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Nebraska Senator Mark Christensen Wants Teachers to Carry Guns
NO WEAPONS
In response to the terrible shooting at Millard South High School earlier this month, Nebraska Senator Mark Christensen “introduced a bill to allow school administrators, teachers and security staff to carry concealed handguns in schools,” according to The Huffington Post. The Association of American Educators quotes Christensen as saying, “If you have a kid come in to shoot a teacher … or other kids, it’s best to have somebody that can take care of the situation.”
The AAE notes that “42 states and the District of Columbia have banned guns in schools,” and that there is only one school district in the nation that allows guns on campus. The Harrold Independent School District in Texas enacted a policy in 2007 requiring those carrying firearms “to be trained and carry special non-lethal bullets.” Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt gives his full support to the policy, calling it ”comforting.”
“To say that the only people who can protect themselves have to [have] a badge … that’s just ludicrous. There are a lot of people who can act responsibly,” Thweatt said. Yes, and part of acting responsibly is teaching young people that, unless you’re hunting, guns have no place in the hands of civilians.
This is not the first time a legislator has proposed allowing teachers and other staff to carry guns in school. Back in 2006, Wisconsin lawmaker Frank Lasee suggested teachers in his state should be armed. The idea faced opposition from educators and never got off the ground. In 2007, the Nevada state senate voted against a bill giving teachers access to weapons and last year, Arizona lawmakers debated a bill that would allow University professors to carry guns on campus. That bill has been introduced numerous times and may yet pass.
School shootings are horrific incidents and we should be doing everything we can to stop them. But adding more guns into the mix is no way to protect our children. Let’s remember, in the shooting that took place this week at Gardena High School in CA, the gun went off accidentally, hitting two students with one bullet. Surely those kinds of accidents would happen more than once if teachers and other staff were armed. What if a deranged student was able to steal a weapon from an administrator? What if a teacher, faced with a hostage situation like the one at Marinette High School that resulted in no deaths except the suicide of the gunman, decided to shoot the gunman instead? And what if the gunman wasn’t killed, then he decided to start returning fire? If we’re going to demand that students keep guns out of school – as well we should – no one should be allowed to bring guns into the classroom. It’s ridiculous to suggest that teachers can be effective role models by espousing a “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality when it comes to gun control.
Sources:
Teachers Carrying Guns: Nebraska Senator Mark Christensen Introduces Bill To Keep Schools Safe – HuffPo
Stranger Than Fiction: Teachers to Carry Guns? – AAE
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7 Comments
Cissyrene commented on Jan 23 11 at 5:51 am“Yes, and part of acting responsibly is teaching young people that, unless you’re hunting, guns have no place in the hands of civilians”
Absolutely wrong. You have the right, in the USA, to bear arms. Period. You don’t have to be a cop, or in the military to do it. Agree with it or not, those are the facts. It is important for children to have an understanding of of the danger of guns, and if you do have them ( I do not ) to teach your children good gun safety and to keep them out of kid’s reach. THAT is the RESPONSIBLE thing to do.
That comment really irritated me, as if the only civilians with guns are murderers, robbers and ass holes shooting up their schools. Oh! and let’s not forget that the only RESPONSIBLE thing is to do is to lie to children about the law and about the reality of the situation in the US. Bravo.
Cissyrene commented on Jan 23 11 at 5:57 amI just want to clarify that I do not disagree with your arguments against teachers having guns in school. I do think that it should be an option for the security on campus, otherwise, they’re what? Really just hall monitors. It really was just that comment that had me so irritated.
someothername commented on Jan 23 11 at 9:58 amGood video has my take on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0vyxgJLJVA
someothername commented on Jan 23 11 at 10:03 amI notice that sign also prohibits drugs too, I know my niece says that school is the supermarket where kids shop for them, soooo how’s that sign workin’ out for you?
Ri-chan commented on Jan 23 11 at 5:31 pmSure, because a teacher would never snap in anger and, instead of the sometimes horrible things like hitting a student you sometimes hear about, shoot a student instead. Teachers are always always responsible -_- This is a silly law. Guns shouldn’t be allowed in schools, period.
Citizen Mom commented on Jan 24 11 at 3:07 pmThis is a joke right? Unless a teacher or school employee is going to go through police basic training, as well as police level conflict resolution training, I don’t see how anyone could consider them qualified to carry a gun.
there are officers, trained officers, who misfire, shoot at the wrong person, hesitate – and, more importantly, use other means to deal with a situation.
And just because you shoot someone in self-defense or to protect someone, you will still be held accountable to the law – a license to carry a gun is not a license to shoot someone.
I used to teach, and I cannot think of one teacher whom I would recommend to have a gun on him/her. And the one teacher who declared he should be able to have a gun, is the LAST person I’d give one to.
TomTheTechnician commented on May 01 12 at 7:01 amI believe that this law makes some sense, but rubber bullets? That’d be fine if they had a spare clip with hollow points. I am a heating technician who often works in inner city environments at all hours where I frequently encounter people high on a variety of drugs or sleeping off a high in the basement of multifamily apartments. I’ve often found my truck broken into for a smash & grab for a $500 item they could sell for $50 to buy drugs, etc… I carry a pistol (& I know how to use it) for personal protection, along with pepper spray in the event I’m threatened. I’ve had a lot of teachers that I wouldn’t trust with a gun, but there were always a few that I felt would be responsible. If teachers were armed, Columbine, VA Tech, and many other school shootings would have had far fewer victims. A gun will never discharge accidentally when dropped unless a round was chambered & the safety was off. Learning gun safety will prevent this scenario.
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