Stop or My Teacher will Shoot

Arming teachers is one of the inanest thing I've heard. We've had this chat before. It is bordering on the idea that someone has seen one too many Bruce Willis or Clint Eastwood action flicks and has come to the conclusion this is reality. While I know a few teachers who would carry, they are pretty few. And no, there is not a preponderance of retired military folks who become teachers. There are a number of programs for the purpose of getting retiring military into education, but I could find no statistics about how many are using the programs.  In 2013, 72 percent of the eleven thousand educators surveyed said they would not carry a gun. 


We've discussed the "which sign will stop a tragedy" before. I am going to say this one more time about this either or style of argument meme, but first ask yourself how many people you see daily that don't follow speed limit signs? A sign cannot prevent or stop an act of gun violence. Got that? Good.

If you were to arm, as Trump has suggested, 20 per cent or one-fifth of all teachers, you are looking at 700,000 plus folks. If you were to give them a stipend of $1000 for carrying a gun, the cost would be at least 700 million dollars. Where is this money coming from, exactly? I've seen the argument before. If we need to fix a problem, it becomes education's responsibility. We cannot afford the materials we need for over-sized classes. We cannot give staff raises that keep up with cost of living. Yet, we are going to buy a gun; train teachers in active shooter procedure, which would have to be far more involved and expensive than a day long class; and maybe even give them a bonus for packing a gun? Do we buy them body armor too? We cannot hire enough people to lessen class sizes but we can pay for a gun, ammo, training and a stipend?  Teachers cannot keep Tylenol for students in their desk, but a gun is okay. Really?

Putting armed security hasn't really been that successful. Both Columbine and Parkland had armed security on campus. According to one study by the center for investigative reporting in bank robberies, where armed security was present,  shooting violence was three times more likely to occur than where no armed security was present. The fact is there is little empirical data about "hardening schools" because our congress has made rules forbidding research by the CDC on the dangers of guns. This was an NRA backed plan put in place now more than 20 years ago. I would also remind you that when Reagan was shot he was surrounded by guns and the shooter was using a simple handgun. Imagine what he might have been able to do with an AR-15. 

By the way, if you see this meme about arming teachers, no they do not arm teachers in Israel. Israel actually has strict policies about who can get and carry a gun.

I know teachers. There are some wonderful, dedicated folks out there in the profession and these same folks I would barely trust with a hammer and nail, let alone a gun. I also know a number of teachers would leave the profession if guns became a way of life in schools. A teacher's nature is to protect, support, and guide; it isn't  to run to the lock box and get a gun or pull one from a holster they have strapped to their ankle. A teacher is not a security officer and most don't want to be. 

There is also the possible damage that "hardening" schools could do to the relationship kids have with teachers and school. Think of going into a building, surrounded by a security fence, everyday where you enter through camera-watched, secure doors, are searched by metal detectors, are under constant surveillance, and taught by someone who may have a 9mm glock strapped to his/her person. Prison-like anyone? You may secure the kids but at what cost?  

A pistol is no match for an AR-15 in power, range or the number of bullets. An armed person with a pistol is facing a person who has planned his attack for months if not years. An armed person with a pistol is facing someone who may even be wearing Kevlar.  An armed person with a pistol is facing a shooter with at least one rifle, multiple clips for that rifle and possibly other weapons. An armed person with a pistol is facing a person who isn't planning on finishing the day alive. 

Folks, who lived through the Cold War, did we learn nothing from the Arms Race? The answer to peace is not more war. It is less. Weapons of war do not engender safety. They are for war. If they did make things safer, explain to me why C-PAC, a major platform for the NRA, bans all weapons by its attendees or why the White House and Congress bans them from visitors. More guns do not equal less death. It equals more gun sales for the gun manufacturers and that's pretty much it.