Imitation guns should be kept away from schools

Chinook's Edge School Division officials are reminding students and parents that replica and imitation firearms should never be brought to school without prior approval from staff.

The reminder comes after Calgary's Earnest Manning High School was locked down and heavily armed police units were dispatched to the facility on May 5 after a student brought an airsoft gun onto school grounds.

An airsoft gun uses electricity, springs or gas to fire plastic BBs. While not a firearm, the devices are sometimes made to look like real guns.

"It is a good time to remind students and parents that we just can't have replica weapons in schools," said superintendent Kurt Sacher told the Gazette. "They cause such a distraction and for the personnel trying to maintain a safe and caring environment, which we expect all of our schools to sustain and they do; they (staff) don't know if it's a replica or not.

"So we need to be extremely careful under those conditions and our administrators are trained on how to deal with violent threat risk assessments and that sort of thing. If you don't know if it's a replica or not you have to treat it as it is potentially a weapon.

The division works closely with area RCMP detachments to prepare for incidents involving threats, he noted.

"That's a group that we take our advice from as to whether there is a threat and what to move forward with as far as a process goes, whether we deal with a lockdown.

"Our schools practise lockdowns regularly so they are all set up for this. The police in every one of our school communities are very familiar with the layout of our schools and how they are built.

"We are very well set up to sustain a safe and caring environment for whatever potential threat may exist. It is really unfortunate if that occurs because of a replica."

Asked if the division has had a problem with students bringing replica firearms to schools, he said, "It is rare that it happens. Over the past seven years I can think of a couple of incidents where it did create a distraction; nothing to the degree that we read about in the news recently.

"It is an unnecessary distraction that the staff don't need. When people don't know if it's a replica it puts people at risk. It's just unnecessary and we take it very seriously."

The Chinook's Edge School Division has a specific administrative procedure in place for weapons, including rules regarding replica or imitation firearms.

Procedure 3-12 states, in part, that, "students are not to bring replicas of firearms or other weapons onto school property without the prior approval of the principal.

"A student possessing a weapon or replica of a weapon on school property may be suspended or recommended for expulsion and the RCMP may be contacted.

"The weapon or replica shall be collected by the principal and stored in a secure place until either removed by the RCMP or arrangements can be made with parents to have the weapon or replica safely removed from the school."

Any staff members wishing to use an item which may be considered a weapon as props, tools or demonstration models must meet a number of conditions.

Those conditions include the following: obtain prior approval from the principal; give evidence to the principal that they (staff member) is qualified to handle such an item; remove or render inoperable the firing mechanism of any gun prior to bringing the gun onto school premises; (the items must) be securely packaged for transporting to and from school and with approved procedures for entry and removal."

One student was taken into custody following the Ernest Manning lockdown. There were no report of injuries.