If my Chemistry teacher had squirreled away a handgun in his desk back in 1969, I don’t believe I would be here to write this blog.
Bored by the Periodic Table, we took the opportunity when he left the room for a few moments to desecrate his Bunsen burners by toasting s’mores on them. He was livid when he returned. Especially because he was closely followed by the superintendent of schools and his entourage, who had taken that very day to investigate the reports that this teacher couldn’t control his classroom. Obviously, these allegations were entirely supported by the facts.
That man was so angry that veins bulged on his head. I believe that teacher would have gone down in a “blaze of glory,” and taken us all with him, if he had possessed a handgun. I believe that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
As an adult, I can fully understand my chemistry teacher’s anger and frustration. Children can be difficult, more so when they are in a “mob.” A teacher’s job is stressful! And, teachers are human — they get angry sometimes. So, it’s a good thing we don’t allow teachers to pack guns, isn’t it?
Oh wait, we do!
As you have no doubt heard, the tiny Texas town of Harrold (with a student population in their district of 110) has become the first school in the nation to allow teachers to carry concealed handguns this year. On the surface, the argument for this seems very reasonable: the school is 30 miles from the nearest Sheriff’s department and on a large highway, so the teacher’s will carry guns to protect the students against school shootings.
They must have a state permit to carry, permission from the district, receive training in crisis management and hostile situations, and use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls. I am not reassured.
The principal, David Thweatt, said:
“When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can’t defend themselves? That’s like saying ‘sic ’em’ to a dog.”
That seems like common sense. But, there is no sense to violence.
Let’s play Devil’s Advocate here: What if?
What if a teacher gets angry and loses control? What if a curious child gets the handgun and has an accident? What if violence is “perceived” and that gun comes out and someone gets hurt or killed for no reason?
What if there really is a “situation,” perhaps a teenager with a gun in the hall? If you point a gun at someone, you have to be ready to shoot to kill. Not wound someone, mind you, but take a human life.
I don’t know about you, but I think that in that split second before I pulled a trigger, my heart would scream, “Isn’t there another way? Can’t I reason with the child?” In that split second that my heart spoke, I could be dead and my gun in the hands of a lunatic.
I’m assuming that anyone who would come into a school with guns blazing is a lunatic. They are crazy like a mad bull, and you can’t reason with crazy. Who knows what their purpose might be? Perhaps it’s revenge, or perhaps it is for “glory.” They have to know that they aren’t going to get out of it alive, but maybe they just think they will be famous in death? I couldn’t say.
But, if it’s glory… if shooting at defenseless people gives them “glory,” how much more glorious would it be (for a lunatic) to attack a school where the teachers are armed? No it doesn’t seem reasonable to you or to me. It seems crazy like a snorting bull.
You wouldn’t try to reason with a mad bull, nor would you wave a red flag at it.
What would you do if your child’s school district allowed teachers to carry concealed handguns?
Other posts you might enjoy:
- It’s Not A Cigar Box, It’s A Treasure Chest
- Bilingual? I’m Tongue-Tied.
- Love at The State Fair of Texas
- ‘S Not My Usual Blog
- Intermission
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{ 7 comments }
This is parallel to undercover agents carrying guns on planes! The what if’s maybe not as high but a double edged sword for both issues for sure.
It’s a much different world now than the one we grew up in for sure.
I wept the first time I walked into the high school my son was going to be attending. Not sure I would have felt better knowing teachers were packing guns, in fact I’m sure I would have felt worse, however in the event it could have saved the kids at Columbine, I’d have to say it would be a effective approach to some amount of control and security for the students and we need to keep them safe anyway we can. Teachers that would pull the trigger for any other reason other than protecting students from terrorism might be best working for the post office. JMHO
janeywans last blog post..Indonesian Bazaar
I’m thinking that hiring security guards would be cheaper in the long run than the liability suits and any possible injuries or loss of life. You are right that this is quite similar to the guns on planes. I think the main difference between now and the “good old days” is that media coverage creates a frenzy of fear. That would be MY humble opinion
You are oh so right about time and all the changes and not all for the good either. To me it all began to go down more quickly when the gov. let the atheist take prayer out of school. Our kids needed that. They prayed together and learned together. Now there is no prayer and the guide lines we went by seem to have disappeared too when the disipline went out.
I have no answers only prayers and we should all pray both privately and publicly.
Well, Millie, I don’t know what to say. This isn’t an issue about prayer in school, but about guns and legislation. I thought THAT issue was dicey enough
As for prayer in public schools, we don’t see eye to eye on that. Public education is paid for by taxes paid by people of ALL religious faiths (and some from people with NO religious faith). Public schools are there to teach children to be literate, and I think if parents want prayer in school they have plenty of private options. As for THIS issue, prayers would help, I’m sure, but legislation would be better.
Yikes. Gun totin’ teachers in schools? It’s amazing how the laws differ. In my town, no one is allowed to have a handgun in their homes unless you are the police. It’s like that in quite a few IL towns, although, I think it’s being overturned by the Supreme Court. Gun totin’ teachers would never happen here because nobody can carry a gun unless you are the police. Well, the bad guys do, but they aren’t supposed to
Anyway, I digress. Personally, I think schools should be gun free. I wouldn’t care if my kids had to walk thru metal detectors every day to help assure this. What would happen if someone overtook the teacher and took his gun away from him? It happens to police officers. We just had one Chicago cop killed here after a woman he was trying to wrestle into handcuffs took his gun and shot him.
I don’t think they could ever receive enough training AND experience to become first responders to say, a school shooting incident. I think the potential dangers actually outweigh any possible benefit to that.
The Rock Chick votes no!
Jessica The Rock Chicks last blog post..Harder To Breathe
Yes, even trained police officers can lose control of a gun. So, they are expecting history teachers to be able to handle them safely and wisely? I dunno. I realize that if you “outlaw guns, only criminals will have them,” but a handgun has NO purpose except to hurt PEOPLE. I don’t like them one bit.
OMG.
Mine, too!
My first thoughts when I began reading this post -your comments about your high school chemistry class -was to think maybe, somehow or other, you were actually in the same chem class as I had in high school! Our teacher then made the comment that our class was the absolute worst class he had ever had and he reiterated that statement several years later when one of my girlfriends from school and I stopped by his house to visit him.
Guns in school though -the logic behind this is so convoluted, so Archie Bunkerish (if you remember his speech in one show about gun control you’ll know my meaning there) so far from being right, it is just plain outrageous to call it logic on any level.
Train people all you like on safety issues in gun handling but you still can’t be assured you have identified the “Crazies” that may be lurking beneath the surface. And with respect to that school district, didn’t they also grant similar privileges to the students as well -or something to that effect?
Just absurd and insane to think that this could avert future takeovers within the school. So definitely, I would be against this methodology.
Did you cook s’mores in Chemistry class, too?
I agree that guns in school is just downright outrageous (you are preaching to the choir), and no, I don’t think they granted the privilege to students (thank God). All it takes is one moment of not paying attention for an accident to happen. I can’t imagine what the school is going to have to pay in liability insurance 
!
Only in Texas. That’s a trully horrific thought! Teachers should not be Gun holders anymore than they should be preachers of Religion.
Freelance Gurus last blog post..The Truth is Out There – Do Aliens Exist?
It won’t be “only in Texas,” Mr. Guru! It started here, that’s for darn sure. I’m not gonna be braggin’ on that one!
If my kid’s school district allowed teachers to carry weapons, I would either move or become real fond of homeschooling.
The thing is, working with kids is hard. Even on the good days, it’s hard. And I can imagine too many scenarios where it would be mighty tempting to brandish a weapon, even if you have no intention of firing it. The threat of violence is a powerful thing, and my kids have every right to expect that their school is a safe haven, not a scary place of veiled threats.
And when there is a gun available, there is the chance that the gun will fall into the wrong hands. And as much as teachers with guns scare me, the thought of a hormonally amped teen with an axe to grind having a gun scares me more. We’ve seen firsthand how badly that ends up…I don’t live too far from Columbine HS, and that tragedy is on the forefront of every Coloradoan’s mind, all the time.
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If my kids were still in school, I was thinking the same thing, Amber. Yep, the hormonally amped teens are scary, so are inquisitive nine year olds! To me, this just seems like an idea that they didn’t think through entirely.
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