No Guns For Teachers - Granite Grok

No Guns For Teachers

“I do not wish to give up the power of personal arms and be defenseless against those who will ever and always keep and bear arms those in crime and those in government.”   —Robert W. Burke

Heavily_ArmedThis past Sunday, the Union Leader opined that armed security was necessary in our schools,however, the arming of teachers with guns is such a concept where the benefits are outweighed by the risk. That might be true…It might also be “total bollocks”…an opinion based on…what?

In the United States, laws of 18 states currently allow teachers to carry a firearm, with permission from the school principle….and some do. Inversely, we have not seen any ubiquitous news cycles featuring any teachers who were properly licensed, armed and authorized by their Principals embarking on any shooting sprees, mishaps or altercations involving guns. And that no doubt, we be at the head of any news cycle. In fact, I think it would be another never-ending story.

Israel, for example, allows, supports and provides training for armed school teachers. Similarly, not all teachers choose to arm, but many do. Ah, but the counter to that is, “Israel is a very different place than the U.S.”  But when you hear an anti-gun liberal make such a characterization such as the aforementioned, stop and reflect just how hypocritical he or she is being at that moment in time. Think about the rhetoric and viscera being applied to the current debate where anti-gun liberals are seeking a broad-sweeping disarming of the American public. Buzz Phrases, like “Gun Violence is at epidemic levels…”

If Israel is having the level of violence in its’ schools that liberals purport to exist in American Schools,  it is not being reported. If schools in Texas, Kentucky, Oregon and  Utah are having issues with armed teachers, that also is not being reported.

In true Hegelian Dialectic form, the UL editorial writes,

“The classroom is a high-distraction environment. One forgetful moment – setting the gun on the desk, failing to snap the holster or lock the drawer, forgetting to engage the safety – could end in tragedy.”

Anti-gun die-hard liberals shout, “No guns in schools, never…not now…and nobody” On the other side of the argument are some who want to force teachers to be armed…each and every one without exception.   The Union leader splits the baby down the middle and adopts a synthetical approach: yes to guns in schools, but no to teachers having those guns.

Such editorials often suggest very little experience dealing with people who possess and carry handguns. As President of a large shooting club, our members come from all walks of life and yes, we even have a few teachers. Having had the opportunity to know these teachers, one of whom is a school principal,  who come to the range with SigSauer and Springfield XD Pistols, they are very serious, experienced and capable handlers of firearms. Were my child in one of those classrooms, and those teachers were allowed their sidearms, I would think absolutely nothing of it. Inversely, I would have some security and reassurance that my child is far better protected than the current mandated kill zones our schools now have.

My child attends a private school where that school believes teachers have a serious duty to protect the school recognizes that arming teachers is a viable option. There is neither a policy to ban or require it and personal choice to do so is respected.

No policy is perfect and all such notions present some degree of problems. But lets face it. The slaughter of 20 innocent children and teachers should speak to the results of the current policies.

Indeed there are some in our society who are simple full-blown cowards who shut down like possums when a life-threatening situation faces them. And then there are those who, despite being scared half to death, can muster the instinct to act…to protect the lives and safety of others. It is those who we must arm to enhance the result and thwart attacks.  Voters and school boards should make such decisions, not administrators. Administrative educrats rarely enter the classroom, if ever, so they have, “No skin in the game.”

When we as a society decide who should be armed or not armed in the classrooms where we send our children, Only the stakeholders should decide such matters, not editors, nor educrats nor politicians who rarely ever live under the conditions they pose to the unwashed masses.

 

>