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Arm Teachers To Save Our Children, Now

Econophile's picture




 

This article originally appeared on the Daily Capitalist.

I am sure that all of you are as shocked and saddened as I am by the mass murders of little children and their teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is very difficult to read about this tragedy and the precious young lives that were lost. It is one of those events that stops the whole nation and causes them to mourn the dead yet appreciate the beauty and fragility of life at the same instant.

It is difficult to accept that this is the reality of America. Mass murders are becoming a way of our life. Seemingly one event inspires others to commit further brutal acts. We think that violence on this scale is something that happens elsewhere, yet it happens here with regularity.

We need to protect our children.

Already there are calls for gun control, more intervention with the mentally ill, and greater safety at our schools.

Gun control or gun prohibition will not happen in America. Guns are too prevalent and there is the Second Amendment right to bear arms. (You can argue against the purpose of the Second Amendment, but the Courts have upheld citizens' right to own guns: accept this fact.) Americans won't stand for prohibition anyway. It's a part of our national fabric. And we all know, despite the trite saying, and despite bans on firearms (see New York City), criminals will get guns. It is impossible to keep guns out of the hands of someone who wants one. Thus, bans on assault rifles, for example, won't put a dent in the problem (the shooter at Sandy Hook also has two handguns. Accept the fact that there are guns out there and they are here to stay.

Intervention with mentally disturbed people is an even more difficult task. Would Americans allow a law that permits the detention and treatment of people who haven't committed crimes? There are too many stories of Soviet and Chinese tyrants using such a law to arrest enemies of the state. I was listening to a criminologist who has studied the common factors that these disturbed mass killers have and he said it's easy to add up the symptoms after the fact, but there could be a million people who have similar symptoms who don't go on killing sprees. Accept the fact that functional but mentally disturbed people will get guns and we have no power to stop them. I am not advocating that dangerous maniacs have guns; I am simply pointing out the reality of the situation.

School safety? The killer in the Sandy Hook event broke the door open to get in. It was admirable to hear how the teachers handled this crisis. They were scared but calm and did everything right, carrying out well rehearsed safety plans. Yet 2o children and 6 adults were killed. Would a guard at the door have prevented this? Is one guard enough? My thinking is that this guy would have shot the guard at the beginning of his spree. Forget about metal detectors; he wasn't asking to be let in. And what about safety in other public places, such as the Clackamas shopping center in Oregon, or the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, or a large campus like Virginia Tech. Can you have enough guards? Is total protection feasible much less affordable?

There is no easy answer to this problem. But I suggest two things.

1. All schools should have a video monitoring system with a designated person on campus to monitor it. Can all schools afford this? To protect our children, I would pay whatever it cost for my district. I know that some schools already have such a system installed. But do they have a designated monitor? With well placed video monitors at least staff would have an idea what was happening in such an event and could respond better. The principal of Sandy Hook, Dawn Hochsprun, and the school psychologist, Mary Joy Sherlach, bravely ran toward the shooter when they heard shots and sadly they were killed. Perhaps a control center and a defensive plan would have helped save their lives.

2. Arm some teachers and staff members so they can protect themselves and our children. I know this will get a big reaction from those against firearms, but think it through in light of the reality of the issues that I have outlined. It is not possible to prevent these tragic shootings before they happen, so sh0uld we leave our children unprotected while some maniac walks around and shoots them at will?

I am not talking about handing out pistols at random. Teachers and staff members must volunteer to be in such a program. They must be trained extensively in the use of handguns and be given instructions on how to handle panic situations. This type of training is given to police officers. Police departments could give such instruction and certify that those who pass the course are capable of defending themselves and our children. Annual certification should be required. Weapons should be kept in a gun safe in classrooms with the key in the teacher's physical possession. Supervisory staff would keep them in their offices and some would carry them at all times. Skeptics will say that poor little Miss Smith is not capable of such responsibility, but I disagree after hearing interviews of the brave teachers who protected their students at Sandy Hook: they were willing to risk their lives to save their children. Some gave their lives in doing so.

So what would happen in such an event where teachers and staff are armed? If they act according to their training they will kill or subdue the gunman. They could also be killed or injured, but is their slaughter and the slaughter of children more preferable? I am not suggesting that teachers go Rambo, but with proper training they should act according to a defensive plan that will protect their students. They should fire their weapon as a last resort. If they act with a calm head they will save lives. I am not saying this is a panacea for such a complex problem, but until someone figures out something better we need to protect our children, now.

 

NB. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a gun enthusiast. I don't hunt or spend my spare time cleaning my arsenal.

 

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Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:42 | 3070594 Overdrawn
Overdrawn's picture

Can see the benefits for classroom management, like behaviour wouldn't be a problem and I bet the students would get their homework in on time...........but, say the teacher just doesn't like you???   

 

Or say the teacher has just found out they have been dumped by their partner, fired by their boss, their favourite team has just lost a major trophy, the day ends in a 'y' or whatever........  Wouldn't want my kids in a classroom with an armed teacher.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 12:36 | 3071253 NeedtoSecede
NeedtoSecede's picture

If I am not mistaken, the state of UT and some districts in TX allows teachers with proper CCW to carry in the classroom.  I haven't read about any massacres there lately, and I haven't seen any of the mayhem by teachers that all the anti-gunners claim will happen either.

Someone in DC probably grooming some psycho as we speak to attack a school in UT.  I should just keep my mouth shut before I give anyone at .gov any ideas...

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 12:07 | 3071192 JohnFrodo
JohnFrodo's picture

The first time a teacher goes postal they will install remote fire stations in everyclass room. Eventually the parents will sue for the right to control the fire station, thereafter the teachers give all students straight A and no homework.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:26 | 3070825 Winston of Oceania
Winston of Oceania's picture

There is no way of preventing that now dolt.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 08:25 | 3070708 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

You present a good argument for abolishing "public" education.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:57 | 3070604 Supernova Born
Supernova Born's picture

If a teacher was "fired by their boss" (the principal here in the States) they wouldn't be in the building anymore.

All that other crap is delusional nonsense spewed by a "subject", not a citizen.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:10 | 3070566 SunRise
SunRise's picture

"A gun only has one real use. To kill or seriously injure another living animal, be it rabbits, deers, humans or whatever."

You've missed at least one important real use for guns -> To PREVENT serious injury to another human being, animal, or property.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:22 | 3070576 Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

I like guns when they make people jump into swimming pools and start racing like porpoises.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 05:53 | 3070557 sproggingforbenefits
sproggingforbenefits's picture

An interesting answer to too many guns is to put more into the system .. 

Deranged people plus guns equals disasters. You need to remove one, or both, from wider society.

Removing automatic, semi automatic guns is fiddling at the edge.

The more you see & hear you understand that Americans accept such outcomes as 'collateral damage'

How sad .. 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:29 | 3070830 Winston of Oceania
Winston of Oceania's picture

 answer to too many guns

 

Starting off with a false premis leaves low hanging fruit for the less adroit amongst us supporting your lie...

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 05:32 | 3070531 Surprese
Surprese's picture

An amendment of 1791, when there were hostile natives, bears, cougars, and the guns only had one bullet, can hardly be an excuse not to ban semi-automatic weapons.

Norway is the country in Europe with the most relaxed weapons law, and look at what happened.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 11:42 | 3071132 TheBillMan
TheBillMan's picture

Yeah, a crazy guy "magically" got ahold of a police uniform and a machine gun.  Nothing suspicious about that.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 05:16 | 3070529 Troy Ounce
Troy Ounce's picture

 

It is not a gun problem. It is an American problem.

 

Deal with it America, you're the mental institution.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:32 | 3070840 Winston of Oceania
Winston of Oceania's picture

"

"Percentages give us a better mental grasp on the problem

Of knife single mass murderers that are known to us, (11 at present), two in the USA, one in Germany, most have been in Asia, and most have targeted children in schools. Similar to the copycat active killer murders by firearms, the frightening factor with mass murder by edged weapons is that 25% of these occurred in a two-month period between March and May 2010, (China). Of the 11 mass murders by a single person using a knife known to us, there were 46 murdered, and 139 wounded. The average mass murder/attempt knife incident resulted in 16 casualties. In 92% of the cases, the specific weapon of choice was a knife. The remaining 8% was by a single actor with a meat cleaver who caused 9 murders and 12 wounded. "  read more at http://www.spartancops.com/edged-weapon-mass-murder/

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 04:22 | 3070501 Notarocketscientist
Notarocketscientist's picture

Better Idea!!!

 

Why not hire mercenaries (plenty of them available as Afghanistan winds down) and put one in each classroom.   This could be a huge make work project that also does some real good!

And also have some back up mercs waiting in the cafeteria who can rush to a classroom that is taking fire.

Bernanke can also direct some of that printed money to pay for all this.

 

Seriously people - America is completely FUCKED.   The empire is over

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 03:31 | 3070475 Area Man
Area Man's picture

now imagine some clever kids try to steal a gun from their elderly and slightly less alert teachers and then brag with it.

..

countries with citizen surveillance and weapons everwhere are called "empires of evil" in other areas of the world..

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 02:41 | 3070397 Overdrawn
Overdrawn's picture

Sorry, but if you want me to take a gun to work your telling me my life is in danger therefore I want a multi-million dollar salary.

 

Think it would be a better idea to place an additional tax on arms manufacturers and ammunition suppliers and use the money to provide armed guards at schools, cinemas, shopping malls and anywhere else their products may cause death or injury.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:42 | 3070856 tmorris
tmorris's picture

Hay a$$h*!#, It is your a$$ as well as others you would be protecting.  Thinking you should get a multi-million dollar salary to do so is screwball thinking.  There are plenty out there wo would do it for a lot less.  How many people are in the military you selfish, coward, puke! 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:34 | 3070844 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Another Tax.

Yeah, that will fix it.

Tool.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:50 | 3070390 CoolBeans
CoolBeans's picture

Agreed - many of us have said this for years. 

Teachers and administrators are in charge of our most precious gifts and they (if normal, trained and highly qualified) should carry concealed weapons to protect the children.

 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 05:22 | 3070533 Surprese
Surprese's picture

Didn't get if you mean it or just being ironic.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 11:47 | 3071143 CoolBeans
CoolBeans's picture

I am in agreement with the author - 100%.  I am a CCW carrier and believe teachers should be as well.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:32 | 3070348 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

All that training and background checking to teach; why not to carry a .38 revolver?

12 Teachers and a Principal each with a 6 shot .38 revolver could take down most wackos like this kid pretty quick.  Double-action trigger pull too much for most kids but safe and effective for adults needing it.

But, in the U.S.A., appearances and words are more important than reality - so the insanity of blaming inanimate objects will continue.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:18 | 3070324 onlooker
onlooker's picture

----- The Heart--------------

Your link is truly a mind blower. I suggest all that see this should go there. astounding

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:26 | 3070221 The Heart
The Heart's picture

Here is a link for background research into the history of these kinds of events involving SSRI drugs. It is not the guns that kill, it is the drugs that do. Banning of these kinds of drugs is the only way to stop this insanity. We all must also uncover the criminal mind-controllers behind the puppets that do this.

Check it out and pass it on to your lists people. The crime of this happening is way to insane to let go on and on and on.

http://www.ssristories.com/index.php

.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:52 | 3070600 BigDuke6
BigDuke6's picture

Thought I'd pop onto Zh from my hols in the boonies to see how the community was dealing with the 'mom was a prepper' revelation
Not well by the looks

Arm the teachers
Blame Prozac
The kids were collateral damage

Take a look at yourselves Wake up
You can't have theright to bear arms if it means arming every pyscho out there
That guy was a loon and mom armed him to the teeth
'Big pharma'?
How bout big profit from smith and Wesson ?

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:12 | 3070200 cjbosk
cjbosk's picture

I see "guns", "no guns" type of arguments etc. Or the "we need to help the mentally ill". Really? How about let's fix the family unit first. Perhaps starting with not dropping babys off at day care for someone else to raise...the system gets the kids earlier and earlier and we expect a good outcome?

Come on people, kid snapped out of jealousy that mom spent more time with other kids than she did with him. Yes, he was NUTZ, but these killers have one thing in common, they all were desperate for attention from mom/dad et. al.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:04 | 3070177 Kastorsky
Kastorsky's picture

you don't need no armed teachers.

Just kill PHARMA

(and then the banks, naturally)

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:44 | 3070133 Pharming
Pharming's picture

You know...all I've read...where is God in any of this?  Maybe if we wouldn't have taken God out of every situation we come across, be it school, federal buildings, television, etc...  Tebow?  He's a moron right?  Did you go to your Holiday Party for your work function this year?  PC wuh?   PC?  Where does it take you?  Farther away from God.  I'm not saying that this psychopath wouldn't have done what he did if he was from a family that truly understood what faith, hope and Love is about...but if he and his family were living as close as they could be like Jesus...the way it was taught, just maybe...well, I'm sure of it...he wouldn't have done what he did.

Guns...I think the problem is getting us Godly people to change the minds of the un-Godly people that threaten everyone else, but until then...I will have to defend myself against evil psychopaths and threats around the world.  When we can truly live as "one"...then I will scrap the metal in my guns. 

Thoughts?

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 05:00 | 3070524 Alpha Monkey
Alpha Monkey's picture

Good luck living as "one", while you view others with different beliefs than yourself as "evil psychopaths".

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 06:36 | 3070587 Pharming
Pharming's picture

Sorry you feel that way A.M.  I don't have a problem with other's believing in things different than me (unlike yourself).  You can believe in anything you like, "Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin",  I do have problems with other's that believe it's ok to take the lives of innocent people.  I do have a problem if your beliefs, that are taught to you by your parents or others, that take you down the road that killing or slaughtering anyone in the name of your "beliefs" is fine.  Are you saying that what that "equally evolved person" to you, did, was the right thing to do?  

Because honestly A.M. can you call what that young man did anything but true evil?  Please "enlighten" me on what you think was his major malfunction soldier?  

For me, a gun is the most convenient, legal and lethal form of protection against those "people that I think may be confused and think that it's ok to kill me or my family in the name of nothing or some illness or some horrible thing that their parents did while they raised them excuse".  There...if you noticed, I took God out of that last sentence and it still makes sense.  

A.M.  Do you have children of your own?  Have you looked into the eyes of those children that were slain how innocent and pure they were?  Have you looked into the eyes of a young Palestinian, Israeli, American, Chinese, Russian, doesn't matter where they are from baby / infant / toddler...  We are all born the same.  It's the teaching part that turns our hearts away from something right and good that makes us fear or hate others.  I agree with you that if I view others as "evil psychopaths" we won't become one.  

Quick example about what my parent's teaching can do, I remember the first time I DIDN'T laugh at my father's racist jokes.  I stopped something from that moment on that was dividing and "bad", sorry...my belief that racism is bad based on some guy (another teacher) that told me to judge a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin.  Racism is "bad" am I correct in that A.M.?

What do you propose this evil S.O.B should be labeled as regarding what he did?  Labelless?  Can you truly compare what this misguided, ill person did to anything that Jesus taught or other peace loving figure if you don't believe in Jesus taught?  I can hear you trying to argue, but...I think you just defended this guy because I called him an "evil psychopath".  Sorry bud, no defense for that dude.  Evil.

Good luck...if that's what get's you through life...luck.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:26 | 3070341 brettd
brettd's picture

Fellow believer: We live in a fallen world, where Barack Caeser is king. 

Even in his time, and despite the repetition & spectacular diversity of His feats, He was a "politically" marginalized character.  A Jew living in an occupied Roman State, after all.  

Any student of history has seen this movie before. 

Get your kids out of public schools.

Minimize your tax commitments.

Buy a little land with some water & wood.

Make and enjoy good friends (they'll let you know to watch out for Mrs. Smith's kid...He's "...a little off...").   That's how community really works.

 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 11:52 | 3071156 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

++

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:54 | 3070157 wisehiney
wisehiney's picture

Sums it up.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:32 | 3070101 sasebo
sasebo's picture

I have 3 small, 30-40 years old daughters, one of whom is a teacher & one has a CHL. Carry's a 9mm Glock. 

When they were 11, 12, 13 I asked them if they wanted to shoot my big Smith 357 magnum. They said sure & shot the shit out of it.

Please don't underestimate the ferocity of a little female under duress. They'll kill your ass. 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:37 | 3070369 brettd
brettd's picture

My wife (very liberal) is a victim of rape.

She has her carry permit.

For years, our (mainly) liberal friends have "hung out" with us, never knowing that 80-90% of the time, they're sitting/standing next to a woman with a firearm in her purse who is qualified and trained to use it.  

Can you imagine how the crime rate in Chicago's south side would drop if they gave the mothers some firepower?

 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:58 | 3070166 wisehiney
wisehiney's picture

They scare me more than any guy could. I had strong women in my family. Would not want to be the one to threaten them. A little "Annie Oakley" action at the next attempted school shooting would scare off the psyhcos and punks thereafter.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:12 | 3070059 alfbell
alfbell's picture

THIS IS THE CAUSE. WE KNOW WHAT THE SOLUTION NEEDS TO BE.

Thank you so much. This is excellent. This says it all people. Link put on at the beginning of a different ZH thread by "michaelwiseguy". These are professionals who are within these very camps (psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, pharmaceutical account managers, etc. etc.) shining the light of truth on the evil. This is contributing to the downfall of our country (they are taking this tack in order to disarm America and continue the totalitarian take over). I'm going to pass this on to all family, friends and associates (my whole address book). Please do the same. Let's make this go viral. Americans need to know the true cause and effect for these horrific incidents of violence... and who our enemies truly are.

The TRUE SOURCE of RANDOM & MASS SHOOTINGS and VIOLENCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhO0Pul_FcE

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:02 | 3070037 onlooker
onlooker's picture

 

 

Arming the Teachers or Principle may work for those educators who were unsure what to be when they grew up, a Pistolero, or an Educator. Like a Creator of Good Guys or a Destroyer of Bad Guys.

 

There may be a mis-match of objectives and personality types.

 

You want to put an exposed weapon Police Officer in each school? Maybe a blend of retired, off duty, military, or some “progressive thinking”. Maybe Washington DC could re-fund a project like that rather than un-fund the project.

 

In addition to beating the war drums of gun grabbing, maybe the “progressives” could arrive at citizen safety solutions. Like maybe a Home Land Security, you know to make us folks here at home safe and free of fear and danger. Maybe some electronic oversight of emails and stuff to get these nut jobs before they get us. Oh, I forgot Bush already did that and the Democrats then made it work better.

 

I don’t mind the high pitch shrills of Feinstein and crew about gun control, but where is the rest of the solution, and where were you before this, to protect our 5, 6, and 7 year old children? Did you help defund school safety and if not where was your outcry to keep schools safe?

 

The engagement is here and now, we are looking at safety in our homes, schools, work places, and public gathering places. One answer does not fit all. Gun control and armed teachers will not be a solution. Every one carrying a gun with a concealed permit is not gonna solve the problem. The government grabbing every gun they can get their hands on is not gonna solve the problem.

 

The problem is not gonna be solved with turning on the money printing press and government squander of a bazillion dollars. The problem is not gonna be solved by the NRA pushing back rather that stepping forward and calling out the Democrats to do some problem solving in addition to the long suppressed gun regulations that are going to become law.

 

The resources of thinking and innovation with the sole intention to have our children grow up is not going to happen. We are in one hell of a mess.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:50 | 3070263 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

Too many instances of cops in schools CAUSING more probles than they prevent - a tendency towards overreaction and a mindset that treats kids as enemies and sees ALL of them as potential lawbreakers.   The head of security  ( a retired cop) in our local HS is widely despised by ALL for his arrogant behavior and horrid behavior.  Ironically the one time a couple kids made a threat (wildly overblown) HE called in sick to avoid what might happen (knowing full well about the 'threat'.

Guns in schools would be NUTS - all knids of equipment gets stolen NOW - how long would those guns last?  Nevermind the nunber of theachers that shouldn't be allowed near kids in the first place much less access to guns.  Like it or not there IS a small number of absolutely HORRID teachers whose behavior should have gotten them fired years ago but they survive through the protection of tenure.  We've had 2 teachers nailed in online 'stings' trolling for underage sex... want THEM to have access to a gun IN the class?  

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:00 | 3070030 wisehiney
wisehiney's picture

Meanwhile 20 more kids killed this week in Chi-town. Iffen it ain't a honky shooter, it git's no covridge.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:05 | 3070043 billwilson
billwilson's picture

huh .... can you actually read and understand what you read?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:40 | 3069992 billwilson
billwilson's picture

Are you out of your fucking mind? 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:35 | 3069974 absente reo
absente reo's picture

Typical bunch of fucked-up gun-loving nutjobs on ZH who think the answer to everything is guns, ammo and gold.

 

 

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 03:54 | 3070488 foxenburg
foxenburg's picture

well, it's a good start.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:31 | 3069959 dolph9
dolph9's picture

Has anybody even mentioned yet that the shooter's mother was a prepper?

http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/shooters-mom-was-a-prepper/?cat_orig=us

 

Now of course I'm not implying that we should stop prepping, because I of course am one.  But everybody needs to take a breath every once in awhile, look in the mirror, and ask themselves about what they are doing.

If you hoard all sorts of exotic weapons to survive the attack of the government agents or zombies or niggers or liberals or whoever, there may very well be consequences to that that you never imagined.

Whichever side you are on guns are not something to be taken lightly.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 14:07 | 3071516 DosZap
DosZap's picture

Whichever side you are on guns are not something to be taken lightly.

 

Exactly, and common sense,is NEEDED rule #1.

Until our ELECTED legisature leaders take the role of responsibilty,and share the blame for this, and we also as WEAPONS owners(keep them under SECURE)under  lock and key,we as gun owners are not doing ALL we can.(this prevents 99% of  theft, and adolescence misuse.)

Weapons should never be allowed access, to anyone under the legal age to buy them themselves UNLESS under Adult supervison.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:53 | 3070270 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

Nobody's asking what kind of meds this kid was on.  

Asberger's Syndrome - you can bet he was on SOMETHING with his history and too many of the meds used to treat such issues have NASTY side effects - suicide, violence....

this has likely been an issue in past mass shootings yet nobody EVER talks about it.  Bad for big pharma.

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