Would it really be such a bad thing if we stocked our schools with guns? School systems routinely ask taxpayers for money to buy new computers, textbooks, and staff development training -- I propose sticking a line item in the annual education budgets for staff firearms training. Who loves the thought of this? Absolutely no one. I support gun rights and it sickens me that it's come to this, but you know what? It's come to this. I can't help wonder if Dawn Hochsprung, Mary Sherlach, or another trained staffer at Sandy Hook Elementary School had had access to some kind of weapon, that initial confrontation with Adam Lanza in the front hallway might have gone down differently. If educators at that school had had guns and were trained in how to use them, we might be having a totally different conversation today and 26 beautiful, precious lives may still be inhabiting this earth.
You always go through a litany of ifs and maybes after a tragic event like this. If Hochsprung had had a gun, maybe she could have shot Adam Lanza in that hallway, before he even managed to enter a classroom. Maybe she would have shot at him and missed, and taken a bullet herself, but the mere attempt could have caused him to panic and shoot himself before taking another innocent life. The rumor is that Lanza had enough ammunition to take out the entire school, but that he shot himself as soon as he got indication that first responders had entered the building. Maybe the knowledge that schools kept weapons on hand would have deterred him from even going there in the first place.
You cannot force a teacher to arm herself or to even learn to use a gun if she doesn't want to. It's not like you could just add a mandatory gun course to her college curriculum. Using a gun or even being in the same room as one cannot be forced. You need to have the confidence and willingness to operate a gun and pull the trigger if you need to. That's just not a part of everyone's DNA. (Staffing all schools with an armed police officer is also an option here, and is in use at many schools already.)
But I'm willing to bet that there would have been at least one teacher in that school who would have gladly taken on the job as "safety officer" or some such designated title for the school, in the same way that staff are appointed "safety wardens" in the case of fire drills and evacuations.
One of those teachers would have agreed to -- in complete conjunction with the local police department -- take a course, undergo extensive background checks, and be given a key to a locked compartment, where no kids have access, to a weapon that could be used against intruders like Adam Lanza. After what happened on December 14, I'd bet anything you'd find at least one willing teacher at every school.
We can take guns away from the Nancy Lanzas of the world, and even cut down on the amount of illegal firearms on the streets. But the sick, angry, evil Adam Lanzas of the world will still find another way. They will build a bomb from the Internet or use knives or their car. They will continue to come for our kids whether we take all the guns away or not.
So, yeah, let's get illegal guns away from criminals and restrict legal access to assault weapons and anything else we need to do to lessen the chances of a massacre like this from happening again. But then let's ensure it NEVER happens again by putting those same guns into the hands of our teachers. And pray they never, ever have to use them.
Do you support giving guns to our teachers?
Image via zombieite/Flickr
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Comments 52
Tell me, why are security guards a bad idea. Also, teachers should be mentally evaluated before hire. That way they can say that they are certified competent. And apparently I dont remember the Discovery building incident. Please elaborate.
There is no way to remove all risk from life. There is no way to make everyone safe or protect everyone. We can, however, take logical and proven steps to mitigate certain risks. Having well trained armed staff on school premises is a step that can mitigate the risks our children face by attending public schools. Please think through the how something like might be implemented. Research statistics on gun violence and gun restrictions. Inform yourselves and then make a thoughtful decision. Please, please, please stop allowing your fears to control you, especially when they are as unfounded as your fears of guns.
p.s. If you all are afraid that a teacher could snap at any time and (use a lawfully owned gun to) kill your children, why do you send your kids to public schools in the first place?
@Floridamom, one flaw in your logic is that someone like Adam Lanza knows that he is going to die at the end of this event. No one goes into a mall or a school with the intent of killing as many people as possible and thinks that they are going to walk out of there. He planned on killing himself and taking down as many people as possible first. So knowing that there is an armed person at the school is no deterrent at all. Having guns in schools in absolutely insane.
Tell me, what person goes into a gun show and tries to hold up the place? No one because they know all those people have guns.
KathyTh., having an armed person who can go ahead and hasten an Adam Lanza on to his ultimate goal before he can harm others (or even reducing the number of people he does harm or kill) is not a flaw. We know that the principal implemented the school's emergency plan requiring Lanza to break into the school. The principal confronted him before he harmed anyone. What if she had been armed?
Imagine if at least one teacher with a CCW had their .40-caliber Glock with them when Adam Lanza began his shooting spree. Would he have been able to slay 20 children and 6 teachers? Doubtful. But then again … who knows? However, I’m guessing that this nutjob might not have dealt out as much death if the good guy with the gun drew down on him and double-tapped the center mass of this jackass with a couple of jacketed hollow points. Sadly, there was no concealed weapon in the possession of a teacher to stop this wacko because schools are "gun-free" zones. Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t the majority of the mass murders within the U.S. in the last 20 to 30 years been in "gun-free zones?" "Gun-free" zones turn people into SITTING DUCKS for these whack jobs. Some schools have campus cops and security systems; however, that line of defense does nothing if some serious shit starts to hit the fan in a classroom. Even the best police force equipped to the teeth could not have responded fast enough to kill Lanza but a fast-thinking, well-trained teacher could have. I guarantee that even as I type there's some other disenfranchised dipstick making plans on how he can trump Adam Lanza’s slaughter. Until we allow credible, licensed, proven and protective teachers to carry a weapon on campus, the more we will continue to carry innocent children out of their classrooms in body bags.
I guarantee that most people who have concealed carry you wouldnt even know have them. So the kids wouldnt even know they are there. You trust police and they carry guns. Why is a security guard any different?