Letter to the editor: Government must fund metal detectors in all schools

It is long overdue that a bipartisan Washington funds metal detectors for all our schools. The killings/injuries in our schools must stop.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are 130,930 K-12 schools in the United States. The average recommended metal detector is $5,000; this equates to about $654.5 million.

Sure, $654.5 million is a large number, but let’s look at just some of the useless waste of tax dollars over the past few decades, taken from various sources:

• $5.25 million for Senate Hair Care Services over 15 years

• $75 million for ghost clinics that do not exist

• $146 million to upgrade federal employees from economy to business-class flights

• $27 million for an economic development program in Morocco that included pottery classes

• $750,000 for a soccer field for inmates at Guantanamo Bay

• An $800,000 grant to help open an IHOP in Washington (Because the Obamas liked their pancakes?)

• $66,000 to study why bugs are attracted to light

• $284,000 to monitor gnats

• $593,000 to find out why chimpanzees throw their poop

If my math is right, eliminate the above and we are over halfway there to cover the cost to make our schools safe. Just about every student carries a backpack to school, and until the resources are provided, there will be a risk.

Don’t start crying invasion of privacy or any other nonsense regarding backpacks, because it doesn’t fly. You tell me what is more important in life.

Jack Juris

Buffalo Township