BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Some schools in Boulder County will soon store long rifles in their buildings. The St. Vrain Valley School District school board unanimously approved the proposal last week as a preventative measure in the event of school shootings.
However, some students Denver7 spoke with say bringing guns to school isn’t the answer.
“Nobody knew this issue was on the table,” said Niwot High School Senior Eliza Eastland.
Eastland isn't happy after she just learned the St. Vrain Valley school board voted to allow long rifles to be stored in her school.
“I’m really, really mad about it. I hate going into school and always having a little part of me be afraid to die in my own school,” said Eastland. “I think they should have invited other students to come in and share their opinions about this.”
During a board of education study session in August, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office presented a proposal to the school board. The plan will allow long rifles to be stored at two of the district's schools. The schools are Niwot High School and Lyons Middle Senior High School.
The rifles will be securely stored and only school resource officers will have access to them during a school shooter emergency. The sheriff's office is focusing on the two schools due to how isolated they are.
The district says that while school resource officers have access to a long rifle in their cars, they'd likely be too far away to be useful, while outside response times to these two schools might take longer.
“My worry is that it will centralize shootings because if a kid with a gun knows where the rifles are being stored, why would they not just go there and prevent the cops from having access to those?” said Skyline High School Senior Carly Davis.
Davis is a senior at St. Vrains’ Skyline High School. She created a petition because she wants to support her friends going through this, hoping to convince the school board that this move isn't a good idea.
“I feel like putting guns in schools, we're saying the solution to gun violence is more guns,” said Davis. “We need to focus more on kids and the impacts they're feeling from school shootings rather than putting more weapons in schools.”
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office says the Arapahoe, Jefferson and Adams County sheriff's offices, as well as Brighton and Thornton police, have teamed up with their schools and are doing the same program.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office and Loveland police are in the process of working with its schools to make this happen.
During last week's board of dducation meeting, the superintendent assured the board the rifles will not be placed in the schools until he is certain of their security.
As for the petition, Davis plans to present it to the school board once she reaches 200 signatures.
St. Vrain Valley School District and the Boulder County Sheriff's Office didn't have a comment.
