The AP (1/23) reports that the school district police department in Fontana, California, has purchased 14 Colt LE6940 semiautomatic rifles, noting that they "look like they belong on a battlefield rather than in a high school, but officials here say the weapons could help stop a massacre" like last month's deadly school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The district bought the rifles "last fall, and they were delivered the first week of December - a week before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Over the holiday break, the district's 14 school police officers received 40 hours of training on the rifles." The piece notes that other districts in the region have similar "rifle programs."
The Washington Times (1/24, Chasmar) reports that the district's police department was acting "in response to a wave of gun crime across the country, particularly in Newtown, Conn.," noting that "the acquisition of rifles has naturally received some backlash. School board member Sophia Green said she did not believe the guns would make students safer."
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