‘Be Prepared’

North Carolina County Stocks Schools With AR-15s

The sheriff said he wants parents “to know we’re going to take every measure necessary to ensure our kids are safe in this school system.”

A North Carolina county has begun stocking schools with AR-15s to “be prepared” in case of a mass shooting. Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwell first announced the plan back in June, pledging to arm all school resource officers with the rifles in case anyone “tries to come in and destroy our children.” Now, according to the Asheville Citizen Times, the plan is in full swing and school officials are on board. “We were able to put an AR-15 rifle and safe in all of our schools in the county,” Harwood was quoted saying. “We’ve also got breaching tools to go into those safes. We’ve got extra magazines with ammo in those safes.” County residents are said to have donated funds for the rifles and equipment, all of which Harwood said would be stored at an “undisclosed location” in the schools for deputies to retrieve in the case of an active shooter.