Posted on 03/25/2005 4:32:35 PM PST by Crackingham
All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives -- including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday.
"I'm not saying that that means every teacher should have a gun or not, but what I am saying is we need to look at all the options at what will truly protect the students," the NRA's first vice president, Sandra S. Froman, told The Associated Press.
Gun-control restrictions would not have prevented Jeff Weise, 16, from killing nine people and himself Monday at Red Lake High School near Bemidji, Minn., said Froman, an attorney expected next month to be elected president of the NRA, which claims 4 million members.
The presence of an unarmed guard at the school failed to stop the siege, she noted.
"No gun law, no policy that you could implement now or that was already implemented, I think, could possibly prevent someone so intent on destruction," she said. "I think everything's on the table as far as looking at what we need to do to make our schools safe for our students."
Froman said if it is the responsibility of teachers to protect students in a school, "then we as a society, we as a community have to provide a way for the teachers to do that."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Alright, this idea sucks.
I would trust the students with guns long before I would trust the teachers. Has anyone been keeping up with the news? Every week at least a dozen nutcases get arrested for something or other. And I can personally verify that not all my teachers have been entirely... stable.
The schools already have police officers and campus detectives. Why can't we just give them guns?
Your "horrible idea" attitude is a big part of the problem.
Browbeating, yelling, saying "neener neener the Second Amendment (WWJMBD?)", won't really help to win people over; indeed, it will reinforce the mass-media driven stereotype of the firearms or self-defense enthusiast, and they'll redouble their conviction that those guns need to be banned. One catches a heck of a lot more flies with honey than vinegar.
This is interesting considering the ruling that juvenile death penalty cases are unconstitutional, these "educators" are now open targets with little recourse. What principle are they defending?
No. Until they're 18 years of age, no matter what, they are presumed to be too immature to responsibly and safely handle a firearm without supervision.
Spare me the "but my dad first put a .22 in my hand when I was three" stories. Those people have responsible parents, who taught their children well. Such responsible parents are a disappearing breed.
There are few teachers I would choose to arm, but I think the time has come for armed security in high schools.
I see. That makes some sense, I guess.
So, only the eighteen year old students should be able to carry guns to school? ;-)
At the risk of alienating the other bunch of readers, I agree with you.
However, again in Michigan, the state already requires licensure and continuing law-abiding behavior from teachers. Whatever their political persuasion, so long as they are not irresponsible as shown by their not being convicted of felonies, the teachers should have the privilege of carrying concealed or the right of carrying openly while in the school.
Rather stupid as a matter of fact.
golly gee.. ya don't say? are you reading the same 2nd amendment as me? i don't see a d@mn thing in it about giving a litmus test to citizens. as a matter of fact - what i read is a direct order to the fed gvt to keep their power hungry hands of our right to keep and bear arms.
Open or concealed? ;-) Long guns or hand guns? :-)
I'm not certain that all 18 year olds are going to behave responsibly...
(To all: Please spare me the "there are thousands of 18 year olds with machine guns defending your freedom right now in Iraq how dare you disrespect them!" speech. Those 18 year olds are first: self-selected, and second: run through a training program - boot camp - with one and only one purpose and that is to instill responsibility and discipline. Comparing an 18 year old USMC private to a random 18 year old on the street is very much comparing apples to oranges.)
I have ALWAYS maintained that one of the UNSAFEST places to be is a school......it's like being a sitting duck....any idiot/crazy person who shows up with a gun will have their way for awhile.....I volunteered at grandson's school for a couple of years and HATED the "No Firearms" signs....it was an ugly reminder of what COULD happen.
YOU must be kidding....when THAT time comes it's time to build a better education system.....like INCLUDE "approved" ARMED TEACHERS! and other approved ADULTS!
Yeah, God forbid we have any armed protection in our schools..
An armed teacher has already stopped one massacre. An NRA member has already stopped another.
The NRA neglected to mention it already has had a proven success rate.
Let teachers & admins carry if they want to and can pass the safety test. And if they don't care to do so, let others inside the school that do. That is the only way to prevent a Beslan tragedy here. Think of Beslan as a dry run.
Otherwise, teachers who are truly "bleeding-heart" liberals and anti-gun at all costs will become their own self-fufilling prophecy.... helpless, dead, bleeding liberals, along with the kids they indoctrinate into the culture of helpless tolerance and blind ignorance and hatred of their own country and its core values.
I say that we should have two .50-cal machine gun nests in every classroom on either side of the teacher. Predator aircraft making circuits over the school yard. And snipers deployed on nearby roof tops. The teacher parking lots should be protected with a mine field and rumors should be circulated that there is a large take of sharks housed in the sub-basement.
Who're you trying to kid?
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