As a sports reporter, I once did an article once about hockey pucks—where they tend to land (so souvenir seekers would know which seats to pick) and the dangers they pose (one fan was hit in the head with one and spent nearly a week in the hospital). So, yeah, they could be considered dangerous, to be sure. But the head of a Michigan university’s campus police unit went just a little overboard when he suggested that students or instructors could hurl pucks at active shooters to end the threat.
Oakland University has proposed arming staff with the rubber discs as a precaution against school shootings. See, the university is a gun-free zone, so law-abiding gun owners can’t legally protect themselves or others on campus. No problem, the top campus cop said, when he was asked for advice on how to stop a gunman.
"The first thing that came to my mind was a hockey puck. I was a hockey coach for my kids growing up. I remember getting hit in the head with a hockey puck once and it hurt," said Oakland University Police Chief Mark Gordon.
OK, he later admitted it was a spur-of-the-moment response, but that admission hasn’t thwarted a waste of money by the school. After Gordon made the suggestion, Professor Tom Discenna, president of the faculty union, initiated an effort to buy 2,500 hockey pucks for union members and students, the Free Press reported.
We can’t help but wonder how the Detroit media outlets will cover the story if, God forbid, there is ever an incident where a prof hurls a hockey puck at a shooter.
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