began as a solution for schools in tornado alley soon doubled as a safety pod in the event of an active shooter.
"After the Sandy Hook tragedy in December 2012, the shelter design was modified ... with the intent of offering them to schools as a dual-purpose safety measure to protect from tornadoes and active shooters,” National Safety Shelters’ President Dennis Corrado told NPR.
Corrado said the safety pods are part of a "multi-layered approach" to school safety. Front-end prevention includes blocking shooters from entering a school campus in the first place. The back-end solutions are a safety net, should those front-end methods fail.
"We feel our safety pods provide this safety-net and give those protected a peace of mind not matched by most other measures since near-absolute protection is immediately available to those whose lives are threatened," Corrado said. (NPR)
The pods are built "using NIJ ballistic Level III steel making them resistant to handguns, shotguns and semi-automatic high-caliber weapons including AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles," according to Corrado, and cost between 15,000-30,000 per unit.
While the shelters were roasted on social media, at least one Arkansas school district that uses the product spoke highly of them.
"We are very excited and proud to have the shelters in our classrooms. I had a parent come in during parent/teacher conference who said it had given him such a peace of mind to know his children would have a safe place to go in case of an emergency," said one teacher in the Quitman School District. "As a parent with a child at school I feel the same. We are truly blessed to have these safe rooms in our school."
