Responding to the NRA's preposterous idea that we ought to appoint armed guards in all of our schools—a proposal so plainly reckless that anyone with a half a brain or a single vertabrae in her spine would have the sense to immediately laugh it out of the room—the Seattle School District sent this gutless statement earlier today:

Dear media: Many of you have asked us for a response to today’s recommendation from the National Rifle Association for armed security guards in every school. Our statement is below.

We are forming a joint working group with the Seattle Police Department to study all recommendations for improving our school safety, and this effort will begin early in 2013. Together, we will formulate sustainable plans for implementing improved safety measures across the District.

The security of our students and staff is our highest priority, and we look forward to working with our staff and community partners to implement improved safety measures across the District.

Who wrote that bullshit statement, Sally Clark? Jesus Craven Christ. Show some goddamn spine, you milquetoast Clarksonian Sally Clarks. Thank god that someone at the school district isn't a Sally Clark. Superintendent José Banda and School Board President Kay Smith-Blum released this statement:

The safety of our students and schools is of utmost importance to us. Our schools have a zero-tolerance policy on weapons on school grounds. We do not believe adding guns to our schools will accomplish the goal of keeping our students safer.

We agree with Governor Gregoire and President Obama calling for action, including a ban on assault weapons. Further, as a community, we must have deeper conversations about the availability of weapons and the amount of violence our children are exposed to on a daily basis.

There will be solutions moving forward from last week's tragedy. We are forming a joint working group with the Seattle Police Department and our community to develop recommendations for improving school safety.

Dismissing the NRA isn't, in itself, a revolutionary act in this town. But Banda and Smith-Blum had the wherewithal to cast aside the NRA's idiotic proposal and point to the real problem. It's not that we lack sufficient powerful weaponry in classrooms, it's that we have too many powerful weapons—and too many of those weapons readily available—in general.