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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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Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:35 | 3069973 quintago
quintago's picture

Zirp is good for you. On a side note I think I'd prefer there wasn't a gun in a classroom full of inquisitive kids

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 08:31 | 3070723 DanDaley
DanDaley's picture

What makes you think kids are inquisitive?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:23 | 3069939 BullyBearish
BullyBearish's picture

This is what we should be focusing on, not disarming America:

http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html

 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:15 | 3069914 butchtrucks
butchtrucks's picture

Be wary of Obama. His plan is to destroy the 2nd amendment and confiscate our guns.

The answer of course is MORE guns not less - both for teachers AND school kids. If the kids had been allowed to take the same semi-automatic guns into their classrooms as the psycho then he wouldn't have stood a chance. The kids could have opened up on him and brought this thing to a rapid conclusion.

But noooo - the libtard gun control lobby make it impossible for kids to have guns in the classroom - leaving them totally vunerable to lunatic like this.

In an ideal world ALL kids over the age of five should receive firearms training and be allowed to take their guns to school for self defense purposes. Combine this with training in how to identify and take out 'bad men' as soon as they enter the classroom and this sort of atrocity would never happen.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:33 | 3070234 The Heart
The Heart's picture

You don't see this happening in isreal because everyone including kids are armed!

Maybe they should ban guns there too so the SSRI drugs do not cause american kids to turn into killer clowns for babylon's gun control agendas.

Quite simple really.

.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 00:54 | 3070272 cynicalskeptic
cynicalskeptic's picture

Yeah... that's why there  are bombs, rockets and missles going off all the time...... 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:37 | 3069977 absente reo
absente reo's picture

I feel sorry for you.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:40 | 3069960 psychobilly
psychobilly's picture

No! The answer of course is for the government to declare a War on Guns.  When government is serious about fixing something, it declares war on it.  We need to throw more police (with guns) and more prisons at this problem, along with more government surveillance, SWAT raids on homes, random checkpoints, and snitch programs.  Problem solved! 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:14 | 3069913 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Got a crimminal gang in Washington and on Wall Street. Better protect yourself somehow. Those suckers killed like 500,000 no sweat over the last decade. Maybe a Star Trek phaser would be better.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:05 | 3069891 Gmpx
Gmpx's picture

Where are the roots of America's obsession with guns?

Is it because US does not win in real wars?

Is it because American are too fat to fight with fists?

Is it about medication, computer games, movies?

It is very difficult to understand looking from outside.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:13 | 3069909 Sabibaby
Sabibaby's picture

It's because bad people reach high places with a lot of power and responsible people need to keep those people in check.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:45 | 3070382 brettd
brettd's picture

King George's tax & spend policies.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:40 | 3069990 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

uh huh.

that's working out real well. . .

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:19 | 3069928 Gmpx
Gmpx's picture

Do you mean you need guns to deal with elected politicians which you elected? Sounds weird.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:05 | 3069890 hawk nation
hawk nation's picture

I say from now on we use the george kastanza rule with liberals and whatever they propose we do the opposite

 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:58 | 3069878 Schmuck Raker
Schmuck Raker's picture

The author lost me at the link:"... a way of our life."

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:55 | 3069872 wisehiney
wisehiney's picture

Give us school choice. Armed teacher school. Unarmed teacher school. The truth will be revealed when the when the commie weasel parents do not wish to have the only victims in their school, so NO CHOICE! And yet they scream for the right to kill babies......  

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 01:49 | 3070389 brettd
brettd's picture

Nearly all public/civic servants must report child abuse/domestic abuse/threats and the like to "authorities."

Yet "privacy" concerns prevent "The authorities" from telling the public at large that there is a threat in their midst.

Insanity.  

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:31 | 3069805 Cosimo de Medici
Cosimo de Medici's picture

If the answer to too many guns is more guns, then is the answer to too much debt more debt?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:01 | 3069884 Schmuck Raker
Schmuck Raker's picture

I think you are confused Cosimo.

The answer to too many people is either more debt, or more guns.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:48 | 3069856 LFMayor
LFMayor's picture

If the answer to too many mathematically and reason challenged liberals is even more effeminate liberals...

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:44 | 3069840 Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

Winner, winner. Chicken dinner. Johnny, tell Cosimi what he's just won.

Right Sandi. Cosimi, you've just won an all expenses paid (by you) trip for you and 7 billion of your closest friends to the fabulous vacation destination, World Bankruptcy.

How can we afford to pay for all these fabulous prizes? Simple. We can't. And neither can you.

So enjoy it all now, before the creditors make us turn it into a homeless shelter.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:40 | 3069827 Vooter
Vooter's picture

But of course it is--lazy, stupid answers for lazy, stupid minds....

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:29 | 3069801 Vooter
Vooter's picture

How is arming teachers going to stop the next person who decides to shoot up a train, or a casino, or a supermarket, or a basketball game, or a beach, or a church, or a piano recital, or ANY OTHER GATHERING OF HUMAN BEINGS? Wait, let me guess--ARM EVERYONE, right? LOL...can't wait until the next massacre. America deserves it.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:25 | 3069792 Danielvr
Danielvr's picture

One thing that strikes me as odd about these gun control discussions is that everybody seems to agree that homicides against regular decent people are committed by 'criminals', 'bad people' and 'nut-cases'. They're not! The majority (and again, I'm excluding criminals killing eachother) are performed by regular people like ourselves who for one reason or another end up in an uncontrolable fit of rage -- something that even the most level-headed among us may experience once or twice during their lifetime -- and happen to have a gun available.

So here's my point: If you would arm teachers, there's little doubt to my mind that the number of killings in schools would increase dramatically. Simply because out of the 7 million teachers, several thousand each day have serious confrontations with students or with parents, or suffer a mental breakdown, or get fired or otherwise end up in situations where emotions can run very high. Even if only one out of those thousands each day would snap and shoot somebody, you'd be looking at a five- to tenfold increase in deaths. I for one would never trust my kids to a school where teachers are armed (but neither would I want to raise them in a society where that is perceived as necessary).

Where I live, in the Netherlands, you can have a gun if you've been a shooting club member in good standing for at least a year, are a mentally sane adult, have no criminal record, and agree to store your guns and ammo in separate vaults (if you opt to keep them at home), and a compliance officer from the police dept will inspect your vaults and guns each year. Or you can be a hunter, and some different requirements exist. So, you can have guns, but requirements are pretty strict, and as a result many times fewer people own guns than in the US. Likewise for criminals, not just because most don't need them (their prospective victims being unarmed as well) but also because illegal possession of firearms is punished harshly. What our laws do not recognize, contrary to those in the USA, are the right to have a gun for the purpose of self-defense (you'll have to make do with a baseball bat, a sword or a kitchen knife until the police arrives), or the right of the populace to defend itself against the rise of a potential tyrannical government - for that, we'll have to rely on the solidity of our democratic institutions. Whether that is good or not is debatable, but the bottom line is that we have 15 times less gun-related homicides (per capita), and 30 times less gun-related unintentional fatalities than the US. And, perhaps more importantly, I'm quite sure that most people here (rightly) feel much safer for it.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 09:03 | 3070788 Vooter
Vooter's picture

What you don't understand about America is that gun nuts aren't *really* interested in protecting people--they're just interested in guns....

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:25 | 3069787 shuckster
shuckster's picture

Its our redundant control system. if any one here would have been in the situation, we would have intuitively lunged at the shooter and taken him out. or we would have swung a sharp rigid object at his head and rendered him incompetent. instead everyone cowers in fear. in fear of our own jew run government which loves seeing the blood of filthy goyim spread through the streets. this kid was jewish, just like all school shooters. they inherently hate the gentiles. its in their dna to kill us. it is in the interest of our survival to recognize this threat 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:05 | 3069743 redd_green
redd_green's picture

yeah, that's pretty fucking smart.  lets keep handing out assault rifles and doping people up with psychotropic drugs, but go ahead and put guns in teachers hands to fix everything up.   Dumbass.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:31 | 3069804 Gmpx
Gmpx's picture

If they sell tanks in shops we can give teachers anti-tank missiles.

If they sell nukes in shops, every school will need an underground shelter.

Is not it a problem of what they sell in the shops?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:06 | 3069745 Body of Lies
Body of Lies's picture

You know it may just have something to do with the moral decline of the population. The last election proved that we are not the people we once were and with no moral underpinning, no teaching of our history, entitlement mentality running rampant, truth optional, a feeling of victimization, and finally with a Hollywood standard where everything is resolved with violence it might not be chemical.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 02:09 | 3070410 roygbiv
roygbiv's picture

sorry I was distracted by your half-naked icon.  What were you saying again about moral decline??

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:40 | 3069675 ThisIsBob
ThisIsBob's picture

What's the BFD?  Americans have killed thousands of children with drones and rockets and bombs.  Karma's a bitch. 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:57 | 3069726 pine_marten
pine_marten's picture

Yep Bob - This nation is totaly pyscho.  No wonder the young adults are coming unhinged.  Nothing makes any sense.  Warmonger in chief gets the Nobel Peace Prize?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:40 | 3069989 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

"War is Peace. Ignorance is Strength." what was the third one George Orwell warned us about? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four That's right..."freedom is slavery." as i've said before "the only way to win is not to play." ONCE YOU GIVE GUNS TO TEACHERS WE HAVE LOST. It really is that simple. Schools are designed by prison companies for a reason folks...no, it's not so that everyone gets along better. For all our foreign viewers out there (ABC News, copyright, all rights reserved 2009-2012) I do agree we do give the appearance of tearing ourselves apart right now. didn't i just post a Rodney King "can't we all just get along" query little over a week ago? anywho unless and until we have a discussion on how horrific events such as these are designed and planned with the media in mind (did we learn nothing from 9/11? was security just heightened prior to this event as well?) then simply "indeed we are just waiting for the next one." and i would like just once for the President to say we need to put aside our PARTISAN differences on these matters and not our POLITICAL differences. Obviously no one is "for this" Mr. President. No one of course but for the people vowing revenge upon us for their murdered loved ones in the war we have been engaged in for over eleven years now. Which means we really do want to get to the bottom of what actually happened...yes Big Media? Yes Mr. President? I mean "i wasn't scared until i only read of the tremendous acts of heroism and the need for healing." And that was it. Know what i mean? Or am i "way out there again" by saying this?

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:35 | 3069664 flacorps
flacorps's picture

I know how aggravating my kid can be. I would worry a lot if teachers were armed.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 02:00 | 3070403 brettd
brettd's picture

Suddenly, teachers are morons and emotionally ill-equipped for difficult situations?

According to BHO and the NEA, they're the saviors of the next generation.

Can't have it both ways.

I have a "solution":  Any teacher who goes through the training required of a Deputy Sheriff (Say in Cook County, Illinois) gets a pay bump of 5.00/hour while "on duty."

Guarantee you there will be thousands of "highly qualified" teachers bearing arms after a few weeks one summer training at "the Academy."

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 23:23 | 3070085 Harbanger
Harbanger's picture

"I know how aggravating my kid can be."  You're their parent and you're proud of it, you should be ashamed.  Who's responsible for his behavior?  Is your kid mentally ill?  Culturally we've become a bunch of shameless, blaming pussies.  That kid's going to be a stone around your neck for a very long time.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:22 | 3069784 Slightly Insane
Slightly Insane's picture

Every kid deserves a "pistol whipping" every now and then .... just to keep them in line .....wait a minute, you mean as teachers we can't administer any punishment?  Spend some time around the principals office in either a public grade school or high school ..... and you will be amazed at the changes 20 - 25 years makes.  They (Principals and Superintendents) are some of the most unreasonable and uncomprimizing individuals on the planet.  Ditto for the administrations at public colleges. 

(I had a grandson put his hands up to prevent his teeth from being knocked out, while the assailent beat the "crap" out of him, and guess what ..... zero tolerance towards fighting .... that somehow telling a kid to "piss-off" results in a five day suspension for "fighting".  Any school board member that signed up for this is either "nuts" or a "moron").  I explained to the principal that the way we settled disagreements (fights) in the past was to ask the two kids involved whether their issues were settled or not, and if anyone wanted to carry this matter into school sanctioned suspensions.  It worked.  Why did they abandon what worked in favor of a system of punishment that does not work, is not just, and results in "bad feelsings towards school administration.

The ACLU, Lawyers, Sociologists, Psychologists, and education experts (largely Communists)(I may have missed a few) are largely responsible for the lousy school system that we have today, and I wish we could turn it back into what it was when it was successful.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:38 | 3069673 Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

That's LOL funny. I probably wouldn't be here today if teachers were all armed.

Mon, 12/17/2012 - 15:58 | 3072223 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

do teachers use pharma?

such as anti-depressants, etc.?

we know the answer is "yes" - now, do you want them armed?

home school.  the alternative is turning your kids over to the system. . .

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:32 | 3069652 DavosSherman
DavosSherman's picture

I taught.  I felt like a target having to unload, case and lock my gun in my locked vehicle to obey the law, a law killers have time and time and time and time again disobeyed.

Guns aren't bad.

I hate them.

But I know, for a fact, there are nuts out there and waiting for the cops has time and time and time and time again, not proved effective.

If you want to be safe and keep your family safe, no matter how much you hate or like guns, get trained, get trained really well and get a CCW liscense.

 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:32 | 3069808 Slightly Insane
Slightly Insane's picture

Cops are there to write the reports .... long after the crime has been committed.  If you wish to combat the violence, then you need the proper tools, and wisdom (training) for it.  How many more of these Laurie Dann cases do we need before we will recognize the fact that the only way to deal with violent forces like these is with the proper tools and training.

 

What ever happened to the radical muslum that killed a bunch of unarmed soldiers in a cafetaria?  I say, everyone has both a duty and a responsibility to protect those incapable of providing their own defense (children), but then again I'm old fashioned. 

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:28 | 3069644 Supernova Born
Supernova Born's picture

http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2012/12/15/against-monsters/

Arguing volunteer, screened teachers should be trained and carry in schools.

From Massad Ayoob, a very well-respected police officer, firearms trainer and expert witness.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:27 | 3069641 Canucklehead
Canucklehead's picture

Arm the teachers on a voluntary basis and bring back firearms training/shooting as a part of the school curriculum.  The instruction in the use of firearms will teach kids to act responsibly and the physical location of a small armory at the school will give those who volunteer to intercede a fighting chance.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:25 | 3069636 Go Tribe
Go Tribe's picture

Something just doesn't make sense about school security protocols, i.e. why teachers are told to huddle in their classrooms when there's a shooter inside? Let's see, gunman enters school and all the ADULTS are supposed to individually hide behind closed doors while children in the room next to them are being slaughtered? How about instead, they are trained to rush these nutjobs and disarm them? From the number of shots fired, this CT shooter had to reload at least 6 times, ample enough time for 3-4 adults to take him down. Hit ratios are a lot higher than most people think. For TRAINED NYC police, the ratio is 28%. So assuming this shooter was as thoroughly TRAINED in hitting live human beings as a NYC cop, then he would have to fire 3-4 shots before hitting anyone. And hitting a moving target is even harder. Maybe teachers should be instructed to gather and then go after the shooter (just like pre and post-911 hijacker protocols). And even better: give every teacher a taser and a kevlar vest to virtually eliminate the chance of them being wounded.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 22:39 | 3069987 Freddie
Freddie's picture

No way he was the only one shooter in CT.

I agree with you.  You hear gun shots - you pull the fire alarm and everyone runs out of the building like it is a fire.  As fast as possible.

This approach would have saved many at this school and Columbine.   You don't stay in the ****ing building.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:37 | 3069671 Dr. Sandi
Dr. Sandi's picture

Head shot, bitchez.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 20:26 | 3069632 westcoastjan
westcoastjan's picture

You have to be freakin' kidding me! Arm teachers?!? Great, let's arm the janitors too, and how about the crosswalk guards while we are at it. Put up more video cams and security screenings. Hell, let's just give everyone a gun and live in freakin' paranoia of the nutcases! Give it a rest will ya. We don't need more armed people, we need less! This from a person who was in a school shooting and re-lives it everytime a new one happens. For every one bent person that does this there are thousands more thinking about it. We need to make sure that those thousands can't get their hands on the guns to put their fantasies into play.

Sun, 12/16/2012 - 21:46 | 3069843 LFMayor
LFMayor's picture

West Coast Jan, whatever happens, no matter what, STAY WHERE YOU ARE. We don't want you fucking idiots polluting any other states. We don't need you here. We don't want you here. Stay put and enjoy the Elysian paradise you have constructed.

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