Armed Teachers?

[irishbosoxfan]

My husband and I were talking about the new proposal to have teachers who are former cops and military be allowed to carry weapons to school. We just heard about after the Missouri school shooting.

I think this is a great idea. Given the rise in school shootings,I believe that an armed teacher will help limit the death toll from these occurances.

Has anyone else heard of this? What do you think?

 

[mickeyboat]

I completely disagree. I think the added danger of having loaded weapons in schools far outweighs the very few incidents, as horrific as they have been, of deaths from gun violence in our schools.

Denae

 

[poohandwendy]

I think it is a horrible idea. There is no reason for anyone to bring guns into the school, unless they are trained officers of the law.

Never a good idea to have loaded guns on a school campus, IMHO.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Yeah, put a gun into a untrained panicked person's hands. Sounds like a great idea.

 

[Hercules10]

I'm a official gun-toting nut and fully believe in firearm owners rights. But I too think this is a bad idea in that a teacher cannot adequately teach while carrying a weapon. If they did not carry the weapon at all times then it would be a major under-taking to secure the firearm away from the students. And if it were THAT secure then it would be pratically useless in a situation where swift action was necessary. Just my $.05.

 

[Kimmie5870]

Very bad idea IMO. I'd have to pull DD out of our school if something like this passed.

 

[mom2boys]

I am absolutely against this.
How would they keep the guns accessible to theose they want to use them and inaccessible to others? ie: keep them out of the hands of disgruntled students?
Who will make the decision as to when to use lethal force?
Will the teachers/administrators be immune from liability should they decide to use the lethal force?
All of that said, I am not anti-gun. Our entire family has taken hunter safety. My 11 year old & his Dad hunt. We have a healthy respect for guns.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

Just wanted to point out this wouldn't be a regular teacher but former cops and former military--Someone who knows how to handle the weapon and the situation

Just wanted to clarify that!

 

[noodleknitter]

As soon as I heard this, I thought of the Dis. Knew someone would post it...

It is an incredibly stupid and dangerous idea that will hopefully never come to fruition.

NOt anti-gun, either, btw.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I think it is a horrible idea. There is no reason for anyone to bring guns into the school, unless they are trained officers of the law.

Never a good idea to have loaded guns on a school campus, IMHO.

ITA

 

[mickeyboat]

Just wanted to point out this wouldn't be a regular teacher but former cops and former military--Someone who knows how to handle the weapon and the situation

Just wanted to clarify that!

It doesn't matter to me.

It is counter-intuitive to combat gun violence with guns. The people who are committing these acts are NUTS. They are most likely on a suicide mission, and would not be deterred in the least by knowing someone at the school is carrying a gun.

Denae

 

[SplshMtnLvr28]

I think it's a bad idea.

It could add tension to classrooms between students and teachers, which might distract from learning. Also if there was a student that was able to get it away from the teacher, that could lead to some pretty bad situations.

Even though they're teachers, there will always be that one that will take advantage of his or her power and use it in a way for which it not meant to by the district or law, etc. I just don't think it's a good idea.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Just wanted to point out this wouldn't be a regular teacher but former cops and former military--Someone who knows how to handle the weapon and the situation

Just wanted to clarify that!

How many teachers would this even include? Are there a lot of teachers out there who are former police or military?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

oh Lord -

I hate to say it, but the day I feel I can't safely send my children to school unless there is an Gun Toting Teacher in the classroom,

is the day I become a Homeschooler.

 

[Pigeon]

It's an amazingly bad idea. The absolute last thing that schools need are more guns inside them.

I, btw, am extremely anti-gun.

 

[noodleknitter]

oh Lord -

I hate to say it, but the day I feel I can't safely send my children to school unless there is an Gun Toting Teacher in the classroom,

is the day I become a Homeschooler.

Don't you mean homeskooler?

Let this day go down in history...

 

[AKLRULZ]

I'm in total support of the NRA and rights to gun ownership (although I don't own one yet). But I'm very much against this proposal.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Don't you mean homeskooler?

---------------
Anyway, my dh is a veteran and is a public school teacher. We both think that arming teachers (whether they were in law enforcement and/or the military) is a bad idea.

Some of the public schools in our area have a police officer in the building all day. This is an alternative to arming teachers, though no place is 100% safe. Shootings can happen anywhere.

 

[noodleknitter]

I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend...I've just never seen Tobys Friend say anything positive ever about homeschoolers or homeschooling. I was being entirely sarcastic...

I've homeschooled for 16 years!

 

[poohandwendy]

Just wanted to point out this wouldn't be a regular teacher but former cops and former military--Someone who knows how to handle the weapon and the situation

Just wanted to clarify that!

There is no such thing as a teacher who knows how to handle the situation. Sorry, but that is an impossibility. These situations come out of nowhere and are highly tense and unpredictable. You cannot expect teachers (former whatever) to be effective educators and gun-toting hostage control too.

Btw, I am in full support of the right to bear arms in this country. This is NOT the answer to violence in schools.