Begonis: " I'll wait for the actions to come out and see what we can do in the Town of Wilmington in the confines of the law and the constitution to see if there is anything we can do better."
KM: "What about in the confines of common sense?" The taxpayers of Wilmington are paying millions of dollars in taxes to fund this department and we drive by the station at any time on any shift and we see about ten police vehicles parked behind the station and when we walk into the lobby we see many cops sitting watching TV."
Begonis:"said he will leave the debate about gun control to the politicians"
KM: "Why waste time debating it? The constitution has it settled and the people have the right to bear arms. Criminals are criminals because they don't give a rat's behind about laws, especially, gun laws."
Begonis: "It's also critical to not make rash decisions."
KM: Does securing the schools qualify as a rash decision? We wouldn't want him to get his pretty white gloves(shown in the picture above) dirty.
Begonis: " It is imperative to be proactive in order to stop something similar from happening again."
KM: " Is he freakin' serious? Columbine happened and people didn't learn from that. Where is the activity that is PRO Chiefie? Would it make sense to realize that we have defenseless kids concentrated in seven specific areas for about 8 hours a day and 49 cops on the payroll? Get off your butts and SECURE the schools. Not every incident is going to be a water pistol incident."

I believe that Begonis sounds reasonable in this article. Kevin sounds less so.

I do however also believe that gun control is not an issue here, as Connecticut has an assault gun ban in place (Similar to the national one that expired) and it made no difference. The guns are a tool that were taken from someone else (his mother) who had legally registered them.

I would love to see an honest article on how many crimes are conducted with registered and appropriately purchased guns. I believe that most all armed crimes are conducted with illegally purchased guns, so changing gun laws for law following citizens will not affect that one bit.

As for the rest, and for the safety and security of Wilmington in general, and the schools in particular, I do have faith that smart and competent professionals are doing and taking all reasonable precautions.

I am loathe to allow this travesty (it is not a tragedy) to become a political football, or a platform for malcontents to use to bash those who do not deserve it. There is a world of difference between constructive criticism and unwarranted vitriol.

I agree that Begonis seems reasonable in this article, but I'm not sure Wilmington, as a community, needs to wait for actions to come down before we start to take inventory of our own processes and evaluate how we can further improve security measures at our schools. As I drove my daughter to school this week, I looked at our school buildings and surroundings with a different perspective. I noticed for the first time the 9' high glass front doors of the Middle School. I looked at the North Intermediate building and thought "yes, ugly. But you can't shoot your way through that door." It doesn't matter that we have security cameras, locked doors and protocols to buzz people in if the real evil can shoot its way through the building. Yes, there is a police officer in that building, and usually at the reception desk, thank God. But I do think there are things we can do as a community, to begin the process of re-evalutating our own security measures.

Anyone with kids in the Wilmington schools can tell you that there has been an increased police presence there. Thank you to the Wilmington Police Department.... many of us are noticing and appreciating you increased efforts to keep our children safe.

I agree with elements of the last two posts. There is an ongoing evaluation of security, no one is waiting for anything, and I think Begonis said so. There is a value to this, but there is also a value in not being overly reactive in a non productive way. I also have a child at the North, and at the Middle school. Having spent time in the Army, and even if not, I will tell you that given the appropriate motivation, I am sure the doors at the North can be breached. They were not designed to be bulletproof.

I also know that there are frequently if not always police at the Middle and High school now, and surely there has been an increased focus recently. I trust that while no system is perfect, there are professionals thinking clearly and appropriately on the ongoing and increasing security of our kids. I believe they are still significantly more at risk when driving with us in our cars on Massachusetts roads. But our paid security professionals, and all of us parents still need to be working on and thinking on, and acting on ways to keep and improve security.

I know it is not politically correct to say this, but the problem here is crazy, not tools or doors. We need to address the cause of this problem, not try to predict and deflect the next crazy, and consider this done. It will never be done.