With the shooting events at Columbine School and Virginia Tech on their minds, the small school district of Harrold in North Texas has passed a new rule, and it’s causing debate around Texas and the country. Starting this term, teachers in the district can carry concealed firearms as long as they are licensed and trained in use of guns. In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.
Governor Rick Perry of Texas has backed the policy, and suggested that he would fully support other districts doing the same thing with similar safeguards. So the argument starts. Are schools better off gun-free with no one having the ability to fight back, or responsible teachers being armed and trained to defend against those who would attack without regard for life.
Sounds easy to me. The school has authority called In Loco Parentis which gives them authority over the child in place of the parents during the time they are in school. If I am a parent, I will trust the responsible teacher packing before leaving the school open to savage attacks by the irresponsible who know they are attacking the vulnerable and defenseless.
Society is tired of being victimized, and this is yet another example that they’re not taking it anymore. I’m Gary Sutton.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Who do you trust when it comes to guns?
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6 comments:
Who do I trust? Myself. And I want my children to feel the same way.
You're asking for trouble whenever you delegate your personal safety to someone who may not have anything beyond a professional interest in you. Not all teachers are willing to risk their lives for their students, and it's foolishly naïve to presume otherwise.
Your best defense is to be personally trained in the use of a firearm, and personally equipped with a firearm. Anything else is a crapshoot.
(Another point that should be noted about this particular school district... the nearest police station is a 30-minute drive away. It would be impossible for police to respond to a school shooting in time.)
"....designed to minimize the risk of a ricochet in school halls." Well as long as the risk is minimized. This seems like a knee jerk reaction to a few very unfortunate instances. Bad things sometimes just happen. How would gun toting professors have faired against the gunman in the clock tower on the campus of UT? What if the Va Tech kid had waited until after class and shot up a dormitory full of students?
Teachers AND staff (custodians, secretaries, cafeteria workers, too?) packing heat in a school? Boy there's a lawsuit waiting to happen, and I'll bet they'll be lawyers lining up to jump in the first time there's an 'accident' with that one.
Absolutely no way would I consider carrying a weapon to school when I was teaching. If somebody else wants to do it, I say, "Be my guest, pal, and good luck."
travis,
You propose we equip 8 year olds with firearms? I feel like I'm in some twighlight zone where all common sense and rational thinking is thrown out the window. The thing that is worse here is that many of those supporting this vain attempt to protect the defenseless are the same people who are all for the atrocity that is the Iraq War. A peventable tragedy vs. a freak situation. Some people are truly insane. This really is the WOW Blog.
There's a reason I mentioned training first. But yes: if the person has been trained in the proper use and handling of a firearm, I support their right to carry regardless of age, race or gender.
And for the record, I don't support our troops being in Iraq—or most any of the hundreds of other nations they're currently stationed in.
The teachers and school district better be making sure they get good liability insurance for this one.
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