This is not a political post. Although I can get political, that's not my intention. This isn't a matter of opinion. This is to suggest a real solution to the problem of evil people shooting up schools in America. You want to keep this tragedy from happening - PROTECT OUR CHILDREN - end of sentence !

Here's the thing, I am not talking about arming teachers. I was a teacher before I was ever a police officer. Although I totally get some teachers wanting to protect the students, and to act as a protector against the 'bad guys', teachers have enough to worry about regarding the needs of their students in crisis. Let the teachers focus on the students; let the teachers be their guidance during these times; let the teachers try to maintain calm and cut down the panic.

What I am talking about is similar to what most high schools already have, along the same lines as school resource officers (SROs). There are some areas in my home state, South Carolina, where some middle schools and high schools have SROs. But there are not SROs at the elementary schools. There are many middle schools that do not have them. And some of the largest high schools only have one, similar to the school in Parkland, Florida, which was a school of more than 3000 students. This - is not enough.

Yet our very own school shooter in South Carolina, the teen named Osborne from the Townville shooting, said he picked an elementary school because he knew they had no SRO. Ask any person out there, good guy or bad, cop or gang banger, who he is less likely to mess with: a group of unarmed, defenseless individuals protected by a few people at a desk i ncontrol of a door button to unlock the school, or a trained officer strapped with his own M4? Hmmmm, I will give you a minute to think about that.

Now look, I understand emotions are high right now. I feel horrible for the students affected by the trauma and loss. I agree that this should never happen again. But thinking emotionally to solve this problem - is not going to keep it from happening. Truth be told, as long as evil exists, the possibility of it happening again never truly goes away. But we sure as heck can make some efforts to protect our kids. Laws will not protect them from criminals.

What do we use to protect the things that we hold in high value? The President is protected by the Secret Service. Fort Knox gold or wherever our gold may be now - protected by armed personnel. Banks scattered throughout the country hire themselves some armed security. Crowds of people in Time Square in New York at New Years are protected by heavily armed police officers. Top Secret projects are protected by armed soldiers. Hospitals, which are mostly run by liberal think tanks - are even protecting themselves more nowadays with armed personnel. Political figures everywhere have armed bodyguards. Extra armed security precautions are put in place when important dignitaries are coming to a football game. And yet the most valuable thing to all of us, the most precious treasure this country offers to the rest of the world - OUR CHILDREN - isn't value enough to be protected by armed personnel? That's just crazy talk.

We spend billions on our military - and I am all for that. But we could spend some of that on a security force for our schools. We spend billions on people to depend on the government. If they don't want to tend to themselves enough to get a job, maybe that money could be spent differently. How much money is WASTED on something like Planned Parenthood? Hmmm, let's see, lobbyists and supporters of abortion could spend their money on protecting children - oh, but wait... I've said too much!

Why is it that we can spend billions on trying to find a cure for something that has seemed pretty incurable for as long as we've known of its existence, but we can't spend money to protect our most precious assets?

Our children, like them or not; millenials or post-millenials or not; snowflakes or not; liberal or not; conservative or not... love the way they act or not - the fact of the matter is they are our future. If we keep leaving them defenseless, we will have no future.

And if we keep aborting them, we will have no future.

And if we cannot teach them to treat other people better, we will have no future.

And if we keep teaching them that their own truth is relative and not absolute, we will have no future.

And if we can't change their hearts, we will have no future.

And if we keep letting them think family is not important, we will have no future.

But changing laws won't fix this problem long term or short term; laws work to deter people who wouldn't think about being a criminal anyway.

Let's take our time working on the long term solutions by working on our kids to set them up for a brighter future with the way we treat each other.

But pundits want to say #Neveragain, and say they want to protect our children. Well, the short term fix would be to put as much deterrence against evil as we can afford in place - we're the richest country in the world for Pete's sake! Heck - start a new branch of the military. The Shepherd or Sheepdog Corps, to protect our most precious flock!

You say you want to protect our children? Protect them, then!