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Forty gung-ho Americans are working out with actor-turned-Louisiana sheriff鈥檚 deputy Steven Seagal in Forest Hills, Ariz., part of a broader effort to build a national 鈥減osse鈥� of armed volunteer school guards to protect America鈥檚 children in the wake of the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn.

The decision by Mr. Seagal to join Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio鈥檚 鈥渧olunteer posse鈥� in response to Newtown could be a critical moment in bolstering the NRA鈥檚 response to the shooting: to create a flexible training blueprint that school districts can utilize to tap primarily retired police or military personnel to protect schools.

But while Americans are clearly enchanted with gun-toting protagonists who take direct action to thwart evil, critics say the effort casts a cartoonish pall over a complex issue that can鈥檛 be solved by action heroics.

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While many Americans have panned the volunteer armed guards idea, 64 percent of Americans support the general idea of armed guards in schools, according to the Pew Research Center.

Mr. Arpaio has not wasted time putting his plan into action. Volunteer posse members already patrol 59 schools in the county. He鈥檚 trying to get 1,000 more volunteers involved so he can expand the program. Tapping Seagal as well as former 鈥淗ulk鈥� actor Lou Ferrigno is one way.

"I believe we should put police officers in school, in uniform, armed," Arpaio said when activating the volunteer posse in early January. "But so far all the politicians do is talk, talk, talk, and so we're out there doing something."

In Saturday鈥檚 class, Seagal, according to a press release, was to lead 40 volunteers through four separate school shooting scenarios. Twenty-five teenagers will play the parts of students and up to three of the county鈥檚 SWAT team members will play the shooters in mock scenarios. Seagal, best-known for his role in 鈥淎bove the Law,鈥� is a 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, as well as a reserve deputy in New Orleans, the basis for a reality show called 鈥淪teven Seagal: Lawman.鈥�

For a sheriff who has tangled with the US Department of Justice over discrimination charges stemming from his actions on illegal immigrants, one lingering question is whether the exercise is a stunt.

"He's making a mockery out of it. You're having a movie actor train people how to protect schools?" Arizona Democratic House Minority Leader Chad Campbell told the Huffington Post.

Academics have more serious concerns than whether Arpaio is searching for the spotlight.

Given that the US has about 100,000 schools, 鈥渢here would be lots of opportunities for deadly incidents: Armed guards misreading student behavior 鈥� student fights where a student grabs the guard鈥檚 gun; a mass shooting scenario where students are killed in cross fire; or a nightmare scenario where a psychotic guard massacres students,鈥� writes Steven Strauss, a policy lecturer at Harvard University鈥檚 Kennedy School of Government. 鈥淲ith 150,000 armed guards, in contact with about 75 million students 200 days/year, it won't take many incidents for more than 10 students per year to be killed in armed guard-related situations.鈥�

A major point of contention seems to be the use of volunteers instead of deputized police for patrols, with some local officials saying an amateur force threatens to turn school safety into a circus.

Maricopa County 鈥渧olunteer posse鈥� members have to apply to join the unit and have to go through the same background check as an aspiring police officer, according to the department鈥檚 website. The Maricopa County Sheriff鈥檚 Department 鈥渟eeks only those individuals who possess the highest levels of integrity,鈥� the department鈥檚 website reads.聽

How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz.