Surely this is a bad idea

[Jag_Warrior]

Well, since you put it that way... I've changed my mind!

[Knock-on]

Well, since you put it that way... I've changed my mind!

Seriously though, you have such a gun problem that any half wit with a desire for fame and infamy thinks blasting a school to bits is a good idea. By eliminating guns from schools, you just leave them open.

[BDunnell]

Seriously though, you have such a gun problem that any half wit with a desire for fame and infamy thinks blasting a school to bits is a good idea. By eliminating guns from schools, you just leave them open.

And allowing ever more guns into schools isn't equally as bad, if not worse? Certainly, it does nothing to work towards a long-term solution to gun violence in schools. It's a bit like seeking to tackle paedophilia by giving every school its own child sex offender.

[SGWilko]

And allowing ever more guns into schools isn't equally as bad, if not worse? Certainly, it does nothing to work towards a long-term solution to gun violence in schools. It's a bit like seeking to tackle paedophilia by giving every school its own child sex offender.

I see and agree with the point you make. The gun situation in America is like the oil magnate situation around the world - too much money at stake and too much to lose.

Look at the legal suits being filed by the oil co's on 'anti competition' towards Tesla operating an electric recharging network.

If politician's were uncorruptable, then there would be a very serious move to deal with the mess and stop using the 2nd amendment chestnut.

Money money money............

[Jag_Warrior]

Seriously though, you have such a gun problem that any half wit with a desire for fame and infamy thinks blasting a school to bits is a good idea. By eliminating guns from schools, you just leave them open.

Let me offer just one (of the many) reasons why I think this is a bad idea. Let's say you have an incident involving an intruder in a school with a gun. As I've read this law, it allows not just teachers and administrators to carry firearms, but also volunteers. Are all of the volunteers known to every other person in that school who is armed??? The intruder produces a firearm and begins threatening people in the school. Two volunteers are first on the scene and produce their firearms. A teacher shows up and sees three people displaying firearms. The teacher only knows one of the volunteers. The teacher trains her firearm on the most suspicious looking, scared looking unknown person... who happens to be one of the armed volunteers. The volunteer also doesn't know the teacher. So he trains his firearm on the armed teacher, thinking that she may be a baddie too. While these two goofballs are in a Mexican stand-off, the actual intruder (who let's say has military training) shoots both of them and the other volunteer... takes their weapons and then starts on the kids. This stuff does not happen in slow motion, like in the movies. No one has time to sit & chat about the weather while it plays out. That's just one possible, troubling scenario that I see. Another concern that I have is that people without extensive SWAT training generally wouldn't be my first choice to have in a crowded, tense environment with a loaded firearm... well meaning though they may be.

Although I see these incidents as extremely tragic when they happen, the truth is, they do not happen all that often. And these knee-jerk, hastily thought out "solutions" don't seem to be very sound, IMO. So rather than devote people with actual police, paramilitary or SWAT training on these properties, some would turn loose a teacher, who is probably not emotionally prepared to deal with an armed combat confrontation, to deal with a combat/hostage situation. I'm not saying it would always end in tragedy. There may be that time when the teacher would handle it very well. But the risk is simply too high that this untrained individual would make a bad situation worse. There is also the question of securing the firearm throughout the day and still have it in a place where it is readily accessible. A firearm that you can't get to or (especially) one in the wrong hands is even worse than no firearm at all.

Over the years, I've had extensive firearms training. The person who taught me to shoot was a former military member, who was a cop and who went on to be in a Federal SWAT unit. And at least when I used to shoot a lot, I was a very good shot, with both pistols and rifles. And not to toot my own horn, but I'm generally not a person who scares easily or gets emotional at the drop of a hat. But none of that means that you'd want me wandering around the halls of a school, watching over your kiddies with my Glock on my hip. Compared to the average teacher, yeah, you'd probably want me. But in truth, you'd be better off without either one of us packin' heat in the local elementary school. If the problem is actually that real and that serious, then these people need to cough up the money and hire real deal security. All those guys coming back from the Middle East who can't find work... well, the ones who are emotionally sound and stable... hire some of them! Let teachers teach. Hopefully, that's what they do best.

[donKey jote]

Don't worry... the volunteers are being trained by Steven Seagal

[Rollo]

How long would it take for some students to work out how to devise a plan to steal the guns from their teachers?
If you had a student with a grudge against other students, then it gives them a nice opportunity to work out how to take them all out.

What happens if said teacher just flips out one day? They already have to work in a stressful environment with 20 or more sprogs. Letting them take a gun to school could help them to even out those numbers.

[steveaki13]

How long would it take for some students to work out how to devise a plan to steal the guns from their teachers?
If you had a student with a grudge against other students, then it gives them a nice opportunity to work out how to take them all out.

What happens if said teacher just flips out one day? They already have to work in a stressful environment with 20 or more sprogs. Letting them take a gun to school could help them to even out those numbers.

This.

It seems those who favour the guns approach fail to see this staring them in the face.

[TheFamousEccles]

How long would it take for some students to work out how to devise a plan to steal the guns from their teachers?
If you had a student with a grudge against other students, then it gives them a nice opportunity to work out how to take them all out.

What happens if said teacher just flips out one day? They already have to work in a stressful environment with 20 or more sprogs. Letting them take a gun to school could help them to even out those numbers.

My thoughts exactly!

[airshifter]

There are two sides to the coin, but most won't admit that and state only their side of the coin.

Downsides are making sure proper training, background checks, psychological tests, etc are as close as possible to being failsafe. Otherwise you have allowed a person to carry a weapon into a school.

But done properly such as with cops, is any idiot going to go into a school knowing how many armed people they might face? When has a nutter gone to a police station, military barracks or other more likely to be armed location and started shooting it up... and did the damage done against unarmed people?

Think about it.