Should The Us Arm Its Teachers In The Wake Of

[emmie]

all the killings in it's schools, seems a step too far even for the USA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42804741

[Gromit]

The US should be taking guns out of society, not further arming its citizens.
It is the warped thinking of the NRA that these gun tragedies can be averted if EVERYONE carried a gun at ALL times. That just isn’t true. They should be working to a position where NOBODY has guns in public.

[mikey4444]

God no !

[emmie]

its looking likely they will, don;t know about all schools but this latest killing in Kentucky seems to be heading the way of arming teachers or having armed patrols.
Frightening to think that you would arm a teacher, who knows what can happen.

[mikey4444]

Its yet another daft America idea Emmie....stupid and ill-thought out.

[Zacs-Master]

It’s already happening
https://nypost.com/2016/12/15/colorado-school-district-will-allow-teachers-to-carry-guns/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/28/teachers-packing-heat-more-educators-taking-gun-training-classes.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2857876/The-rural-Texan-school-teachers-carry-guns-line-defense-against-shooters-principal-doesn-t-know-staff-armed.html

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/10/where-guns-are-allowed-on-campus/412708/

[mikey4444]

Madness !

[MallyJ]

Absolutely dreadful idea.....I am with Gromit.... there needs to be a removal of weapons from the general population. If they must do anything to make schools safer then security guards and metal detecting doors may go some way to keeping these incidents to a minimum.

[mikey4444]

We mustn't forget an important factor here. More guns means more sales....that is at the heart of every argument that the NRA puts up.

[emmie]

appalling whatever they do.

[youngmafbog]

//I am with Gromit.... there needs to be a removal of weapons from the general population.//

With an estimated 450 million guns in the USA just how do you propose going about that. In addition how would you propose protecting citizens in remote areas from the criminals who won't give up their guns.

Other countries have guns and it doesn't happen. I think the culture needs to be looked at along with other things. Of course wouldn't hurt to stop semi or automatic guns no need for them.

[TWR]

If the pupils have the knowledge that the teacher has a gun at hand It might give them 2nd thoughts about shooting fellow pupils, alternative to that, set up a security booth the same as they have at Airports.

[EDDIE51]

As always in the USA the answer to shooting problems is 'More Guns'
It's like saying the answer to road crashes is to put more cars on the road.
As Gromit says ,when will they start to realise what nearly all the rest of the world realises. That the answer is less guns NOT more?
If this suggestion was to go ahead ,how long before a disgruntled, angry & armed school teacher or marshall shoots a class full of pupils. Or more likely an innocent pupil gets shot dead for coming into school with a walking stick or a crutch?

[youngmafbog]

//how long before a disgruntled, angry & armed school teacher or marshall shoots a class full of pupils. //
What is to stop them doing it now then?

[EDDIE51]

^ I wrote that before I saw the post saying that teachers are already being armed. So 'No' there is nothing to stop it. I expect to hear a story of a student being shot by a teacher or school warden in the near future.

[andy-hughes]

The NRA (the clue is in the name) love the idea of more guns, and they are happy to use any and all means at their disposal to convince the rest of the population that more guns are better.

Of course, that is warped logic, as is their slogan "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.

That fantasy works on the assumption that every 'good guy with a gun' stays that way, and does not actually become a 'bad guy with a gun' simply because he now has a gun - which flies in the face of basic human nature.

Guns are deigned to kill - if people have them, the chances of killing being a factor in the circumstances goes up - so the nonsense that more guns simply stops that happening is just that - nonsense.

America's problems with guns revolve around its cultural attitudes to guns the 'frontier' mentality which still exists, and is perpetuated by those with a financial and / or political interest in things staying the same, or more guns being bought, and carried.

The answer is lies in attitude adjustment, and that comes from education.

But you cannot educate people without the finances and the political will, and those remain absent as long as the notion of gun control equals political suicide at every level from the President downwards - and that looks like being for a very long time to come.

[andy-hughes]

Eddie - // As always in the USA the answer to shooting problems is 'More Guns'
It's like saying the answer to road crashes is to put more cars on the road. //

Not really.

The purpose of a car is to transport a person or person from A to B, and road accidents are an unfortunate and unplanned side-effect.

The purpose of a gun is to shoot someone or something, and shooting people is not an unfortunate unplanned side-effect, it's the whole idea of owning and carrying a gun.

[naomi24]

andy-hughes, //"The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.

That fantasy works on the assumption that every 'good guy with a gun' stays that way, and does not actually become a 'bad guy with a gun' simply because he now has a gun - which flies in the face of basic human nature.//

The contention that the ‘fantasy’ ‘flies in the face of human nature’ doesn’t hold water. If it did then it would follow that the majority of gun owners would have shot someone – and they haven’t.

[Old_Geezer]

They ought not be making the ability to kill someone a qualification for becoming a teacher. Past history shows creating further firepower makes things worse, not better; regardless what supporters of private firearms might claim. The correct response is to get rid of guns that the bad guys might get hold of. Arming teachers is a step backwards. But I guess it gives the bad guys a further source of supply to nick.

[vulcan42]

No doubt it won't be long before a trigger happy cop will shoot a weapon carrying teacher.

[andy-hughes]

Naomi - // The contention that the ‘fantasy’ ‘flies in the face of human nature’ doesn’t hold water. If it did then it would follow that the majority of gun owners would have shot someone – and they haven’t. //

You are quite correct, I did not express myself well there.

My point is that the NRA's assumption that a 'good guy with a gun' stays a 'good guy' may well be open to question, given that some people are absolutely 'good guys' - until they have a gun.