If you would send your kid to school with armed teachers, you've obviously never worked in a school and have little first-hand knowledge of teachers. Worst. Idea. Ever. I hate to think of the tragedy that would result to change your mind.
Winston Smith - 11 years ago
THIS:
Realist - 2 days ago
"Getting rid of all guns worked for China.. " - Don
This by far has to be the most pinheaded post I've seen in a long time. If Don had more than a 2nd Grade education, he'd know how much freedom they have over in China. And to quote from one of China's past Leaders, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. " - Mao Tse Tung.
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid Don...
What a moron you are, Realist, for you make Don's point.
Furthermore, it is Fla-Vor-Aid you mean to allude to. If you are going to pretend to know about cults, I'm going to point out your pathetic anecdotal thought patterns.
pwnd beotch
DICK GOODSON - 11 years ago
I am absolutely for teachers being armed. We have to do something quicker in these situations than wait on the police. I believe they need to be trained to use firearms first. Why should we give up our assault weapons just because a couple people that were mentally ill chose to use firearms to commit their violent crimes? What are we as assault weapon owners suppose to do with them if the ban is approved? If we ban assault weapons then we should ban cars because drunk drivers kill people on the streets. Timothy Mcvay killed hundreds of people and did not use a firearm at all. Firearms have been killing thousands of people in low income neighborhoods in the big cities for years and no one has seemed to care and ban them for that. Would the president make their guards give up their firearms or the military if the law is passed to ban certain or all firearms?
JustmeinMI - 11 years ago
I see all these comments about "Zomg teachers will snap and kill my kids!" and other such ludacris statements. Not every teacher would even choose to carry, nor would any of them be FORCED to have a gun in the classroom, and they would require training before they were even allowed to have them in the classroom. Each desk would have a bio-metric safe to keep the firearm secure. All easy answers, lets keep our kids safe! And for those of you who think armed guards at the entrance is the best choice, now you have a target, hit that, then still 100s, if not 1000s of people still unarmed...now make it so there is a chance EVERY room is armed, and all of a sudden, no one wants to take the chance anymore. Its simple logic that so many of you just don't get.
DH - 11 years ago
"NO way... Teachers are complete bafoons than can barely manage to dress themselves, let alone carry a gun." Are you people just retarded or are you sexist and racist as well? Why lump them altogether like some nieve stereo-type? "I'd just follow lock down procedures to keep my kids safe!" Right... like the teachers in Sandy Hook did... Worked well for them right? Why would you NOT want them to have an opportunity to save your child's life? "If they have a gun, they could get mad and start shooting kids!" As opposed to going home, getting said gun and bringing it back? Or perhaps just coming in the next day and doing it? Maybe it's because most of them are sane individuals with a moral compass.
Pick a scenario...
A: One of the Sandy Hook teachers were armed that day. After gunshots were heard, the teacher responded and shot the assailant. In the process this teacher also accidentally hits and kills a 5 year old child. 4 People die. 2 kids, 1 principle and the gunman.
B: None of the Sandy Hook's employees are armed. They go into lock down and the last thing 20 children and 6 adults see is a muzzle flash. The mighty Police force (our Armed Protectors!) show up in time to start cleaning up the mess.
Who are you to sit in your tower and judge the mental capacity of every single Teacher in this country? Point to me one instance in which someone said, "If teachers can be armed in school, the gun will sit on their desk all day, or behind a glass cabinet on the wall like a fire hose free for all to see and fondle." What makes you think it would be like that at all? As for the woman that complained that she wouldn't be able to leave it in her purse because some kid may decide to steal some money out of her pocket book, see a gun and think... oh, maybe I should go on a shooting rampage instead... Why not, as one option, install a small safe in the classroom for those female teachers that can't conceal the weapon on their body.
What I am opposed to is you closed minded idiots who somehow live in this "fantasy land of make-believe in which you can choose to outlaw weapons and that they'll magically disappear", making this decision for everyone else in this country.
This doesn't mean I think that EVERY teacher HAS to carry. It means they can have the option if they so choose. What if there were extensive background checks and mandatory annual personal defense training classes that they must attend in order to carry? Would that even crack open some of your closed minds? Why are you so quick to throw out logic and solely rely on emotions to control your decisions? This last question should be a simple one to answer. How far would you be willing to let someone acting as a guardian of your child go to protect them from harm?
As I read through the replies above... most of you would rather have a bullet ridden corpse of a teacher lying on your child's lifeless body instead of even affording them the ability to defend your children. In fight or flight scenarios... even the weakest people will surprise you...
Greg - 11 years ago
Banning guns didn't work in China because on the same day that CT occurred there was an attack on school kids by a guy with a knife. Tenimen square? Banning things always ends in failure. Look at Mexico, guns are banned, massive drug gangs and 80k murders last year.
Realist - 11 years ago
"Getting rid of all guns worked for China.. " - Don
This by far has to be the most pinheaded post I've seen in a long time. If Don had more than a 2nd Grade education, he'd know how much freedom they have over in China. And to quote from one of China's past Leaders, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. " - Mao Tse Tung.
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid Don...
Steve - 11 years ago
If you wouldn't trust a teacher with a gun how can you trust them with your child.
Charles B - 11 years ago
When I went to school, in the South, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were lots of guns in the school. Almost every boy, and half the girls had them. Most were hanging up in the back of the pickup truck windows. No one locked their vehicles here then either. Many had handguns in their glove boxes or under their seats. Our school's principle, and our guidance counselor, usually had one of their many rifles in the office. A lot of these people hunted before school, or right after school.
When someone would get a new gun for their birthday, or for Christmas , which lot's of us did, we would bring them into the school and show them off to the teachers and the guidance counselor, who would admire them , and hand them back. They would usually be put in our lockers or we'd go back to our cars and put them up. More than one guy brought in a Mini 14, which fires the same ammunition as the AR15, and uses a 30 round magazine. It was brought it with the mag inserted, but no ammo, and the bolt locked back. Everyone loved looking at it, since it was prominently featured in the TV show "The A-Team " in those days. This one also had that "evil" folding stock. It was loved by the staff in the office. The guidance counselor went out and bought himself one the next month.
Here's the thing. None of those guns killed anyone. None of them. Nobody that brought one in killed anyone with a gun.
Why ?
Peo0ple were raised better. People were taught to value life, and around here, you were taught to value the life of others more than your own. To do otherwise was unthinkable.
So what has changed in this scenario ?
The firearms are the same. They haven't changed in function, or capability and capacity to be used for good or evil. The guns are the constant.
What has changed, is the heart of the people. We have nurtured a nation of self centered brats and thugs, with no value placed on any life but their own, and even their own has little value to them. We are medicating conditions with mind altering drugs which require nothing more than a good kick in the butt in many cases, and discipline, and love. I got the love, and the butt kicking, rather than the meds.
I studied.
I did the same with my kid, and they wanted to prescribe him drugs. He straightened out.
We are letting people walk the streets now that should be institutionalized, under the false impression that these drugs will make us all safe. They won't . When people are a threat, they need to be locked up.
We are letting repeat offenders out of jail to repeatedly offend. We are stupid to do so, and we pay for it. When we get serious about a safer society we will see these people locked up, and prison made into a hell that they will do something productive to stay out of when time is served.
To disarm the law abiding populace to make yourselves feel safer is a fallacy that can only come in a fantasy land. Criminals and killers do not obey the law, and they will not obey and restrictions on guns, magazines, or the capacity of them. They don't obey gun free zones, but rather seek them out and turn them into what they really are, killing fields.
The law abiding citizens that you want to disarm are not committing these crimes.
You have two choices to give to your children, since criminals will not even obey the most sacred of laws, which is not to commit murder.
1. When the next killer decides to go into a school and shoot it up, have your children and their teachers cower in the corner somewhere and wait for their turn to die.
2. When the next killer decides to go into a school and shoot it up, have the teachers armed, with a chance to protect those children and themselves.
You can only pick one, as there are no other options.
Your fear of armed teachers is unfounded, and if they can't be trusted to carry a gun around your children, they don't have the mental capacity moral fortitude to teach and protect them in the first place.
Chris - 11 years ago
First off the mass media is not properly representing "assault rifles". Semi automatic weapons are not assault weapons. Secondly, when it comes to the portion of the second amendment discussing "militia", where do think the people of the militias got their firearms. The AR of the day was a musket. If the civilians that formed the militias did not have similar weapons used to attempt to bring tyranny upon the colonies, would the militias have successfully stood against the British? Disappointment, hopelessness, corroding morals, and lack of education have caused the problems we are taking advantage of now. Playing on people's emotions to gain political ground has been the psychology politicians from both sides have used since the beginning and banning semi automatic weapons is just one more false solution being offered up by the uninformed or the politically motivated. I work for the government, even so, I believe the people should be able to protect themselves to whatever means necessary. Why don't we see examples of responsible gun owners defending themselves and others with firearms? Overbearing government and tyranny have to have the means to exist and a well armed civilian population is the gate that is to maintaining liberty if the need approaches. In addition to that, 911 response is not efficient enough in most cases, to provide protection in a hostile home invasion. The ways encroaching upon us, in more than ways than just the gun issue, is the turning from self reliance, self responsibility and self provision and turning to the ALMIGHTY federal government to provide, protect, direct, and provide escape from responsibility. Installing in them more power, more control, and more determination to rule than to represent and using basic psychology to pull it off.
Justsayin - 11 years ago
The stats are out there, folks, look at the FBI and DOJ stats, if you really want to speak your mind from an informed point of reference.
The highest violent crime and murder rates in the US are in the areas with the tightest firearm restrictions.
Chicago has among the strictest laws in the nation and averages GREATER THAN a murder and a half per DAY.
This isn't up for debate, it's hard data.
The areas of the country with the least amount of restrictions on law abiding owners, that allow concealed carry, enjoy the lowest rates of violent crime of nearly any civilized nation in the world.
This isn't random, there's a correlation, folks.
Criminals are scared of being shot. It really IS that simple.
People have been waiting decades for the streets to start running red with blood due to the proliferation of concealed carry licensees.
It hasn't happened yet, so why do some think allowing them to carry "legally" in one additional location will be a game changer?
Justsayin - 11 years ago
Good God.
Does anyone in this country think with their mind instead of their emotions, anymore?
"What if a teacher "snapped" and started killing our kids"?
Ok, if a teacher was really capable of this, do you think he/she would either: A) care whether it was legal to carry near your children, or B) actually be deterred by such?
If this is an actual concern, and not simply hysteria, why do we not see our children beaten severely, on a daily basis, around the country, by those whom we trust implicitly, (so long as they don't "legally" arm themselves, and admit it)?
Why do we not see wild west shootouts on every street corner over folks cutting in line, or bumping into us, etc?
The reality is, most who legally carry do their best to avoid confrontation, because the armed individual REALIZES they have an even greater responsibility to avoid conflict, as they ARE armed. By extension, most who carry often have a higher level of self awareness and "situational awareness" than others, and are able to see trouble coming sooner, because they are more aware of their environment. Those who are scared of the mere presence of firearms in your vicinity, and think their simple proximity increases the "threat" of violence..... you may want to never leave the house, ever again.
MILLIONS of law abiding citizens carry concealed, each and every day.
I guarantee you, if you go to the store, mall, church, wherever, in public, you have passed by at LEAST one armed person in your travels, each and every time.
These are your doctors, lawyers, pastors, teachers, neighbors, friends, etc, not just "gun kooks" looking for trouble.
Please, think with your brain, and look at the facts and statistics. What you "think", and "feel" and are "scared will happen" have no backing in statistics, crime stats, or historical data.
Quite the opposite, if you will simply do the research and inform yourself, instead of making emotional assumptions that are false.
Scrappy - 11 years ago
Not only would I send them, I would feel safer knowing that they were in less danger because someone was there and able to stop any threats that may arise
Orla - 11 years ago
Most of the mass killers were angry young men. What's to prevent one from getting hold of the teacher' gun and using it ?
Melissa Archibald - 11 years ago
There has to be something that is causing kids and adults to trigger off like this. Is it natural gas leaks from springs and rivers and in praries? is it chemicals added to the beverages we drink, is it the pesticides they use on the farms for our food? is it mad cow disease or some other mad-livestock disease? is it people who were bullied?
Lynsu - 11 years ago
How about the teacher has a confrontation with a student and he/she settles it with a bullet! The old "stand your ground" excuse. Teachers will be killing kids left and right, especially black kids.
Opal - 11 years ago
We have teachers with mental problems; just look at how many teachers have sexually exploited our children, mental problem! How many teachers do not like some of their students? You are giving them an excuse to kill a child. You know like "stand you ground law" . If a deranged person comes into a school, church, movie, and has an assault gun, they will have the fire power to kill many people. We DO NOT need military weapon & bullets on our streets. Let the NRA see what those bullets did to those babies and teachers; those babies little bodies were probably mutilated, since they say the children were shot more than once.
If any other President was in office .... there wouldn't be all this going on. They would pull those weapons of war off our streets of America.
Ronnie - 11 years ago
Oops. *you're.
Ronnie - 11 years ago
I know many teachers (my mid 60s parents included) who are always legally armed when outside the school proper.
Can someone explain to me why your ok with your kids in the grocery store (or anywhere else) with them but not in the classroom?
A lot of the anti gun argument here seems based on emotion or "what might happen." We already know what DOES happen.
Why empower the homicidal maniac? Disarming his victims isn't the best idea. Ever notice how these always happen in "gun-free zones?"
tom - 11 years ago
I went to college in the Bronx where every single student had an m1 rifle in his or her dorm room. Strangely there was never a single shooting,
in 2011 only 5 of the murders committed in New York State murder is used to rifle of any kind let alone an assault rifle. it's a mental health issue not a gun issue of the 300,000,000 guns in the United States less than a fraction of 1 percent of ever been used by criminals to murder.
Ben - 11 years ago
The people who ask this question all agog at the thought of armed teachers forget history:
A couple fo the early school shooting attempts were stopped by teachers on school grounds who had access to arms. This idea is not a foreign concept, at least it shouldn't be.
Secondly, it wasn't all that long ago that kids would come to school on opening day with their guns, check them in at the pricipals office and check them back out at the end of the day so they could go hunting. It wasn't all that long ago that many high schools had shooting teams. There were no mass shootings.
The anti gun liberals have managed to erase these facts from many people frame of reference, and want us to be horrified at the thought of armed teachers. Its a bunch of liberal BS, and Americans should know better than to listen to the gun banners.
Robert - 11 years ago
Teachers or just guards, like the one Obama and David Gregory send their children to?
Lynn - 11 years ago
I am concerned that the availability of guns in schools just makes the use and misuse of them more likely and with that, the likelihood of injury and death would rise. I question where the guns are kept to ensure that students cannot get hold of them. Also, the classroom can become intense and emotional, and it only increases danger to have such weapons available. As a side note, I would think that a teacher who brings a gun to school and their employing agency could be liable for injury when the teacher uses it or if a student or other person gets hold of it and uses it.
Jessica - 11 years ago
Absolutly I would. If I had to choose between a school that didn't allow teachers to carry guns or a school that did, I would choose the school that did (provided they have training on how to use it). If a teenager (which most school shooters are) knows that teachers can carry guns to school the likelihood of them trying to or successfully carrying out a school shooting would go down. Mostly, overall, this absolutly should not even be a discussion. There is this thing called the right to bear arms. Stop trying to take our rights away.
Guinevere - 11 years ago
No, I would not want to send my high school freshman, nor my third grader to school with teachers that are armed. I work in the school as a reading tutor, and just one week after the Newton shooting my school had a "threat" in which we had to go into a lock down. I work in a small, rural, Minnesota town.
There are more opportunities for an armed teacher and a situation to go "bad" than for that teacher to protect the students.
It is inconceivable to think that a disaster would not happen as a result of firearms in schools. Both student and teacher deaths would be inevitable. We have a highly trained military and police force that is prepared and drilled for every possible circumstance. Despite this how many innocent people are shot by police every single year? What teacher has this type of training to instantly analyze a situation to a degree that must be better than the police? The police will shoot you if what you are holding even resembles a weapon. What are the teacher guidelines? There are millions of people with quick tempers. It doesn’t matter if they are college professors there are a few seconds where logic is thrown out the window unless you are trained. Why put a gun in their hands in this instant? How many teachers will lose their weapons while in the school? There is nothing that is not eventually taken or misplaced. Will schools have special gun lockers? There is no room for error where this is concerned with millions of people involved. Lastly how many people have gone through school and said they had on absolutely crazy teacher. The answer is virtually everyone will admit to this. Teachers do not make great wages and they are often stressed out. They suffer every bit as many personal problems as anyone. They are not superior super humans. They have to leave all of their issues at home every single day and teach our children. Who would dare say that it is “impossible for a teacher to go the proverbial POSTAL”? In the extreme but guaranteed circumstance of a crazy person(s) attacking with military level weapons and protective gear happens what will be the teacher response? Miss second grade teacher will jump into the room like an NCIS agent and save the day. It is her pea shooter versus a rifle that will blow a door off its hinges and shoot through the walls as if they weren't there.
tevo - 11 years ago
We used to carry guns to school. FFA sponsored Skeet Shoots, on school property. No mass killings, no riots, not so much as a hang nail. It's because we were taught values, morality and love for God, country and family. God was not a dirty word. No profanity in the music we listened to.
It is a culture problem. Taking away the rights of law abiding citizens is NOT going to solve the issue..
Tanner - 11 years ago
We as Americans trust our kids with their teachers everyday. Why would having our teachers(if trained) armed be a negative issue. We leave our kids with these people everyday. If people think that the teachers having a weapon would put the kids in danger, they don't realize that trust we already have with these people. I think that this is an extreme change to what we are use to but change needs to happen and what is the best way. I do believe that some of the ideas of getting rid of some models of firearms, isn't the answer. These guns are out there and there is no way to change that. We can only protect us and others from them and stop some from being able to purchase these weapons. Most of the weapons uses in a negative manner are taken from responsible owners. People who have issues and want to use a gun in a negative way, will! People with issues will find a way to harm others if that is what they intend to do, guns or whatever they decide to use.
rico - 11 years ago
Teachers... please teach your students about the Bill of Rights.. and what happens when individuals LOSE their individual rights (Check dictatorships)..
ask yourself would you rather have a law abiding citizen in possession of a firearm, or a deranged person.
In the 1950's those in power wanted to remove firearms from African Americans, why? In order to control them..
Frank McGeisey - 11 years ago
Common sense question, "If no one knows who is carrying a weapon into school legally who knows who is carrying one illegally?" If a person (teacher) has the mind set to kill someone, do you want them teaching your children? A majority of normal people cannot kill unless they are already "nuts".
Rosemary Smithson - 11 years ago
What's wrong with America. Guns should NOT be allowed in schools... or churches... or grocery stores... or shopping malls... or hospitals ... or you-name-it. What is this country afraid of?
vj silva - 11 years ago
As a parent & grandmother I was shocked to hear that the teacher you had on your show from Utah was an "Armed Teacher" in her class room, but the shocker was that she is a " SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER" I'm sorry but there is no way I can accept any teacher in a classroom with children especially those children with special needs with a gun. They need your undivided attention and care, and a gun has no place in their environment. It only takes a second for a child to get their hands on it. Then to hear that the parents don't have the right to know!?! That's unspeakable. That would NOT happen in New Jersey. I feel bad for those children & parents. That's just wrong.
Kim - 11 years ago
The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun shoot him!
william - 11 years ago
Questio:...What happens when a teacher has an arguement with a student who might hit the teacher and he or she pulls out a gun and shoots the student and claims self defense.? or when a student attacks a teacher and takes their gun away,then uses it to shoot others as well as them selves ? Think ....NO GUNS IN SCHOOLS.......just providing another easy access to a gun when same problems could have been handled by calling the parent ot Principle.
jose rivera - 11 years ago
I leave my children in the care of teachers 8 hours a day. That means I have left their lives in their hands. Teachers have a right to bear arms to defend themselves and their wards. I only ask that they be well trained in handling the weapon and actually defend my children when the time comes.
CarolO - 11 years ago
I bet parents are informed about their children lunches and how nutritious they are.
I believe if you do not want weapons in your childrens school, those kids should be pulled out of school and home schooled. Stop paying school taxes and eventually, as the attendence goes down, also less Federal money will go to the schools. To even think that one glorified lobbyist is shoving his ambitions onto the rest of the country is ridiculous. The NRA has 4 million members and his job is to sell more and more guns. They care about nothing else but sales.
I also believe there should be an escape route in each classroom. A door children can run out of to safety. You do not tell them to crawl in a closet when there's a fire, so why have them crawl in a closet with a shooter in the school?
Schellie - 11 years ago
Having a 'Carry/Conceal" permit doesn't mean the person holding the gun is prepared to kill. If you are not prepared to shoot to kill, then you should never have a gun around children. People who are scared of the weapon and using it are many, many more times likely to have it used against them AND the children. Personally, I believe there should be NO guns in schools but if the people in the area so choose, at the very least, the carriers should be former or current law enforcement/armed services. The expectations of the school boards in Utah are irrelevant as far as ability to use the weapon if the law says differently.
Kay Omholt-Montague - 11 years ago
These are just a few things the schools were NOT allowed to do (with or for my child) - without my written consent/permission - while he was a K-12 student here in Montana:
1) Take him on a field trip - such as to a museum or a park.
2) Have him take nationally approved/certified tests such as: IQ tests, achievement tests, diagnostic tests (ie: to measure developmental delays, emotional/mental health, etc.)
3) Participate in sports such as football, track, basketball, etc.
4) Use corporal punishment as a way to discipline him. (For the sake or argument, I will acknowledge that many parents around the USA do not consider spanking to be corporal punishment).
Is written, parental permission (for the types of things I have listed above) required in other states? Parental consent in the above-stated examples seems to make sense to me. I do admit, however, that I occasionally got exasperated at the non-stop parade of notes and letters (brought home by my son) that required my written permission/signature. At times, I would even think: "Gosh, can't these schools do anything without my permission?!"
Still, I dutifully read every note and letter sent home by the school. And I willingly signed my name on most - not all - of them. What I have since come to realize is this: the schools respected and legally acknowledged the importance and necessity of me - HIS PARENT - being involved in AND having the final say in his educational process. In retrospect, I am VERY relieved to know that the schools could NOT do most things WITHOUT my permission - as they pertained to my son.
I wonder if parents in the State of Utah - which legally grants the right of any/all teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools - are required to provide written consent for the types of things I mentioned above. If so - or even if not - I wonder what types of things/activities DO require written, parental consent in the State of Utah. I DO know that written, parental consent is NOT required for any, non-specified teacher to carry a concealed weapon.
In conclusion: the State of Utah has knowingly and purposefully (for at least twelve years) NOT involved parents in this LEGAL decision! It is a decision that could have life and death consequences for the students of its schools. Yet, I am sure the schools in Utah have to obtain parental permission for their students to - for example - go on a field trip to a museum of science.
If I lived in the State of Utah today and had a child attending Utah schools (public or private), I would be outraged at the lack of respect and blatant disregard the State harbors for the parents of children attending their schools. I would demand that the State take immediate action to ensure parental involvement and decision-making power in this critical law. I am not even judging (at this point) whether it is right or wrong for teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools.
Don't get me wrong: I absolutely adored some of my son's teachers - especially some of the zanier and off-the-wall teachers who were "out of the box" type thinkers. They inspired and encouraged creativity and growth in my son. They were invaluable to my son and his intellectual growth and progress.
HOWEVER: Not in a million years would I have been okay with most of these teachers carrying concealed weapons. Many of the characteristics which made them such amazing educators were also the ones that would have made me fear for my son's life if they were carrying concealed weapons. These irreplaceable men and women became teachers to inspire and educate our sons and daughters. I seriously doubt they were thinking about carrying concealed weapons as a vital part of becoming an educator. And if carrying a concealed weapon were to become a requirement for teaching, how many truly GIFTED and extraordinary individuals wouldn't even bother to sign up? What a tragic, unnecessary waste of our natural resources this
john yupatoff - 11 years ago
do these teachers that legally carry guns in school go through psychlogical and mental behavor testing to make sure they can properly handle themselves and those they are suppose to protect under stress. law enforcement people do.how do we know that one of these teachers doesn't go postal ?
Cindy - 11 years ago
I vote a resounding NO, and I'm a teacher who will NEVER carry a gun. Never. The day that this is forced upon me is the day I will quit teaching, as that will be the day that education died.
Mark - 11 years ago
Last night you had a guest, a Utah elementary school teacher who said she was looking into the option of carrying a concealed gun to school. She contradicted herself on several occasions.
1) When asked if she thought parents might have concerns if they knew teachers were carrying she said she was sure any parent who watches the news knows teachers are allowed to bring guns to school in Utah but she also said she herself only recently learned she could carry a gun to school. If she, a teacher for years in Utah didn't know why would parents be expected to know.
2) When asked how her students might feel about her carrying she answered they would feel safer yet when asked another question she said her students would never know she was carrying a concealed weapon.
3) When asked how she would deal with a person carrying an assault weapon she answered she wouldn't herself carry an assault weapon because she couldn't conceal an assault weapon.
I have respect for her for being a teacher but someone who cannot think an answer through logically without contradicting him or herself for an interview how can that person be trusted to make good decisions under fire? It's not a teacher's job. They are not trained in that way as law enforcement officers are.
Steve - 11 years ago
Maybe it's not just the guns that's the problem....maybe it is the violent movies and video games being fed by Hollywood into a few sick and unstable minds. Ed has you all worked into a froth about guns, he says let's get our savior, the government, to fix this for us!
Calm down and think this through folks. Those shooters all gave signs of being disturbed and needing help. Let's ask why nobody stepped up and stopped them before they were armed and had plans.
Where a teacher could help is if he heard shooting elsewhere in the building, his gun could be unlocked and he could effectively defend his students and bring it quickly to a stop. If the entrances to the school are monitored and/or guarded, a shooter will be seen and stopped. Maybe no or only only a few lives would be lost, far fewer than if no one had any way to stop it. I personally would feel much better if I knew a few good teachers or security guards were armed and prepared to defend again the rare crazy kid set on doing harm, first to others, then himself.
Gloria - 11 years ago
These teachers who would carry a gun to school are seriously mentally disturbed!
Are we all insane?! We must get the semi and automatic weapons and their amunitions unavailable. The NRA should be held accountable for any deaths where these weapons are used.
Janice T. - 11 years ago
Absolutely not. As if teachers don't have enough to worry about during their day. Low budgets, unprepared or problem students, their own personal issues now these idiots want to add a gun to their daily agenda. I would never send my child to a school knowing she would be exposed to a loaded gun everyday. Furthermore, I would be livid if I later learned that administrators had the right to conceal one. Finally, if a mentally disturbed person who wants to do harm and violently kill can get their hands on an assault weapon, load it and use it to kill; what makes these knuckleheads who support this foolishness think they can't get a bullet proof vest to protect themselves from the teachers. This is madness...we've got to stop this. God help us.
TJ Gallagher - 11 years ago
A disgrunteled jewlery designer shot and killed his former boss a block away from the Empire State Bldg. As the killer walked down the street police moved in to "neautralize" him. There were 6-8 Police officers on scene to do the job - The killer brandished his weapon, suicide by cop no doubt. The problem is that these police officers, HIGHLY TRAINED, needing to score near perfect scores at the range missed their target - ALOT - 28 bystanders were hit by "stray bullets and shrapnel" One lone gunman - Lets say 6 Cops - Gunman fired 0 (ZERO) rounds - Cops shot 60 some rounds. The Police are HIGHLY trained - What the Hell makes anyone think a TEACHER or PRINCIPAL will be able to pull a weapon and fire with precision without second guessing or shaking and trembling - They ain't trained for this, they will never have that much range time - This is a major league compounded cluster F**k idea of a magnitude that will not be fealt until a TEACHER with a GUN and the STUDENTS die. Just because someone has a gun and can shoot at a range doesn't mean they can pull the trigger on another human being - It is NOT in the human make up to just kill our own, thats why it is a crime when we do.
Barbara - 11 years ago
Carol, a teacher in the midst of classroom instruction with a concealed weapon holding 6 bullets is no match for an assailant with an assault rifle that fires 6 bullets a second!!! Semi-automatic weapons must be banned, teachers should be armed with textbooks and computers only - and we all must insist that our legislators follow every recommendation from the Biden committee as fast as humanly possible!!
Lavonne Ellis - 11 years ago
All staffs need to be equipped with a pushed bottomed device connected to police, ems and fire department in case of emergency ..you waste time getting on phones for 911 calls during panic situations. Not Guns!
Chihming - 11 years ago
Absolutely no gun in classroom. If teacher leaves gun in an open area for easy access, any second it can be fired because it's easy to access. If teacher leaves gun locked, it only brings up students' curiosity to find out what's in the locked drawer and leads to unavoidable accidents; further more, when in emergency, there is no time to find the key then to unlock the drawer. Therefore it's only going to injur your students or yourself at some point of time. No, no, no gun in classroom.
doug - 11 years ago
I cannot believe how many ignorant people there are. I am a teacher and have been carrying for the past 5 years. Know one even knows I have a concealed permit. The law says that the weapon has to be on my person at all times, so the chance of a student finding it and using it is next to impossible. If the situation ever were to arise, I have no plans on trying to be a hero or vigilante. I would follow our schools lock down procedures and be ready if the gunman were to come into my room. I believe most people that do carry are avid, responsible shooters. NOBODY is trained for a situation like the school shooting that have happened. Maybe there is a reason that no one has ever tried to shoot up a school in Utah, and believe me we have plenty of crazy people here. For all you naysayers, I ask you to picture yourself having to go into that kindergarten room, or having to identify your 6 year old daughters, bullet ridden body. Then tell me it would have been a bad idea for that principal to have had the option of shooting at the gunman and maybe scaring him off, instead of sacrificing herself in a feeble attempt to restrain him. Think about it!
Mary - 11 years ago
No way......I work with K- students...they need protection..not a teacher with a gun!
Simi - 11 years ago
In no way teachers should be allowed to carry guns. It is insane. We need gun
control such as background checks, registrations and permits of all gun owners just as we need a licence and registration for driving a car.
Kids find EVERYTHING. There is nothing in my house my grandma can't find. Even when I think I have the perfect hiding spot. I'm talking to you about a 4 year old. No way should guns be put in schools. In a panic who knows who is going to be hit. Can a teacher live with that mistake? They are paid to teach not be a police. They have to fight for their pay. They don't want to have to fight for another job pay too.
Vee - 11 years ago
As a retired NYPD Sergeant, I find it hard to equate teachers armed in the classroom to an armed law enforcement officer who has received invaluable training in firearms use and safety.
The job of an educator is very different from that of a police officer who is constantly trained in ways to deal with hostile individuals, as well as ways to diffuse hostile situations. It is a far cry from breaking up a school yard fight.
Law enforcement training changes the manner in which you view all situations. Working as a law enforcement officer enhances this perspective. It permits you to react instinctively to dangerous situations.
The teachers who choose to carry concealed handguns in their classroom lack this perspective. Their job does not provide the training needed to face an armed intruder.
Carol - 11 years ago
I would feel very comfortable sending my children to school if their teacher had a permit and a gun. I live in Utah and most of their teachers possibly already have a gun. I don't know. I am comfortable around guns and gun owners...I do feel that the teachers in the recent school shooting would have give everything they had to be packing a weapon just to save the lives that were taken.
sharon carter - 11 years ago
What happens when the teacher has mental problems, their spouse left, or all the other things that make a person go off the deep end? That person has a perfect storm, but I guess teachers don't have these feelings like other people. The NRA has their bases covered with this insane law that solves nothing.
Dale Gentle - 11 years ago
Most teachers are good people that simply want to teach your child but remember some don't have enough judgement to keep from having sex with their students and we want to give them all a gun? I think not!!
Barbara - 11 years ago
Ed is surely including the 'crazies' so that we of sounder minds can see where they are coming from - a scary place indeed. Then we have the benefit of intelligent counterpoints. On Fox , I'll bet the viewpoint is 100% pro-assault rifles for everyone. When I saw the teacher from Utah (how good could HER vision be for operating a firearm??) she provided for me even stronger feelings about NOT arming teachers. Teachers with guns -No, No, No! NRA statements - Sick, Sick,Sick.
angE - 11 years ago
I am a teacher and hold a license to carry a concealed weapon. I would NEVER be comfortable having my handgun with me at work. Where would I keep it? Certainly not in my purse or a desk drawer where a child could access it. It would have to be in a locked box, separate from the ammunition. I can just hear myself (not) "Children, go to your lockdown spot while I find the key, unlock the box, get the bullets, and load my gun!"
My job is to teach my students and keep them safe. We have a crisis plan/lockdown procedure that works. I can't imagine leaving the children during a dangerous situation to play commando.
Lynne - 11 years ago
If I was a deranged lunatic out to shoot up a school room, I would shoot the teacher first if I thought he/she might be armed. Then there would be no one left to help the children.
pete - 11 years ago
i carry due to my profession and know that theres no way that the kids would not know if a teacher is packing. the safest place to keep your gun when your in public is on your person. what i wish ed would ask a teacher is exactly where would you conceal your weapon during the school day? in the desk? in a pocketbook?
Lin - 11 years ago
By allowing teachers to have guns in the classroom we are assuming that teachers are mentally stable at all times. School districts that support this law need to rethink its position on allowing teachers to carry guns at school.
Karen Malcolm - 11 years ago
I would want to know: how was the teacher trained? What is their understanding of the use of deadly force? What are the legally determined rules of engagement for an armed teacher? Who is indemnifying the teacher? How much will the school district's insurance go up and who will pay for it- the NRA? How well can the teacher handle the weapon? How often must they be retrained? What weapons are permissible- if multiple weapons, then the teacher must prove proficiency. If they must be trained and prove proficiency, then they need paid time off from school to train and be certified. How much will that cost? Who buys the weapons, repairs them, etc. How will that be paid for? How will they be safely stored in the classroom? Worn at all times? On safety? How stored after school hours? I have a lot more questions, but I bet Republicans and the NRA do NOT have the answers!
BeeJay - 11 years ago
A Gun plus an angry person is a fatal mix.
Amy - 11 years ago
What about schools like Red Lake in Minnesota where the gunman was a student who gunned down his teacher, an older lady. Would she have been able to pull her gun, if she was armed, and shoot a student that she taught everyday. I really doubt it.
Where would they keep these guns? What if they lost their gun to a student? Too many ifs for me. If my child's school armed their teachers, or allowed gun on campus, I will withdraw her and homeschool her.
Laraine Hobbs - 11 years ago
If the school board doesn't know if a teacher has a concealed gun, how the hell do they know if the teacher is keeping the gun safely away from the students????????
Judy-in-Texas - 11 years ago
My husband is a high-school teacher.
If he had to teach armed, I would demand he quit the job.
He can't assemble and lead the kids to protect them, while attacking a shooter at the same time.
In a case like that, many would die.
I would rather he worked to protect the children and leave the shooting to trained law enforcement on campus.
The school and law enforcement community should provide trained officers for campus protection.
Judy-in-Texas - 11 years ago
My husband is a high-school teacher.
If he had to teach armed, I would demand he quit the job.
He can't assemble and lead the kids to protect them, while attacking a shooter at the same time.
In a case like that, many would die.
I would rather he worked to protect the children and leave the shooting to trained law enforcement on campus.
The school and law enforcement community should provide trained officers for campus protection.
Rob - 11 years ago
Teachers carrying guns in school, how ridiculous! There is something really indifferent and callous about this.
Astag - 11 years ago
As a parent and teacher, i would never allow this. I wont teach in a school with guns and my kids wont attend a school in which adults are armed.
Denise Cyr - 11 years ago
I cannot believe that any sane, rational parent would think that this is a good idea! I want to know if there is a gun in the hands of any staff member (whether it is a teacher, secretary or administrator) at the school I have entrusted with the care of my child. If there is, my child will NEVER set foot on the property again. And, they had better be ready for a major court battle! If it comes down to needing armed personnel present on school property, it's homeschooling from now on. The teacher from Utah who supported this idea does not speak for the majority of educators in our nation. It's time to stop listening to supporters of guns in the classroom and seek a sane solution to this horrible situation that does not require our already overburdened, underpaid teachers to add "packing heat" to their resume. D.B. Cyr, Medford OR
Annette - 11 years ago
People snap most of these killings have come from people we would not have suspected.
J Alderson - 11 years ago
I would not send my children to a school where the teachers carried guns. I believe that we
would have some teacher mis-interpreting that a child had a gun.....could be a silly joke of bringing a plastic gun to school....the police have had instances where they thought someone was carrying and have opened fire and they are professionally trained with experience. Another scenero, a child gets caught in crossfire. No, there are too many instances where mistakes can happen.
We need to have good gun protection laws that work for everyone. I am in favor of a National Registry of all weapons owned and sold, restrictions on the mentally ill and laws relating to parents keeping guns out of the hands of juveniles untill they too are old enough to be registered gun owners. There should also be classes for those purchasing guns. Lastly there should be more care given for our mentally ill with followup on who and where they are.
Michael White - 11 years ago
I'm going to blame television. too many shows where the good guys never gets hit or might be wounded. Imagine a schoolroom where a teacher shoots over the heads of the kids while trying to protect themselves? Police rarely hit their targets in these situations, but, you want someone who has been to the range to be your fallback in a gunfight? Kids better start practicing like we did with the atomic bomb scare ducking under desks...as if that was going to save us or them. If a kid is shot by the teacher who gets sued? If the teacher owns a gun, but, is too afraid to act, will they be held liable for not defending the kids?
Shelly - 11 years ago
Victoria- I couldn't agree more, and I also couldn't phrase that more perfectly! If only those who think all should just walk around carrying guns saw that!
Jim Miles - 11 years ago
First grade teacher like mother at school, eventually becoming oldest active teacher in Virginia. Times change. When I went to school 6 yrs old I had a pen knife like other boys to play games with. Now can get expelled, but teachers can carry guns. Are progressing!!
Joseph Elliott - 11 years ago
Why arm teachers with guns, this is a poor idea. It would be better to arm teachers with a panic button, which is link to a trained arm response unit. This panic system should be located in key areas, additional to each employee of the schools having a panic button at their access incase of trouble.
Linda - 11 years ago
How dod you know the teacher does not have issues. Some people hide there problems well.
Schools are places to learn, not be a target range.
Carol - 11 years ago
This is the most insane idea, don't these people know that the last two shooters in Aurora Co. and Newtown Ct. were wearing body armor. A teacher with a gun would have not been able to do a thing unless they had sniper training.
Zuwa O. - 11 years ago
If God forbid Newton had happened in an uppity rich blue blood prep school, the rules would have been on the books b4 the week was out, but since most of the violence victimizes inner city Latinos and Blacks - no great nig to do. The NRA is indeed the new KKK. Also the NRA is a PROFIT motivated LOBBYING group. The more guns and bullets are sold, the better it is for them. That's their job. Why would they want to cut their own throats by being party to legislation that'll take money out of their pockets.
Hopefully the legislators will also remember thumb/fingerprint activated guns.
Sharon - 11 years ago
Not only would I not send my child to a school where teachers had concealed weapons, but I would not teach at a school where teachers were allowed to have concealed weapons.
Victoria - 11 years ago
Statistically speaking, people who have guns in their homes are far more likely than those who don't to die of gunfire. They die of suicides, family quarrels, accidental shootings...having guns around is dangerous. When a teacher brings a gun to school, it's there waiting for bad "stuff" to happen: Teacher leaves it in an open handbag and a small kid goes to play with it, an older kid aims at a young enemy. Teacher shoots someone she thinks is carrying a rifle, which turns out to be a closed umbrella. Teacher forgets to put the safety on, slips on the ice and lands on the weapon, which goes off randomly.... Guns are dangerous in the hands of untrained people. Even the best trained police officers occasionally make errors...or blow away selves or spouses on a bad day...because a gun is a weapon, easy to use on the spur of the moment, hard to use correctly and safely. Really, why do we think a kindergarten teacher will have the savvy to properly manage a weapon. It only takes one mistake.
Carl - 11 years ago
Maybe a target range on the playground? & cheeky.
What's next? Armed guards in church's and places of worship?
Really. Get rid of assault guns and Hi-cap magazines. Now.
Angie Estes - 11 years ago
It would be safer if the teachers were armed with mace, pepper spray or use a taser gun on a person who was armed and entered a school.
Everyone needs to remember that it was the NRA that has introduced the concept of arming and training teachers to become gun-toting educators. The NRA goal is to get more guns sold. Teachers are asked to do so much and do not get the respect that they deserve, and now we're asking them to carry guns and defend classrooms too? The idea of armed teachers is appalling and not the way to go. We need to reform, improve and enforce gun laws. Let's not dilute the gun issue in America by deflecting to mental illness either. Unfortunately, we live in a violent culture.
Sandy - 11 years ago
I am a teacher. I can't keep a pencil without it being stolen. You'd have to have it locked in a safe in your desk. If they're over the age of 10, don't think they don't know it's there. If you have an incident in your school, while you are unlocking and loading your gun, who's taking care of the children.
Lori - 11 years ago
No, no, no, I would not let my child go to a school who would allow any teacher to be armed.
I feel an armed teacher is telling the kids its not safe to be in that school.
It also might teach a young child its fine to carry a gun when they are teenagers, there has to be a better way to protect our kids..
Maybe put alarms on all windows might be a starting point to protect our kids.. let a principle have a weapon but not a gun in every class room..
Scott Davis - 11 years ago
I would hope that teacher's unions, administrators, and PTA's across the country would rise up against the right wing nut-jobs who think this is a good idea.
#EdShow This is insane on so many levels, but where exactly has the line been drawn? Are Bus Drivers permitted to carry a loaded firearm? Cross-walk Monitors?
Theresa Edwards - 11 years ago
We have enough problems with some teachers restraining and harming children. Not only would I not allow my children in a school with a loaded weapon, I as the parent am responsible for my children's safety and a teacher who is an UNTRAINED and UNSEASONED person can't be trusted to react correctly and another thing to consider "What If" the teacher is mentally unstable??
Julia Holcomb - 11 years ago
Certainly not. Some schools might want--or need--armed guards. But a gun in the teacher's reach is a threat to students; and a gun out of their reach is no use to anyone. Glad my kids are not in school any more. I'd put them in private school before I would send them to a school with armed teachers.
Sabine Butler - 11 years ago
C. Cain - a teacher in a special ed - she could be disarmed by a one of her students -what a nightmare!
Dale - 11 years ago
Teachers are in school to teach. They are not there to engage in combat with weapons situations. This is why we have police and SWAT teams. What happens when an angry 16 year old overpowers the teacher, takes the weapon and uses it?
Juan - 11 years ago
When my daughter was young, I did not let her visit her friend`s house who`s parents had guns.
Angie - 11 years ago
I think the teacher's responsibility is to teach and help children grow, not be on guard duty. If we want guns in schools they need to be on police officers, whose job it is to be prepared and constantly trained to use their weapon. I want teachers to focus on teaching, not being prepared to deal with a shooter.
Lisa - 11 years ago
I think the teachers at Sandy Hook were so professional in that they put the kids in an area of safety and reassured them they were ok. Imagine if they just stood there and witnessed the teacher shooting someone. The children need the teachers full attention to bring them to safety especially in a CRISIS.
Also, if the teacher had a hand gun and is caught off guard by a nut with a semi-automatic- the teacher still would not stand a chance.
Also, OUR second amendment rights are taken away by having semi-automatics. One losses the ability to protect oneself with just a hand gun, right? Then I would need a semi-auto, then what? Then we need grenades and bombs??? SO WRONG!!!
Pamela - 11 years ago
I don't believe the teachers should be armed, however, there should be armed and trained security officers at the schools.
SabineButler - 11 years ago
No armed teachers - and especially NOT without the knowledge of the parents!
David B. - 11 years ago
I am disgusted that The Ed Show has now become a platform for the pro-gun crazies. Two nights in a row Ed has feature pro-gun crazies who want guns running rampant in our schools. I am no longer going to watch this show, Ed clearly is a NRA-loving pro-gun crazy. Bye bye. The next mass murder of innocent children is on your head, Ed.
Edna Adams - 11 years ago
Not all teachers can be trusted! Not all of them are fair when it come to our children. There are klans teaching school and what would keep them from shooting a little Black child, just for being Black.
If you would send your kid to school with armed teachers, you've obviously never worked in a school and have little first-hand knowledge of teachers. Worst. Idea. Ever. I hate to think of the tragedy that would result to change your mind.
THIS:
Realist - 2 days ago
"Getting rid of all guns worked for China.. " - Don
This by far has to be the most pinheaded post I've seen in a long time. If Don had more than a 2nd Grade education, he'd know how much freedom they have over in China. And to quote from one of China's past Leaders, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. " - Mao Tse Tung.
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid Don...
What a moron you are, Realist, for you make Don's point.
Furthermore, it is Fla-Vor-Aid you mean to allude to. If you are going to pretend to know about cults, I'm going to point out your pathetic anecdotal thought patterns.
pwnd beotch
I am absolutely for teachers being armed. We have to do something quicker in these situations than wait on the police. I believe they need to be trained to use firearms first. Why should we give up our assault weapons just because a couple people that were mentally ill chose to use firearms to commit their violent crimes? What are we as assault weapon owners suppose to do with them if the ban is approved? If we ban assault weapons then we should ban cars because drunk drivers kill people on the streets. Timothy Mcvay killed hundreds of people and did not use a firearm at all. Firearms have been killing thousands of people in low income neighborhoods in the big cities for years and no one has seemed to care and ban them for that. Would the president make their guards give up their firearms or the military if the law is passed to ban certain or all firearms?
I see all these comments about "Zomg teachers will snap and kill my kids!" and other such ludacris statements. Not every teacher would even choose to carry, nor would any of them be FORCED to have a gun in the classroom, and they would require training before they were even allowed to have them in the classroom. Each desk would have a bio-metric safe to keep the firearm secure. All easy answers, lets keep our kids safe! And for those of you who think armed guards at the entrance is the best choice, now you have a target, hit that, then still 100s, if not 1000s of people still unarmed...now make it so there is a chance EVERY room is armed, and all of a sudden, no one wants to take the chance anymore. Its simple logic that so many of you just don't get.
"NO way... Teachers are complete bafoons than can barely manage to dress themselves, let alone carry a gun." Are you people just retarded or are you sexist and racist as well? Why lump them altogether like some nieve stereo-type? "I'd just follow lock down procedures to keep my kids safe!" Right... like the teachers in Sandy Hook did... Worked well for them right? Why would you NOT want them to have an opportunity to save your child's life? "If they have a gun, they could get mad and start shooting kids!" As opposed to going home, getting said gun and bringing it back? Or perhaps just coming in the next day and doing it? Maybe it's because most of them are sane individuals with a moral compass.
Pick a scenario...
A: One of the Sandy Hook teachers were armed that day. After gunshots were heard, the teacher responded and shot the assailant. In the process this teacher also accidentally hits and kills a 5 year old child. 4 People die. 2 kids, 1 principle and the gunman.
B: None of the Sandy Hook's employees are armed. They go into lock down and the last thing 20 children and 6 adults see is a muzzle flash. The mighty Police force (our Armed Protectors!) show up in time to start cleaning up the mess.
Who are you to sit in your tower and judge the mental capacity of every single Teacher in this country? Point to me one instance in which someone said, "If teachers can be armed in school, the gun will sit on their desk all day, or behind a glass cabinet on the wall like a fire hose free for all to see and fondle." What makes you think it would be like that at all? As for the woman that complained that she wouldn't be able to leave it in her purse because some kid may decide to steal some money out of her pocket book, see a gun and think... oh, maybe I should go on a shooting rampage instead... Why not, as one option, install a small safe in the classroom for those female teachers that can't conceal the weapon on their body.
What I am opposed to is you closed minded idiots who somehow live in this "fantasy land of make-believe in which you can choose to outlaw weapons and that they'll magically disappear", making this decision for everyone else in this country.
This doesn't mean I think that EVERY teacher HAS to carry. It means they can have the option if they so choose. What if there were extensive background checks and mandatory annual personal defense training classes that they must attend in order to carry? Would that even crack open some of your closed minds? Why are you so quick to throw out logic and solely rely on emotions to control your decisions? This last question should be a simple one to answer. How far would you be willing to let someone acting as a guardian of your child go to protect them from harm?
As I read through the replies above... most of you would rather have a bullet ridden corpse of a teacher lying on your child's lifeless body instead of even affording them the ability to defend your children. In fight or flight scenarios... even the weakest people will surprise you...
Banning guns didn't work in China because on the same day that CT occurred there was an attack on school kids by a guy with a knife. Tenimen square? Banning things always ends in failure. Look at Mexico, guns are banned, massive drug gangs and 80k murders last year.
"Getting rid of all guns worked for China.. " - Don
This by far has to be the most pinheaded post I've seen in a long time. If Don had more than a 2nd Grade education, he'd know how much freedom they have over in China. And to quote from one of China's past Leaders, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. " - Mao Tse Tung.
Keep drinking that Kool-Aid Don...
If you wouldn't trust a teacher with a gun how can you trust them with your child.
When I went to school, in the South, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were lots of guns in the school. Almost every boy, and half the girls had them. Most were hanging up in the back of the pickup truck windows. No one locked their vehicles here then either. Many had handguns in their glove boxes or under their seats. Our school's principle, and our guidance counselor, usually had one of their many rifles in the office. A lot of these people hunted before school, or right after school.
When someone would get a new gun for their birthday, or for Christmas , which lot's of us did, we would bring them into the school and show them off to the teachers and the guidance counselor, who would admire them , and hand them back. They would usually be put in our lockers or we'd go back to our cars and put them up. More than one guy brought in a Mini 14, which fires the same ammunition as the AR15, and uses a 30 round magazine. It was brought it with the mag inserted, but no ammo, and the bolt locked back. Everyone loved looking at it, since it was prominently featured in the TV show "The A-Team " in those days. This one also had that "evil" folding stock. It was loved by the staff in the office. The guidance counselor went out and bought himself one the next month.
Here's the thing. None of those guns killed anyone. None of them. Nobody that brought one in killed anyone with a gun.
Why ?
Peo0ple were raised better. People were taught to value life, and around here, you were taught to value the life of others more than your own. To do otherwise was unthinkable.
So what has changed in this scenario ?
The firearms are the same. They haven't changed in function, or capability and capacity to be used for good or evil. The guns are the constant.
What has changed, is the heart of the people. We have nurtured a nation of self centered brats and thugs, with no value placed on any life but their own, and even their own has little value to them. We are medicating conditions with mind altering drugs which require nothing more than a good kick in the butt in many cases, and discipline, and love. I got the love, and the butt kicking, rather than the meds.
I studied.
I did the same with my kid, and they wanted to prescribe him drugs. He straightened out.
We are letting people walk the streets now that should be institutionalized, under the false impression that these drugs will make us all safe. They won't . When people are a threat, they need to be locked up.
We are letting repeat offenders out of jail to repeatedly offend. We are stupid to do so, and we pay for it. When we get serious about a safer society we will see these people locked up, and prison made into a hell that they will do something productive to stay out of when time is served.
To disarm the law abiding populace to make yourselves feel safer is a fallacy that can only come in a fantasy land. Criminals and killers do not obey the law, and they will not obey and restrictions on guns, magazines, or the capacity of them. They don't obey gun free zones, but rather seek them out and turn them into what they really are, killing fields.
The law abiding citizens that you want to disarm are not committing these crimes.
You have two choices to give to your children, since criminals will not even obey the most sacred of laws, which is not to commit murder.
1. When the next killer decides to go into a school and shoot it up, have your children and their teachers cower in the corner somewhere and wait for their turn to die.
2. When the next killer decides to go into a school and shoot it up, have the teachers armed, with a chance to protect those children and themselves.
You can only pick one, as there are no other options.
Your fear of armed teachers is unfounded, and if they can't be trusted to carry a gun around your children, they don't have the mental capacity moral fortitude to teach and protect them in the first place.
First off the mass media is not properly representing "assault rifles". Semi automatic weapons are not assault weapons. Secondly, when it comes to the portion of the second amendment discussing "militia", where do think the people of the militias got their firearms. The AR of the day was a musket. If the civilians that formed the militias did not have similar weapons used to attempt to bring tyranny upon the colonies, would the militias have successfully stood against the British? Disappointment, hopelessness, corroding morals, and lack of education have caused the problems we are taking advantage of now. Playing on people's emotions to gain political ground has been the psychology politicians from both sides have used since the beginning and banning semi automatic weapons is just one more false solution being offered up by the uninformed or the politically motivated. I work for the government, even so, I believe the people should be able to protect themselves to whatever means necessary. Why don't we see examples of responsible gun owners defending themselves and others with firearms? Overbearing government and tyranny have to have the means to exist and a well armed civilian population is the gate that is to maintaining liberty if the need approaches. In addition to that, 911 response is not efficient enough in most cases, to provide protection in a hostile home invasion. The ways encroaching upon us, in more than ways than just the gun issue, is the turning from self reliance, self responsibility and self provision and turning to the ALMIGHTY federal government to provide, protect, direct, and provide escape from responsibility. Installing in them more power, more control, and more determination to rule than to represent and using basic psychology to pull it off.
The stats are out there, folks, look at the FBI and DOJ stats, if you really want to speak your mind from an informed point of reference.
The highest violent crime and murder rates in the US are in the areas with the tightest firearm restrictions.
Chicago has among the strictest laws in the nation and averages GREATER THAN a murder and a half per DAY.
This isn't up for debate, it's hard data.
The areas of the country with the least amount of restrictions on law abiding owners, that allow concealed carry, enjoy the lowest rates of violent crime of nearly any civilized nation in the world.
This isn't random, there's a correlation, folks.
Criminals are scared of being shot. It really IS that simple.
People have been waiting decades for the streets to start running red with blood due to the proliferation of concealed carry licensees.
It hasn't happened yet, so why do some think allowing them to carry "legally" in one additional location will be a game changer?
Good God.
Does anyone in this country think with their mind instead of their emotions, anymore?
"What if a teacher "snapped" and started killing our kids"?
Ok, if a teacher was really capable of this, do you think he/she would either: A) care whether it was legal to carry near your children, or B) actually be deterred by such?
If this is an actual concern, and not simply hysteria, why do we not see our children beaten severely, on a daily basis, around the country, by those whom we trust implicitly, (so long as they don't "legally" arm themselves, and admit it)?
Why do we not see wild west shootouts on every street corner over folks cutting in line, or bumping into us, etc?
The reality is, most who legally carry do their best to avoid confrontation, because the armed individual REALIZES they have an even greater responsibility to avoid conflict, as they ARE armed. By extension, most who carry often have a higher level of self awareness and "situational awareness" than others, and are able to see trouble coming sooner, because they are more aware of their environment. Those who are scared of the mere presence of firearms in your vicinity, and think their simple proximity increases the "threat" of violence..... you may want to never leave the house, ever again.
MILLIONS of law abiding citizens carry concealed, each and every day.
I guarantee you, if you go to the store, mall, church, wherever, in public, you have passed by at LEAST one armed person in your travels, each and every time.
These are your doctors, lawyers, pastors, teachers, neighbors, friends, etc, not just "gun kooks" looking for trouble.
Please, think with your brain, and look at the facts and statistics. What you "think", and "feel" and are "scared will happen" have no backing in statistics, crime stats, or historical data.
Quite the opposite, if you will simply do the research and inform yourself, instead of making emotional assumptions that are false.
Not only would I send them, I would feel safer knowing that they were in less danger because someone was there and able to stop any threats that may arise
Most of the mass killers were angry young men. What's to prevent one from getting hold of the teacher' gun and using it ?
There has to be something that is causing kids and adults to trigger off like this. Is it natural gas leaks from springs and rivers and in praries? is it chemicals added to the beverages we drink, is it the pesticides they use on the farms for our food? is it mad cow disease or some other mad-livestock disease? is it people who were bullied?
How about the teacher has a confrontation with a student and he/she settles it with a bullet! The old "stand your ground" excuse. Teachers will be killing kids left and right, especially black kids.
We have teachers with mental problems; just look at how many teachers have sexually exploited our children, mental problem! How many teachers do not like some of their students? You are giving them an excuse to kill a child. You know like "stand you ground law" . If a deranged person comes into a school, church, movie, and has an assault gun, they will have the fire power to kill many people. We DO NOT need military weapon & bullets on our streets. Let the NRA see what those bullets did to those babies and teachers; those babies little bodies were probably mutilated, since they say the children were shot more than once.
If any other President was in office .... there wouldn't be all this going on. They would pull those weapons of war off our streets of America.
Oops. *you're.
I know many teachers (my mid 60s parents included) who are always legally armed when outside the school proper.
Can someone explain to me why your ok with your kids in the grocery store (or anywhere else) with them but not in the classroom?
A lot of the anti gun argument here seems based on emotion or "what might happen." We already know what DOES happen.
Why empower the homicidal maniac? Disarming his victims isn't the best idea. Ever notice how these always happen in "gun-free zones?"
I went to college in the Bronx where every single student had an m1 rifle in his or her dorm room. Strangely there was never a single shooting,
in 2011 only 5 of the murders committed in New York State murder is used to rifle of any kind let alone an assault rifle. it's a mental health issue not a gun issue of the 300,000,000 guns in the United States less than a fraction of 1 percent of ever been used by criminals to murder.
The people who ask this question all agog at the thought of armed teachers forget history:
A couple fo the early school shooting attempts were stopped by teachers on school grounds who had access to arms. This idea is not a foreign concept, at least it shouldn't be.
Secondly, it wasn't all that long ago that kids would come to school on opening day with their guns, check them in at the pricipals office and check them back out at the end of the day so they could go hunting. It wasn't all that long ago that many high schools had shooting teams. There were no mass shootings.
The anti gun liberals have managed to erase these facts from many people frame of reference, and want us to be horrified at the thought of armed teachers. Its a bunch of liberal BS, and Americans should know better than to listen to the gun banners.
Teachers or just guards, like the one Obama and David Gregory send their children to?
I am concerned that the availability of guns in schools just makes the use and misuse of them more likely and with that, the likelihood of injury and death would rise. I question where the guns are kept to ensure that students cannot get hold of them. Also, the classroom can become intense and emotional, and it only increases danger to have such weapons available. As a side note, I would think that a teacher who brings a gun to school and their employing agency could be liable for injury when the teacher uses it or if a student or other person gets hold of it and uses it.
Absolutly I would. If I had to choose between a school that didn't allow teachers to carry guns or a school that did, I would choose the school that did (provided they have training on how to use it). If a teenager (which most school shooters are) knows that teachers can carry guns to school the likelihood of them trying to or successfully carrying out a school shooting would go down. Mostly, overall, this absolutly should not even be a discussion. There is this thing called the right to bear arms. Stop trying to take our rights away.
No, I would not want to send my high school freshman, nor my third grader to school with teachers that are armed. I work in the school as a reading tutor, and just one week after the Newton shooting my school had a "threat" in which we had to go into a lock down. I work in a small, rural, Minnesota town.
There are more opportunities for an armed teacher and a situation to go "bad" than for that teacher to protect the students.
It is inconceivable to think that a disaster would not happen as a result of firearms in schools. Both student and teacher deaths would be inevitable. We have a highly trained military and police force that is prepared and drilled for every possible circumstance. Despite this how many innocent people are shot by police every single year? What teacher has this type of training to instantly analyze a situation to a degree that must be better than the police? The police will shoot you if what you are holding even resembles a weapon. What are the teacher guidelines? There are millions of people with quick tempers. It doesn’t matter if they are college professors there are a few seconds where logic is thrown out the window unless you are trained. Why put a gun in their hands in this instant? How many teachers will lose their weapons while in the school? There is nothing that is not eventually taken or misplaced. Will schools have special gun lockers? There is no room for error where this is concerned with millions of people involved. Lastly how many people have gone through school and said they had on absolutely crazy teacher. The answer is virtually everyone will admit to this. Teachers do not make great wages and they are often stressed out. They suffer every bit as many personal problems as anyone. They are not superior super humans. They have to leave all of their issues at home every single day and teach our children. Who would dare say that it is “impossible for a teacher to go the proverbial POSTAL”? In the extreme but guaranteed circumstance of a crazy person(s) attacking with military level weapons and protective gear happens what will be the teacher response? Miss second grade teacher will jump into the room like an NCIS agent and save the day. It is her pea shooter versus a rifle that will blow a door off its hinges and shoot through the walls as if they weren't there.
We used to carry guns to school. FFA sponsored Skeet Shoots, on school property. No mass killings, no riots, not so much as a hang nail. It's because we were taught values, morality and love for God, country and family. God was not a dirty word. No profanity in the music we listened to.
It is a culture problem. Taking away the rights of law abiding citizens is NOT going to solve the issue..
We as Americans trust our kids with their teachers everyday. Why would having our teachers(if trained) armed be a negative issue. We leave our kids with these people everyday. If people think that the teachers having a weapon would put the kids in danger, they don't realize that trust we already have with these people. I think that this is an extreme change to what we are use to but change needs to happen and what is the best way. I do believe that some of the ideas of getting rid of some models of firearms, isn't the answer. These guns are out there and there is no way to change that. We can only protect us and others from them and stop some from being able to purchase these weapons. Most of the weapons uses in a negative manner are taken from responsible owners. People who have issues and want to use a gun in a negative way, will! People with issues will find a way to harm others if that is what they intend to do, guns or whatever they decide to use.
Teachers... please teach your students about the Bill of Rights.. and what happens when individuals LOSE their individual rights (Check dictatorships)..
ask yourself would you rather have a law abiding citizen in possession of a firearm, or a deranged person.
In the 1950's those in power wanted to remove firearms from African Americans, why? In order to control them..
Common sense question, "If no one knows who is carrying a weapon into school legally who knows who is carrying one illegally?" If a person (teacher) has the mind set to kill someone, do you want them teaching your children? A majority of normal people cannot kill unless they are already "nuts".
What's wrong with America. Guns should NOT be allowed in schools... or churches... or grocery stores... or shopping malls... or hospitals ... or you-name-it. What is this country afraid of?
As a parent & grandmother I was shocked to hear that the teacher you had on your show from Utah was an "Armed Teacher" in her class room, but the shocker was that she is a " SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER" I'm sorry but there is no way I can accept any teacher in a classroom with children especially those children with special needs with a gun. They need your undivided attention and care, and a gun has no place in their environment. It only takes a second for a child to get their hands on it. Then to hear that the parents don't have the right to know!?! That's unspeakable. That would NOT happen in New Jersey. I feel bad for those children & parents. That's just wrong.
The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun shoot him!
Questio:...What happens when a teacher has an arguement with a student who might hit the teacher and he or she pulls out a gun and shoots the student and claims self defense.? or when a student attacks a teacher and takes their gun away,then uses it to shoot others as well as them selves ? Think ....NO GUNS IN SCHOOLS.......just providing another easy access to a gun when same problems could have been handled by calling the parent ot Principle.
I leave my children in the care of teachers 8 hours a day. That means I have left their lives in their hands. Teachers have a right to bear arms to defend themselves and their wards. I only ask that they be well trained in handling the weapon and actually defend my children when the time comes.
I bet parents are informed about their children lunches and how nutritious they are.
I believe if you do not want weapons in your childrens school, those kids should be pulled out of school and home schooled. Stop paying school taxes and eventually, as the attendence goes down, also less Federal money will go to the schools. To even think that one glorified lobbyist is shoving his ambitions onto the rest of the country is ridiculous. The NRA has 4 million members and his job is to sell more and more guns. They care about nothing else but sales.
I also believe there should be an escape route in each classroom. A door children can run out of to safety. You do not tell them to crawl in a closet when there's a fire, so why have them crawl in a closet with a shooter in the school?
Having a 'Carry/Conceal" permit doesn't mean the person holding the gun is prepared to kill. If you are not prepared to shoot to kill, then you should never have a gun around children. People who are scared of the weapon and using it are many, many more times likely to have it used against them AND the children. Personally, I believe there should be NO guns in schools but if the people in the area so choose, at the very least, the carriers should be former or current law enforcement/armed services. The expectations of the school boards in Utah are irrelevant as far as ability to use the weapon if the law says differently.
These are just a few things the schools were NOT allowed to do (with or for my child) - without my written consent/permission - while he was a K-12 student here in Montana:
1) Take him on a field trip - such as to a museum or a park.
2) Have him take nationally approved/certified tests such as: IQ tests, achievement tests, diagnostic tests (ie: to measure developmental delays, emotional/mental health, etc.)
3) Participate in sports such as football, track, basketball, etc.
4) Use corporal punishment as a way to discipline him. (For the sake or argument, I will acknowledge that many parents around the USA do not consider spanking to be corporal punishment).
Is written, parental permission (for the types of things I have listed above) required in other states? Parental consent in the above-stated examples seems to make sense to me. I do admit, however, that I occasionally got exasperated at the non-stop parade of notes and letters (brought home by my son) that required my written permission/signature. At times, I would even think: "Gosh, can't these schools do anything without my permission?!"
Still, I dutifully read every note and letter sent home by the school. And I willingly signed my name on most - not all - of them. What I have since come to realize is this: the schools respected and legally acknowledged the importance and necessity of me - HIS PARENT - being involved in AND having the final say in his educational process. In retrospect, I am VERY relieved to know that the schools could NOT do most things WITHOUT my permission - as they pertained to my son.
I wonder if parents in the State of Utah - which legally grants the right of any/all teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools - are required to provide written consent for the types of things I mentioned above. If so - or even if not - I wonder what types of things/activities DO require written, parental consent in the State of Utah. I DO know that written, parental consent is NOT required for any, non-specified teacher to carry a concealed weapon.
In conclusion: the State of Utah has knowingly and purposefully (for at least twelve years) NOT involved parents in this LEGAL decision! It is a decision that could have life and death consequences for the students of its schools. Yet, I am sure the schools in Utah have to obtain parental permission for their students to - for example - go on a field trip to a museum of science.
If I lived in the State of Utah today and had a child attending Utah schools (public or private), I would be outraged at the lack of respect and blatant disregard the State harbors for the parents of children attending their schools. I would demand that the State take immediate action to ensure parental involvement and decision-making power in this critical law. I am not even judging (at this point) whether it is right or wrong for teachers to carry concealed weapons in schools.
Don't get me wrong: I absolutely adored some of my son's teachers - especially some of the zanier and off-the-wall teachers who were "out of the box" type thinkers. They inspired and encouraged creativity and growth in my son. They were invaluable to my son and his intellectual growth and progress.
HOWEVER: Not in a million years would I have been okay with most of these teachers carrying concealed weapons. Many of the characteristics which made them such amazing educators were also the ones that would have made me fear for my son's life if they were carrying concealed weapons. These irreplaceable men and women became teachers to inspire and educate our sons and daughters. I seriously doubt they were thinking about carrying concealed weapons as a vital part of becoming an educator. And if carrying a concealed weapon were to become a requirement for teaching, how many truly GIFTED and extraordinary individuals wouldn't even bother to sign up? What a tragic, unnecessary waste of our natural resources this
do these teachers that legally carry guns in school go through psychlogical and mental behavor testing to make sure they can properly handle themselves and those they are suppose to protect under stress. law enforcement people do.how do we know that one of these teachers doesn't go postal ?
I vote a resounding NO, and I'm a teacher who will NEVER carry a gun. Never. The day that this is forced upon me is the day I will quit teaching, as that will be the day that education died.
Last night you had a guest, a Utah elementary school teacher who said she was looking into the option of carrying a concealed gun to school. She contradicted herself on several occasions.
1) When asked if she thought parents might have concerns if they knew teachers were carrying she said she was sure any parent who watches the news knows teachers are allowed to bring guns to school in Utah but she also said she herself only recently learned she could carry a gun to school. If she, a teacher for years in Utah didn't know why would parents be expected to know.
2) When asked how her students might feel about her carrying she answered they would feel safer yet when asked another question she said her students would never know she was carrying a concealed weapon.
3) When asked how she would deal with a person carrying an assault weapon she answered she wouldn't herself carry an assault weapon because she couldn't conceal an assault weapon.
I have respect for her for being a teacher but someone who cannot think an answer through logically without contradicting him or herself for an interview how can that person be trusted to make good decisions under fire? It's not a teacher's job. They are not trained in that way as law enforcement officers are.
Maybe it's not just the guns that's the problem....maybe it is the violent movies and video games being fed by Hollywood into a few sick and unstable minds. Ed has you all worked into a froth about guns, he says let's get our savior, the government, to fix this for us!
Calm down and think this through folks. Those shooters all gave signs of being disturbed and needing help. Let's ask why nobody stepped up and stopped them before they were armed and had plans.
Where a teacher could help is if he heard shooting elsewhere in the building, his gun could be unlocked and he could effectively defend his students and bring it quickly to a stop. If the entrances to the school are monitored and/or guarded, a shooter will be seen and stopped. Maybe no or only only a few lives would be lost, far fewer than if no one had any way to stop it. I personally would feel much better if I knew a few good teachers or security guards were armed and prepared to defend again the rare crazy kid set on doing harm, first to others, then himself.
These teachers who would carry a gun to school are seriously mentally disturbed!
Are we all insane?! We must get the semi and automatic weapons and their amunitions unavailable. The NRA should be held accountable for any deaths where these weapons are used.
Absolutely not. As if teachers don't have enough to worry about during their day. Low budgets, unprepared or problem students, their own personal issues now these idiots want to add a gun to their daily agenda. I would never send my child to a school knowing she would be exposed to a loaded gun everyday. Furthermore, I would be livid if I later learned that administrators had the right to conceal one. Finally, if a mentally disturbed person who wants to do harm and violently kill can get their hands on an assault weapon, load it and use it to kill; what makes these knuckleheads who support this foolishness think they can't get a bullet proof vest to protect themselves from the teachers. This is madness...we've got to stop this. God help us.
A disgrunteled jewlery designer shot and killed his former boss a block away from the Empire State Bldg. As the killer walked down the street police moved in to "neautralize" him. There were 6-8 Police officers on scene to do the job - The killer brandished his weapon, suicide by cop no doubt. The problem is that these police officers, HIGHLY TRAINED, needing to score near perfect scores at the range missed their target - ALOT - 28 bystanders were hit by "stray bullets and shrapnel" One lone gunman - Lets say 6 Cops - Gunman fired 0 (ZERO) rounds - Cops shot 60 some rounds. The Police are HIGHLY trained - What the Hell makes anyone think a TEACHER or PRINCIPAL will be able to pull a weapon and fire with precision without second guessing or shaking and trembling - They ain't trained for this, they will never have that much range time - This is a major league compounded cluster F**k idea of a magnitude that will not be fealt until a TEACHER with a GUN and the STUDENTS die. Just because someone has a gun and can shoot at a range doesn't mean they can pull the trigger on another human being - It is NOT in the human make up to just kill our own, thats why it is a crime when we do.
Carol, a teacher in the midst of classroom instruction with a concealed weapon holding 6 bullets is no match for an assailant with an assault rifle that fires 6 bullets a second!!! Semi-automatic weapons must be banned, teachers should be armed with textbooks and computers only - and we all must insist that our legislators follow every recommendation from the Biden committee as fast as humanly possible!!
All staffs need to be equipped with a pushed bottomed device connected to police, ems and fire department in case of emergency ..you waste time getting on phones for 911 calls during panic situations. Not Guns!
Absolutely no gun in classroom. If teacher leaves gun in an open area for easy access, any second it can be fired because it's easy to access. If teacher leaves gun locked, it only brings up students' curiosity to find out what's in the locked drawer and leads to unavoidable accidents; further more, when in emergency, there is no time to find the key then to unlock the drawer. Therefore it's only going to injur your students or yourself at some point of time. No, no, no gun in classroom.
I cannot believe how many ignorant people there are. I am a teacher and have been carrying for the past 5 years. Know one even knows I have a concealed permit. The law says that the weapon has to be on my person at all times, so the chance of a student finding it and using it is next to impossible. If the situation ever were to arise, I have no plans on trying to be a hero or vigilante. I would follow our schools lock down procedures and be ready if the gunman were to come into my room. I believe most people that do carry are avid, responsible shooters. NOBODY is trained for a situation like the school shooting that have happened. Maybe there is a reason that no one has ever tried to shoot up a school in Utah, and believe me we have plenty of crazy people here. For all you naysayers, I ask you to picture yourself having to go into that kindergarten room, or having to identify your 6 year old daughters, bullet ridden body. Then tell me it would have been a bad idea for that principal to have had the option of shooting at the gunman and maybe scaring him off, instead of sacrificing herself in a feeble attempt to restrain him. Think about it!
No way......I work with K- students...they need protection..not a teacher with a gun!
In no way teachers should be allowed to carry guns. It is insane. We need gun
control such as background checks, registrations and permits of all gun owners just as we need a licence and registration for driving a car.
Kids find EVERYTHING. There is nothing in my house my grandma can't find. Even when I think I have the perfect hiding spot. I'm talking to you about a 4 year old. No way should guns be put in schools. In a panic who knows who is going to be hit. Can a teacher live with that mistake? They are paid to teach not be a police. They have to fight for their pay. They don't want to have to fight for another job pay too.
As a retired NYPD Sergeant, I find it hard to equate teachers armed in the classroom to an armed law enforcement officer who has received invaluable training in firearms use and safety.
The job of an educator is very different from that of a police officer who is constantly trained in ways to deal with hostile individuals, as well as ways to diffuse hostile situations. It is a far cry from breaking up a school yard fight.
Law enforcement training changes the manner in which you view all situations. Working as a law enforcement officer enhances this perspective. It permits you to react instinctively to dangerous situations.
The teachers who choose to carry concealed handguns in their classroom lack this perspective. Their job does not provide the training needed to face an armed intruder.
I would feel very comfortable sending my children to school if their teacher had a permit and a gun. I live in Utah and most of their teachers possibly already have a gun. I don't know. I am comfortable around guns and gun owners...I do feel that the teachers in the recent school shooting would have give everything they had to be packing a weapon just to save the lives that were taken.
What happens when the teacher has mental problems, their spouse left, or all the other things that make a person go off the deep end? That person has a perfect storm, but I guess teachers don't have these feelings like other people. The NRA has their bases covered with this insane law that solves nothing.
Most teachers are good people that simply want to teach your child but remember some don't have enough judgement to keep from having sex with their students and we want to give them all a gun? I think not!!
Ed is surely including the 'crazies' so that we of sounder minds can see where they are coming from - a scary place indeed. Then we have the benefit of intelligent counterpoints. On Fox , I'll bet the viewpoint is 100% pro-assault rifles for everyone. When I saw the teacher from Utah (how good could HER vision be for operating a firearm??) she provided for me even stronger feelings about NOT arming teachers. Teachers with guns -No, No, No! NRA statements - Sick, Sick,Sick.
I am a teacher and hold a license to carry a concealed weapon. I would NEVER be comfortable having my handgun with me at work. Where would I keep it? Certainly not in my purse or a desk drawer where a child could access it. It would have to be in a locked box, separate from the ammunition. I can just hear myself (not) "Children, go to your lockdown spot while I find the key, unlock the box, get the bullets, and load my gun!"
My job is to teach my students and keep them safe. We have a crisis plan/lockdown procedure that works. I can't imagine leaving the children during a dangerous situation to play commando.
If I was a deranged lunatic out to shoot up a school room, I would shoot the teacher first if I thought he/she might be armed. Then there would be no one left to help the children.
i carry due to my profession and know that theres no way that the kids would not know if a teacher is packing. the safest place to keep your gun when your in public is on your person. what i wish ed would ask a teacher is exactly where would you conceal your weapon during the school day? in the desk? in a pocketbook?
By allowing teachers to have guns in the classroom we are assuming that teachers are mentally stable at all times. School districts that support this law need to rethink its position on allowing teachers to carry guns at school.
I would want to know: how was the teacher trained? What is their understanding of the use of deadly force? What are the legally determined rules of engagement for an armed teacher? Who is indemnifying the teacher? How much will the school district's insurance go up and who will pay for it- the NRA? How well can the teacher handle the weapon? How often must they be retrained? What weapons are permissible- if multiple weapons, then the teacher must prove proficiency. If they must be trained and prove proficiency, then they need paid time off from school to train and be certified. How much will that cost? Who buys the weapons, repairs them, etc. How will that be paid for? How will they be safely stored in the classroom? Worn at all times? On safety? How stored after school hours? I have a lot more questions, but I bet Republicans and the NRA do NOT have the answers!
A Gun plus an angry person is a fatal mix.
What about schools like Red Lake in Minnesota where the gunman was a student who gunned down his teacher, an older lady. Would she have been able to pull her gun, if she was armed, and shoot a student that she taught everyday. I really doubt it.
Where would they keep these guns? What if they lost their gun to a student? Too many ifs for me. If my child's school armed their teachers, or allowed gun on campus, I will withdraw her and homeschool her.
If the school board doesn't know if a teacher has a concealed gun, how the hell do they know if the teacher is keeping the gun safely away from the students????????
My husband is a high-school teacher.
If he had to teach armed, I would demand he quit the job.
He can't assemble and lead the kids to protect them, while attacking a shooter at the same time.
In a case like that, many would die.
I would rather he worked to protect the children and leave the shooting to trained law enforcement on campus.
The school and law enforcement community should provide trained officers for campus protection.
My husband is a high-school teacher.
If he had to teach armed, I would demand he quit the job.
He can't assemble and lead the kids to protect them, while attacking a shooter at the same time.
In a case like that, many would die.
I would rather he worked to protect the children and leave the shooting to trained law enforcement on campus.
The school and law enforcement community should provide trained officers for campus protection.
Teachers carrying guns in school, how ridiculous! There is something really indifferent and callous about this.
As a parent and teacher, i would never allow this. I wont teach in a school with guns and my kids wont attend a school in which adults are armed.
I cannot believe that any sane, rational parent would think that this is a good idea! I want to know if there is a gun in the hands of any staff member (whether it is a teacher, secretary or administrator) at the school I have entrusted with the care of my child. If there is, my child will NEVER set foot on the property again. And, they had better be ready for a major court battle! If it comes down to needing armed personnel present on school property, it's homeschooling from now on. The teacher from Utah who supported this idea does not speak for the majority of educators in our nation. It's time to stop listening to supporters of guns in the classroom and seek a sane solution to this horrible situation that does not require our already overburdened, underpaid teachers to add "packing heat" to their resume. D.B. Cyr, Medford OR
People snap most of these killings have come from people we would not have suspected.
I would not send my children to a school where the teachers carried guns. I believe that we
would have some teacher mis-interpreting that a child had a gun.....could be a silly joke of bringing a plastic gun to school....the police have had instances where they thought someone was carrying and have opened fire and they are professionally trained with experience. Another scenero, a child gets caught in crossfire. No, there are too many instances where mistakes can happen.
We need to have good gun protection laws that work for everyone. I am in favor of a National Registry of all weapons owned and sold, restrictions on the mentally ill and laws relating to parents keeping guns out of the hands of juveniles untill they too are old enough to be registered gun owners. There should also be classes for those purchasing guns. Lastly there should be more care given for our mentally ill with followup on who and where they are.
I'm going to blame television. too many shows where the good guys never gets hit or might be wounded. Imagine a schoolroom where a teacher shoots over the heads of the kids while trying to protect themselves? Police rarely hit their targets in these situations, but, you want someone who has been to the range to be your fallback in a gunfight? Kids better start practicing like we did with the atomic bomb scare ducking under desks...as if that was going to save us or them. If a kid is shot by the teacher who gets sued? If the teacher owns a gun, but, is too afraid to act, will they be held liable for not defending the kids?
Victoria- I couldn't agree more, and I also couldn't phrase that more perfectly! If only those who think all should just walk around carrying guns saw that!
First grade teacher like mother at school, eventually becoming oldest active teacher in Virginia. Times change. When I went to school 6 yrs old I had a pen knife like other boys to play games with. Now can get expelled, but teachers can carry guns. Are progressing!!
Why arm teachers with guns, this is a poor idea. It would be better to arm teachers with a panic button, which is link to a trained arm response unit. This panic system should be located in key areas, additional to each employee of the schools having a panic button at their access incase of trouble.
How dod you know the teacher does not have issues. Some people hide there problems well.
Schools are places to learn, not be a target range.
This is the most insane idea, don't these people know that the last two shooters in Aurora Co. and Newtown Ct. were wearing body armor. A teacher with a gun would have not been able to do a thing unless they had sniper training.
If God forbid Newton had happened in an uppity rich blue blood prep school, the rules would have been on the books b4 the week was out, but since most of the violence victimizes inner city Latinos and Blacks - no great nig to do. The NRA is indeed the new KKK. Also the NRA is a PROFIT motivated LOBBYING group. The more guns and bullets are sold, the better it is for them. That's their job. Why would they want to cut their own throats by being party to legislation that'll take money out of their pockets.
Hopefully the legislators will also remember thumb/fingerprint activated guns.
Not only would I not send my child to a school where teachers had concealed weapons, but I would not teach at a school where teachers were allowed to have concealed weapons.
Statistically speaking, people who have guns in their homes are far more likely than those who don't to die of gunfire. They die of suicides, family quarrels, accidental shootings...having guns around is dangerous. When a teacher brings a gun to school, it's there waiting for bad "stuff" to happen: Teacher leaves it in an open handbag and a small kid goes to play with it, an older kid aims at a young enemy. Teacher shoots someone she thinks is carrying a rifle, which turns out to be a closed umbrella. Teacher forgets to put the safety on, slips on the ice and lands on the weapon, which goes off randomly.... Guns are dangerous in the hands of untrained people. Even the best trained police officers occasionally make errors...or blow away selves or spouses on a bad day...because a gun is a weapon, easy to use on the spur of the moment, hard to use correctly and safely. Really, why do we think a kindergarten teacher will have the savvy to properly manage a weapon. It only takes one mistake.
Maybe a target range on the playground? & cheeky.
What's next? Armed guards in church's and places of worship?
Really. Get rid of assault guns and Hi-cap magazines. Now.
It would be safer if the teachers were armed with mace, pepper spray or use a taser gun on a person who was armed and entered a school.
Everyone needs to remember that it was the NRA that has introduced the concept of arming and training teachers to become gun-toting educators. The NRA goal is to get more guns sold. Teachers are asked to do so much and do not get the respect that they deserve, and now we're asking them to carry guns and defend classrooms too? The idea of armed teachers is appalling and not the way to go. We need to reform, improve and enforce gun laws. Let's not dilute the gun issue in America by deflecting to mental illness either. Unfortunately, we live in a violent culture.
I am a teacher. I can't keep a pencil without it being stolen. You'd have to have it locked in a safe in your desk. If they're over the age of 10, don't think they don't know it's there. If you have an incident in your school, while you are unlocking and loading your gun, who's taking care of the children.
No, no, no, I would not let my child go to a school who would allow any teacher to be armed.
I feel an armed teacher is telling the kids its not safe to be in that school.
It also might teach a young child its fine to carry a gun when they are teenagers, there has to be a better way to protect our kids..
Maybe put alarms on all windows might be a starting point to protect our kids.. let a principle have a weapon but not a gun in every class room..
I would hope that teacher's unions, administrators, and PTA's across the country would rise up against the right wing nut-jobs who think this is a good idea.
#EdShow This is insane on so many levels, but where exactly has the line been drawn? Are Bus Drivers permitted to carry a loaded firearm? Cross-walk Monitors?
We have enough problems with some teachers restraining and harming children. Not only would I not allow my children in a school with a loaded weapon, I as the parent am responsible for my children's safety and a teacher who is an UNTRAINED and UNSEASONED person can't be trusted to react correctly and another thing to consider "What If" the teacher is mentally unstable??
Certainly not. Some schools might want--or need--armed guards. But a gun in the teacher's reach is a threat to students; and a gun out of their reach is no use to anyone. Glad my kids are not in school any more. I'd put them in private school before I would send them to a school with armed teachers.
C. Cain - a teacher in a special ed - she could be disarmed by a one of her students -what a nightmare!
Teachers are in school to teach. They are not there to engage in combat with weapons situations. This is why we have police and SWAT teams. What happens when an angry 16 year old overpowers the teacher, takes the weapon and uses it?
When my daughter was young, I did not let her visit her friend`s house who`s parents had guns.
I think the teacher's responsibility is to teach and help children grow, not be on guard duty. If we want guns in schools they need to be on police officers, whose job it is to be prepared and constantly trained to use their weapon. I want teachers to focus on teaching, not being prepared to deal with a shooter.
I think the teachers at Sandy Hook were so professional in that they put the kids in an area of safety and reassured them they were ok. Imagine if they just stood there and witnessed the teacher shooting someone. The children need the teachers full attention to bring them to safety especially in a CRISIS.
Also, if the teacher had a hand gun and is caught off guard by a nut with a semi-automatic- the teacher still would not stand a chance.
Also, OUR second amendment rights are taken away by having semi-automatics. One losses the ability to protect oneself with just a hand gun, right? Then I would need a semi-auto, then what? Then we need grenades and bombs??? SO WRONG!!!
I don't believe the teachers should be armed, however, there should be armed and trained security officers at the schools.
No armed teachers - and especially NOT without the knowledge of the parents!
I am disgusted that The Ed Show has now become a platform for the pro-gun crazies. Two nights in a row Ed has feature pro-gun crazies who want guns running rampant in our schools. I am no longer going to watch this show, Ed clearly is a NRA-loving pro-gun crazy. Bye bye. The next mass murder of innocent children is on your head, Ed.
Not all teachers can be trusted! Not all of them are fair when it come to our children. There are klans teaching school and what would keep them from shooting a little Black child, just for being Black.