Stricter gun control laws are not a quick or easy (or realistic) answer to making schools safer. America has a huge, untapped resource to make schools safer (& more quickly): veterans and retired or out-of-work First Responders (police, law officers of many varieties, SWAT, etc). I believe each and every school building/campus should be protected by a veteran or former first responder.

Veterans and First Responders have the training to identify, handle and neutralize multiple types of threats. Gun threats are not the only problem schools face today - many schools deal with bomb threats and other violent threats. Veterans and First Responders can not only handle these threats but often also have emergency medical training. Another major benefit is that people like this could better coordinate emergency responses. Not only would this be helpful for the school but it would be helpful to anybody responding to the situation at the school.

Many veterans struggle with reintegrating in society, PTSD, and other mental health problems. I believe that protecting children could help our veterans recover and reintegrate while also protecting our future - our children and our schools. This line of work could, potentially, help veterans and others with the issues they struggle with - depression, feeling useless and like they don't fit in to normal society.

Any veteran, first responder or law officer who is interested in doing this and does have a mental health issue should be in treatment for that mental health issue in order to be able to work for School Security Program. Working school security should be a complementary component to their treatments. Their Mental Health Specialists should be willing to write a letter that working school security would help this person and that they believe this person is well enough to do this work.

Funding is where everything gets tricky, especially since education funding seems to get smaller every year. However, I think Federal and local governments could consider school security an extension of service. Make it an option - retirement or discharge or the School Security Program. In many respects, it could be considered as an extension of their service. The only thing that changed is the location; and some of the duties. I know veterans who work as civilians on military bases receive a similar benefit - their years of service count towards the years they've been working there. Many schools pay for security officers anyway. Why not make it a security officer with an outstanding resume?

I believe that this is a rare win-win situation. It helps our children and schools as much as it helps our veterans, First Responders, or any officer who chooses to participate. Let's unite our voices and protect our children by helping our veterans!