After latest shooting, C-Falls students, superintendent, support tighter gun regs

In the wake of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida earlier this month that left 17 dead, Columbia Falls students are saying common sense control measures are needed in this country. They also don’t like President Trump’s idea of arming some qualified teachers.

Even though Columbia Falls is in the heart of gun country in the U.S. — more than half of the students said they owned guns themselves or there were guns in their homes — they said they felt safe at Columbia Falls.

“I don’t personally come to school worrying about a school shooting,” said Chloe Coberly.

Student Tre Finley owns guns and hunts with his father, but he said he favored partial gun control for semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15 that was used in the Parkland shooting. He also wasn’t in favor of arming teachers.

Classmate Delaney Conger agreed.

“The idea that more guns is going to make (school) safer is incorrect,” she said.

They note that Parkland had an armed officer at the school, but he didn’t engage the shooter — he stayed outside the building.

Some ideas included stricter background checks and increasing the purchase age limit of assault-style weapons to age 21.

“We have to find a way to limit guns,” senior Ava Chisholm said.

With a longstanding hunting heritage, Montana has some of the most liberal gun laws in the country, with no age restrictions for anyone over 14.

However, under federal law, licensed dealers may not sell or deliver a handgun or ammunition for a handgun to any person the dealer has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21. An unlicensed dealer may not sell or deliver a handgun or ammunition for a handgun to any person the dealer has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21, though there are exceptions, such as use for hunting.

Also under federal law, dealers may not sell or deliver a long gun, or ammunition for a long gun, to any person the dealer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 18, however, there are no restrictions for private sales of long guns.

School District 6 superintendent Steve Bradshaw agrees with many of the students’ ideas. He’d also like to see the age hiked to buy a gun.

He noted that a teenager can’t buy cigarettes until they’re 18 or alcohol until they’re 21. They can’t even buy a lottery ticket until they’re 18.

He also agreed that arming teachers was a bad idea.

“I don’t see that as a teacher’s job,” he said.

As a former high school principal, he said he’s had firearms aimed at him twice — both times ended without a shot fired, but it’s a harrowing experience.

Bradshaw said he’s handled and owned guns his entire life, “but I couldn’t hit my butt with a pistol.”

Arming teachers would bring just more bullets into an already dangerous equation, he claimed.

He would, however, support more police in schools and he said the school board this summer will begin looking at options to make schools here more secure, such as bullet-resistant glass and improved entrances.

“We’ve got to have some hard discussions on what we want to do,” he said.

Those building improvements will come down to money and whether the school can afford them.

Teachers have gone through active shooter training in the past year and every classroom now has a First Aid kit. The school is also looking at getting rope ladders so students and staff can escape out of windows if they’re in a second story.

Students said they had one teacher on Monday re-arranging her classroom to make it safer and the teacher was picking out items that could be used for weapons if need be. Other teachers said they’ve been given bars so they can barricade their door from an intruder.

This is the antithesis what a school should be, Bradshaw noted.

“We work hard to make people welcome,” Bradshaw said.

But after last year’s cyberthreat on the school, which included violent text messages to school administrators, staff and students, there admittedly was some fear.

He commended the students for stepping forward in the gun debate.

“I applaud these kids around the country who say enough is enough,” he said.

The students see it a different way.

“The fact that kids have to come up with these ideas (for stopping school shootings) is insane,” Conger said.

“There’s not much being done to fix the problem,” student Ruth Nelson lamented.