Armed Teachers
I don’t have an issue with armed teachers. Arming them, not a fan of. But, in TN, there’s a proposal to do that:
A member of the Republican-controlled legislature plans during its upcoming session to introduce a bill that would allow the state to pay for secretly armed teachers in classrooms so, the sponsor told TPM, potential shooters don’t know who has a gun and who doesn’t.
And a bill in VA to require some to be armed.
My objection to these aside, I also don’t think it’s good PR for gun rights.
December 19th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I wonder if there isn’t room somewhere for something resembling the Flight Deck Officer program. Without the federal government involved.
December 19th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I agree with you on the VA bill requiring armed teachers, but I see no problem with a state offering free training and a Glock to teachers who request it (assuming that they can pass a background check [and if they can’t, why are they allowed in a classroom in the first place]).
December 19th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Cart/horse inversion. The first thing you fix is that you change school safety rules to treat active shooters the same as a fire or bomb threat. Get the kids OUT!
December 19th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Don’t Forcibly Arm the Teachers. Just let those Citizens who have their CHPs and just so happen to WORK as Teachers be allowed to Concealed Carry in the Schools. And the Bus Drivers, the Cafeteria Ladies, the Librarians, etc. And make it the same at the University Level.
December 19th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Why is everyone imagining that we’re going to force teachers to carry a gun? That’s idiotic. Of course, that would be how the Left would do it. Anything not permitted is banned and anything not banned is mandatory.
The Tennessee law merely mandates that ALL Tennessee schools have armed security. It offers them a choice of hiring a dedicated School Resource Officer OR getting at least one staff member to train and carry. The school has the choice of how to do it.
I know that the gun haters will try to turn it into another “OMG THE STATE IS GOING TO MAKE YOU CARRY A GUN!!!111Eleventy!” That’s how they always handle abortion. But there’s no reason that we should follow down that same stupid rhetorical pathway.
December 19th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Yeah, I agree, we shouldn’t force them, but we also shouldn’t ban them.
In fact, I think its a pretty powerful PR move to suggest it. It actually may take years to accomplish- like CCW- but we need to get it started now.
December 19th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Can you explain why it is a bad PR move?
A well crafted school security program might look like the FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) program, better known as the Armed Pilots program, instituted after 9/11. It should be administered at the state and local level, but could include these facets:
1) Volunteers from the school staff, with a target of about 5% of the staff strength in each school. They must apply for and qualify for the state concealed carry license, and be further screened carefully. While many teachers will not want to apply, there will be enough volunteers that will feel that they want to be part of the solution.
2) They provide their own weapons, specified in advance to be compatible with local police weapons, gear and accessories so that they can take advantage of local training resources.
3) Provided training in self-defense tactics and weapon retention, with refresher courses & requalification every 3 months. Gun skills are not hard to learn and are not expensive to teach. This part of the program could be funded by the state.
4) Their identity kept secret, and their weapons kept concealed on their person or locked at all times. They become part of the school’s security team and its security plan.
Note that none of this is unprecedented. Some Texas school districts have a similar policy. In addition, the State of Utah permits ALL persons with a state license to carry inside a school, including teachers and staff. There has never been a school massacre in Utah.
Yet, for whatever reason, gun control advocates froth at the mouth and call this a “crazy solution”. Apparently, they think that the “national conversation about guns” really means “shut up and do what we tell you”. Sorry, a conversation is a two way dialogue. Nobody should be naive. Schools are presently unprotected zones where everyone in the school is unarmed and defenseless and can be slaughtered by a criminal or crazed killer who has been guaranteed a safe working environment.
December 19th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
I dont think that teachers should be required to carry if they dont want to but those who do wish should be allowed to WITH NO RESTRICTIONS like “must keep gun unloaded” etc.
Here in Uinta county Wyoming I know some teachers who would gladly carry if allowed to do so. One, a 4th grade teacher, said she feeels like she’s in a free fire zone with all of theose “no guns” signs literally inviting a whacko to come on school grounds and commit mayhem with no one able to stop him.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Just eliminate this “gun free zone” nonsense, and everything will work out for the best.
December 20th, 2012 at 3:20 am
Those who think that having maybe 5% of staff being armed is good enough, what do you have against all the other kids in the unarmed classrooms?
What makes you think the armed ones are going to hunt down some whacko that is killing kids in another part of the school?
From what I’ve read on the blogs, a good percentage of those who ccw, WON’T take on a mass killer in a public setting, unless cornered and forced to. You think this is going to change with teachers!?
Those of us who have the mindset to move toward the sound of guns, instead of leaving with the crowd, are a minority. Unfortunately.
If you aren’t mandating that a large percentage of staff must carry, then it comes down to the odds that the shooter picks the “wrong” classroom to hit. That sort of gambling is what casinos are for, and why I think it should be mandatory for staff to be armed. No gun, no teach.
On the plus side, think how many progressives would bail out of the teaching business, along with those who aren’t allowed to be around guns 🙂
December 20th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Will,
I think the 5% is a bare minimum. I’d hope that places would have a higher rate. If schools are new, maybe they’d like to pilot the program (something that schools like to hear and do) for a year and see how it goes, then they can move to a larger scale implementation.
Since I teach at a small school, five percent is only one or two (really one and a small part of a second) people per school…and that includes maintenance and other staff. That is an easy goal to get. I would think that we would get many more volunteers for such a program.
December 20th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Will,
I think the 5% number is arbitrary, but the idea is to find some sufficient percentage number to create a deterrent. Gun free zones INVITE shooters by declaring at the gate that they will meet no resistance. Having some number of personnel armed might create second thoughts for an attacker intent on a spectacular rampage. If he picks the wrong class, he might be die without making the news. I LOVE your idea, though, that training and arming teachers might deter progressives from the profession. It also might open up some closed minds. That has been my experience as a firearms trainer.
December 20th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
“From what I’ve read on the blogs, a good percentage of those who ccw, WON’T take on a mass killer in a public setting, unless cornered and forced to. You think this is going to change with teachers!?”
The Sandy Hook principal confronted the murderer with NOTHING. A teacher who cares enough to carry will most likely view an attack on their charges as cornered and forced to.
I don’t think mandatory arming of teachers makes sense, but offering training as part of paid in-service time seems like a great idea.