Cranston City Council approves resolutions on school safety

By: John Krinjak

Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — A heated debate in Cranston Monday night over how to make schools safer in the aftermath of the school shooting in Florida.

The City Council gave preliminary approval to two resolutions Monday night, which they intend to eventually recommend to the General Assembly.

The first one asks the state to strengthen at public schools, with armed guards and metal detectors at each building–as well as lock boxes for concealed carry permit holders to leave their guns in while visiting the school.

A second resolution suggests ban guns in schools among those who are not law enforcement–including teachers.

But many residents say the resolutions miss the point–and don’t address the central issue of guns themselves, and restricting access to them.

“So the resolution is basically all the ideas that we’ve seen on social media or in the press on how to make schools safer. Building on all those ideas to create a framework for a subcommittee to go research those ideas, come back to the council with how to implement them, how much they would cost,” said council chair Michael Farina.

“My son is 10, he said to me today ‘mommy, I would be afraid to walk into my school with metal detectors, or knowing there’s a guard at the door with big guns. That would frighten me.’ We don’t want these safety measures to be frightening to our children,” said Stephanie Culhane of the Cranston School Committee. 

Other residents questioned why the resolution does not support banning assault weapons.

The resolutions now go to a Cranston subcommittee which will discuss and possibly make changes to them before they’re sent to the legislature. 

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