Oakland University faculty distributes hockey pucks to defend against armed shooters

Staff writer

Tue, Nov 27, 2018, 10:54 p.m.·3 min read

Faculty members at a Midwest university fearful of a mass shooting are looking to sporting goods as a line of defense. (Getty)

There have been myriad proposed counters to the plague of gun violence in America that don’t address the actual source of the problem.

Instead of simply limiting access to assault rifles and other machines of war, most of these solutions presented by gun advocates involve adding more guns to the picture.

More guns to end gun violence?

Some suggest giving guns to teachers who are trained to, well, teach.

Others suggest placing armed guards at the front door of every church, synagogue and mosque in the country.

One school’s desperate strategy

But the faculty and police at Auburn Hills, Michigan’s Oakland University may have come up with the most absurd solution yet.

Hockey pucks.

WDIV reports that faculty at the school are undergoing training in the event of an attack from an armed intruder. As part of the program, faculty members are being provided hockey pucks to use as weapons against a shooter.

OU Police Chief Mark Gordon touted the advantage of hockey pucks to WDIV as easy to carry, heavy and having the ability to cause a distraction when thrown.

Police and faculty members hope to counter high-powered weaponry with hockey pucks. (Getty)

Faculty members, students to be armed with pucks

The school’s faculty union has distributed 800 pucks among its members, while there are plans to procure 1,700 more for the school’s students, WDIV reports. The pucks are also reportedly being used as a fundraiser to provide door locks that lock from the inside.

There’s a lot to digest there. Like, why are there doors that require people to leave the room to lock them in the first place?

But the most obvious question is why do people think that this is a good idea?

Sad solution to terrible problem

The most obvious answer is that they’re desperate. This is a community that lives in fear like so many others that it could be the next in this country’s regular onslaught of mass shootings. It’s also a community that has apparently determined that adding more deadly weapons to the mix is not the answer.

While the idea on the surface is one that initially provokes bewilderment, sadness is the eventual emotional conclusion when taking stock of what’s happening at Oakland.

In a country where special interests have ensured that guns will saturate society in the face of overwhelming evidence that gun control measures work around the world, these are the choices public-facing communities must confront.

Arm themselves, or come up with something else.

In the case of OU, that something else is hockey pucks.

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Jason Owens is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter.