It appears newspapers are filled these days with stories of new attempts to protect our kids from predators.

Certainly it must have come as a shock to many when it was shown at Minnesota's Red Lake High that chain-link fences, metal detectors, video cameras, unarmed security guards, and "no-guns" signs didn't prevent tragedy. Can they honestly believe a bit of martial arts training or "conflict resolution" advice for dealing with bullies will work any better?

Lancaster Eagle Gazette: Students taught how to avoid becoming future attack victims

Robert Meadows believes in preparing his students for the day when an attacker might choose them as victim. But what he hopes to pass along is far more than the ability to fight. During his eight-week course, called Kids in Karate or KIK, Meadows teaches a Korean style of fighting called Tae Kwon Do - the art of hand and foot fighting. Meadows said that one of the core elements of Tae Kwon Do is that it is for defense only. "You don't pick on somebody," he said. "It's for self-defense only." More than 100 students Thursday lined up across the stage inside Heritage Elementary School in Pickerington to listen to Meadows, a third-degree black belt, as he instructed them to focus on their education, bodies, minds and their trainers. With the increase in assaults on women, the director of the program, Grand Master Jon Stephens, requires each female student receive an additional portion of the curriculum.

Toledo Blade: Toledo: Officer specializes in bullying advice

Armed with a computer slide show and a candid lecture, Officer Alessandra Norden visits area schools taking on the problems of bullying and harassment. Officer Norden, a police officer in Fulton County's village of Fayette, started her bullying prevention program about two years ago. She has spoken at dozens of schools about how teachers, bystanders, and victims should react to bullying. "Children are very stressed out because of bullies," she said. "If I can prevent the violence, I think we'll all have better lives."

This is all well and good, but does anyone really think this will help defend against students who are capable of crimes like Jeff Weise committed this week at Red Lake High?:

TheSmokingGun.com:
School Killer's Animated Terror: Minnesota teen posted bloody Flash film late last year

It is time to repeal restrictions passed during the Clinton administration that render security guards, teachers, parents and other school employees defenseless while in school zones. Neither taking guns away from these adults nor teaching elementary school students Tae Kwon Do is going to protect them against a person intent on killing. Passive security has failed. It's time to be aggressive about efforts keeping our kids safe.

Click on the “Read More…” link below for a letter to the editor on the subject.

The Toledo Blade is reporting that a central Toledo man shot an intruder as the suspect walked toward him inside his home with a radiator.
From the story:

Gary Holston, 42, was in his office on the second floor of his house, 1405 Woodland, about 11 p.m. Tuesday when he heard someone run up the stairs and into his bedroom. Mr. Holston said he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun, walked into the hallway, and saw the burglar with his radiator. The suspect lifted it to head level and appeared as if he might attack. Mr. Holston then shot the man in the leg.

The newspaper reports the intruder, Gary M. Wilson, 48, of 1329 Woodland Ave., was in critical condition yesterday in Toledo Hospital.

Keep this story in mind as the trial of Case Western Reserve shooter Biswanath Halder gets under way in Cleveland. Keep this story in mind as you, or your son or daughter enters an Ohio campus victim zone today.

The (Webster State University) Signpost is reporting that Students for the Second Amendment is offering a class at WSU for the Utah concealed carry weapon permit. Craig Ball from Impact Guns will teach the three-hour class in the Shepherd Union Building Lair on Monday from 7 to 10 p.m. The class costs $25 for students who belong to the Second Amendment Club and $65 for nonmembers.

From the story:

Guns are not new to the Weber State University campus, according to Students for the Second Amendment Club staff adviser Nickie Wagner.

"There are more people carrying guns on campus than you are aware of," Wagner said. "I know personally 15 people."

People have different reasons why they carry guns on campus, Wagner said.

"It varies from person to person," she said. "A lot of us feel like it is our right as American citizens. Some of us aren't going to be a victim again -- and I say this from personal experience -- so some carry weapons."

The University of Utah had a ban on campus firearms that was overturned last fall by the state Supreme Court. University officials argued before the state Legislature last summer that some students lacked maturity and faced stressful situations, so they shouldn't have access to such weapons.

However, the report says WSU Interim Police Chief Capt. Dane LeBlanc has said in previous interviews that WSU's campus violent crime rate is among the lowest in the nation. Nor have there been problems with WSU students violating concealed weapons laws.

"We haven't had anything involving a gun on this campus as long as I can remember," LeBlanc told The Signpost.

FOXNews.com is reporting that a state trooper was suspended for 15 days without pay after he was recorded on a 911 tape saying "too bad" to a caller seeking help after a motorcycle accident involving Justin Sawyer, 21, who died of a severe head injury a week after the crash last August.

Russell Shepard, a friend of Sawyer's, called 911, which was routed to the state police barracks in Montville. When he reported the accident, Peasley said, "Yeah ... too bad," and hung up, according to a tape obtained by WTNH-TV.

Shepard said he was shocked, believing he reached a wrong number.

Another friend made a second call. "Yeah," the officer responded. "Help will get there. Shouldn't be playing games."

A third emergency call was answered by a different dispatcher, who asked about Sawyer's condition and advised those nearby to not touch him.

Sawyer's father, Jim Sawyer told reporters "I am absolutely outraged every time I hear that 'too bad' and then click."

West Virginia: New Legislation Introduced

H. B. 3109 (By Delegates Varner, Williams, Mahan, Beach, Craig, Boggs,
Proudfoot, Perdue, Barker, Morgan and G. White) [Introduced March 21, 2005;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.] A BILL to amend and reenact
§61-7-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to allowing
a nonresident, licensed to carry concealed weapons in another state, to
carry a concealed weapon in this state pursuant to the provisions of their
out-of-state license without the necessity of a reciprocal agreement
existing between the nonresident's state and this state.

For more information, see Packing.org.

Tennessee’s Restaurant Carry Bill, SB 1901, to be Voted on by the Senate

Last week, SB 1901 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7-1. This legislation will make Tennessee one of over 30 states that allow permit holders to carry self-defense firearms in restaurants and other establishments that serve alcohol. In addition to providing a means of self-defense, SB 1901 will help to prevent the theft of firearms that must currently be stored in vehicles outside of these establishments.

For more information, see the NRA-ILA website.