POLL: Should Teachers Be Armed with Guns?

[Bob_Skurka]

One of the TV stations is running a poll asking if Teachers should be armed with guns.

Here is a link: WDTN-TV: News and Weather for Dayton, OH

The poll is on the left side of the page, about 3/4th of the way down the page. Its just a simple Yes/No/Not Sure poll.

As my wife is a teacher, and a decent shot, trained by the ROTC, and level headed, I voted "Yes"
Its just my opinion, yours may be different.

I'm very curious how this poll will turn out. Surprising (at least to me) when I answered the poll, the vote was about 53% in favor of "Arming Teachers"

 

[IslandTractor]

This country amazes me. Has anyone considered the downside of introducing guns? Nah, we just wanna make sure there is a slight chance that some brave teacher will stop another Columbine/VTech. Who bothers to consider the far greater likelihood that 1) a student will get the gun and use it, 2) the teacher will be the one who flips out and uses it against the students or other teachers, 3) the bad guys won't adapt their strategy.

I am not one who follows these gun debates but isn't there already pretty good evidence that having a gun in your house is actually correlated with a higher rather than lower likelihood of being killed by a gun? Now we want to inflict that bizarre behavior on our schools too?

I don't own a gun but I have nothing at all against guns used for hunting, practice etc. I think for personal protection in a rural environment they make sense too. Crowding people and guns together however tends to lead to tradgic results too often so I certainly don't like the idea of guns in schools.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

This country amazes me. Has anyone considered the downside of introducing guns? Nah, we just wanna make sure there is a slight chance that some brave teacher will stop another Columbine/VTech. Who bothers to consider the far greater likelihood that 1) a student will get the gun and use it, 2) the teacher will be the one who flips out and uses it against the students or other teachers, 3) the bad guys won't adapt their strategy.

I am not one who follows these gun debates but isn't there already pretty good evidence that having a gun in your house is actually correlated with a higher rather than lower likelihood of being killed by a gun? Now we want to inflict that bizarre behavior on our schools too?

Ed, regarding your points #1 and #2, why would you pesume that an honest/normal person would use a gun inappropriately? If you look at states where concealed carry permits are issued, you will see that they are among the most honest and least violent group of people on the planet. Regarding your point #3, if the 'bad guys' adapt their tactics, that would imply that they might not choose schools where our kids are. To me that is a good thing!

As for the guns in the house thing you bring up. No, statistics actually don't say that you have a higher chance of getting shot, or your kid getting shot if you keep a gun in the house. . . unless you are living in a drug house, living with a felon, or an alcholic, or wife beater, or gangbanger, etc. But if you are living in a house where honest people live, then there is little evidence to support your point. Further, there is evidence to support the fact that guns are actually used to prevent crime more often than to commit them.

 

[DieselPower]

If they can pass a FBI background check I vote YES.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

If they can pass a FBI background check I vote YES.

You put a "qualification" on the question, and obviously the TV station did not do that. In fact I think they actually asked the question to simplistically. The way they asked it, it almost implies that the school system should provide the arms to the teachers.

In my mind, a qualified teacher (one who passes their state's CCW permit requirements) should be allowed to be exempt from the "gun free school zone" laws in the same way that police officers are exempt from the "gun free school zone" laws.

By the way, if we trust them to be with our kids and not molest them, would it not be reasonable to assume that we could trust them to also protect our kids?

 

[MossRoad]

Bob,
My mom was a teacher. An art teacher. She volunteered at our Catholic grade school for about 15 years, and then went on to teaching in public schools for $$. Her first job at public school was an inner city school in South Bend's worst neighborhood. To top it off, she was alone in a pre-fab building behind the school, cut off from the rest of the staff, with just an intercom to the office. She kept the door locked and a hammer on the sill over the door. If someone knocked on the door, she'd take the hammer down and hold it behind her back before peeking out the door.

It was also a well known fact the the school janitor carried a gun; the staff knew it, the principle knew it and the cops knew it and everyone was glad he did.

I would not be opposed to a trained staff member carrying a gun in a school. It is no different than having a security person on staff. Several of them would be better.

 

[JerryG]

I know the vast majority of the teachers in our school system. Some of them would do just fine in a stressfully situation with a gunman if they had one. It is the other ones that don't have any business having one. Even if they was to not freak completely out, I don't want any of my kids in a shoot out between a teacher and some other crazy person. I know there is a lot more to this than what I have posted and it might be different on a teacher by teacher basis.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I know there is a lot more to this than what I have posted and it might be different on a teacher by teacher basis.

Jerry, I agree with you. The question was very simplistic & superficial, but it is typical of the way TV newcasts (the people who are running the poll) report the news. . . superficially and simplistically.

It strikes me that if teachers were exempted from the the "gun free school zone" laws, in the same way that police officer are exempt, then a few teachers might go through the process of getting a Concealed Weapons Carry Permit so they could carry a gun. But the reality is that in states that allow for concealed carry, only a small % of the total poplution actually carries a gun. It would be reasonable to presume that only a small % of the teachers would ever carry a gun even if they were allowed to do so.

By the way, current poll results at 8:21 Central Time:
YES 74.29%
NO 24.08%
NOT SURE 1.63%

 

[Jstpssng]

...
In my mind, a qualified teacher (one who passes their state's CCW permit requirements) should be allowed to be exempt from the "gun free school zone" laws in the same way that police officers are exempt from the "gun free school zone" laws.

...

I agree with you... PROVIDED THEY ALSO pass the same requirements, training, and recertification that a police officer must go through.

 

[Alan L.]

Yes. Train them on gun safety and tactics to use in case of an emergency. Publicize the fact that every teacher has a sidearm.