Brendan Spaar’s Comments

• Sep 17th, 2014 @ 5:27pm

  (untitled comment)

  on LA School District Reluctantly Gives Up The Grenade Launchers The Pentagon Gave Them
  I think it ironic that on 9-11 I read that the Dept of Defense gave 12 M-16 weapons to both my college and another small college in Louisiana. Their reason for having them is in case of mass shooting or student riots. These 2 colleges, ULM in Monroe, La and Northwestern in Natchitoches, La are about the least likely places to need them.
  Student population in Natchitoches is around 9,000 & approximately 8,527 in Monroe. About the only thing that gets people excited in these places is the start of hunting season or the Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights.
  
  Not only is the idea of weapons like that on campus a crazy idea, think of how many of our tax dollars were spent to buy the weapons.Gear through the 1033 program is free to participating departments,with receiving agencies having to pay only delivery and maintenance costs. The University of Louisiana at Monroe paid $507.43 for 12 M-16 rifles.
  
  There are budget shortfalls in almost every US school district and colleges are cutting professors, classes and other "luxuries" in an effort to stretch the educational dollar. I think the government money spent on the weapons could have been better used to educate students on how to avoid the need to use them. Will we be seeing them for sale on Craigslist one day?