IDS: Armed teachers will likely endanger the safety of Texas students

[NateIU10]

Armed teachers will likely endanger the safety of Texas students

Indiana Daily Student - IDSnews.com


Armed teachers will likely endanger the safety of Texas students

WE SAY The Wild West should stay in textbooks, not come to life in the classroom

IDS | September 03, 2008

The Wild Wild West is an integral part of American cultural history. We’ve all watched at least one old movie with John Wayne, some vigilante justice, and a showdown at high noon, preferably one that combines all three.

But we draw the line at turning cowboy-movie psyche into living reality. That’s exactly what the school board in tiny Harrold, Texas, is doing with its decision to let select teachers carry concealed handguns at school, which it claims will deter a Columbine-style school shooting.

The school in this small rural town accommodates children of all grade levels and barely has more than 100 students. The town has a low crime rate, with many of its citizens claiming they don’t even lock their doors; and it certainly does not have gang-related violence issues like schools in Houston or Dallas.

Yet the superintendent, David Thweatt, is concerned children will be “fish in a bowl” if an attack were to occur and teachers were unarmed. Allowing a select number of the school’s two dozen teachers to undergo 40 hours of training in order to carry concealed guns in school seems like a natural step to Thweatt, who says people in his town are “not under the illusion that the police are there to protect them.”

The small population and low crime rates of Harrold point out that the probability of a disgruntled student or deranged gunman laying siege to the school is extremely low. Training and allowing teachers to carry concealed guns is not only pointless, but a waste of the school district’s resources. This measure seems reactionary, without due cause or reason. In fact, residents are complaining that the school board did not adequately keep them informed of its plans and made little to no effort in gathering their opinions on the matter.

The potential risks of this decision far outweigh any benefit that might occur in the highly unlikely situation of an attack within the school. There is always the danger of gun-related accidents. Even in the unlikely event that there is a security situation in the school, do we really want an O.K. Corral-style gun battle raging inside a K-12 school house?

The bottom line is 40 hours of training does not a police officer make. As one member of the Houston Association of Teachers stated, “We are trained to teach and to educate. We are not trained to tame the Wild West.”


Copyright © 2008 Indiana Daily Student

Now, there was a VERY pro-2A article in todays paper also written by a girl I know who is the Chairwoman of the IU College Republicans, but I cannot find it online right now. When I do, I will post it up too, it's very good, but a little bit of misstating facts and not identifying that it's legal to carry on campus, just against school policy.

[ATM]

do we really want an O.K. Corral-style gun battle raging inside a K-12 school house?

Absolutely! BOTH sides were armed at the Corral. Imagine Earp and the posse heading down there with night sticks to disarm the BGs. Huckleberry fish shoot.

It's easier to love the sheep when they just say Baa.

[jontheturboguy]

Hey you know what? I think mall shooting, school shootings, and mass rampages accompanied by firearms by death seeking idiots should all stay in books and movies too.

Does it work?

NO.

Id like to meet the writer of this ^ face to face and tell them to GO BLOW IT OUT THERE HAPPY BUNNY SAVE THE WHALES WE ALL CAN LIVE WITH FLOWERS AND BIRDIES GOLDEN FAIRY I SHIT RAINBOWS ASS.

There.

I said it.

[Dogman]

Or they might save someone's life.

[Annie Oakley]

Originally Posted by jontheturboguy

Id like to meet the writer of this ^ face to face and tell them to GO BLOW IT OUT THERE HAPPY BUNNY SAVE THE WHALES WE ALL CAN LIVE WITH FLOWERS AND BIRDIES GOLDEN FAIRY I SHIT RAINBOWS ASS.

There.

I said it.

Aw, come on. Don't feel like you have to hold back...

[cosermann]

Staff at IU with their CCW could carry on campus until the mid 90's when then IU Pres. Brand changed the policy. I don't recall any reason other than arbitrariness and liberalness. Students were obviously SAFER then because of it. I know for a fact that 30% of the staff in my department did carry, and protested the change to no avail.

[kedie]

The O.K. Corral statement is the same old, tired, worn out, completely BS, and down right false argument the antis drag out every time something like this comes up. From this instance, to carrying in state parks, to LTCH. They always say it will turn into the wild west, and it never does.

[haldir]

Miles Brand was the worst thing that ever happened to my alma mater for a lot of reasons.

As to the paper, when I was a student there, we called it the Indiana Daily Stupid. I see it has not gotten much better.

[hoosierdaddy]

One would think that GENERALLY a college teacher/instructor/professor (or whatever you want to call them) with a gun training course would be as well trusted and effective as the rent-a cops that are on campus now.
The cool part would be- who is packin and who is not?

[Soundslikejosh]

No, no it hasnt.

However, the PRO-2A article was a breath of fresh air. Not a large breath, but a breath nonetheless. Sort of.

In the "pro" RKBA article the author laid out a pretty good argument about why the ability to defend one's self is important. Then she concluded her article by saying that IU should allow a small contingent of known CCW people to carry. Essentially a free security system, with strings attached. IU has your name and chooses to allow (or disallow) you to carry at their whim, but the invitation is not extended to everyone. Her line of reasoning seems to be that it would be easy/better/safer if the University had some control and didn't allow CCW to just anybody.

Maybe she has missed something. First, this is a right, not a privilege. We aren't asking IU to do us a favor. We are telling them "this is bullshit" and that we won't accept anything short of a full surrender. Don't steal my house and then try to bargain a price to sell it back to me.

Second, what committee decides who should be on their list of "OK to carry" people? What are the BS criteria, and how many times will they change the rules in the middle of the game?

Thirdly, there is no way I am allowing IU to put me on a list. Why should we in any way trust them to administrate this system when they are the ones who ruined it in the first place? I don't think it's necessary to elaborate further.

Lastly, so many people seem to be missing the fact that IU simply needs to leave the issue alone. Delete the rule banning carry of campus, and more forward. Laws already exist to deal with crime and unlawful carry. We don't need them sticking their heads in it. I am pissed off that some portion of my tuition goes to fund a committee of lib-tards sitting around discussing why I shouldn't be allowed to manage my own self. The state already has a system for managing LTCH, allow it to work as designed.

On a final inflammatory note, similar to "don't steal my house and bargain a deal to sell it back", don't make this an issue about CCW. Welcome to Indiana where we have a LTCH. Like it or not, OC is a right just the same way CC is. Choose what you wish, but don't throw OC under the bus while bartering with a group of idiots about why they should mind their own business and not trample your rights.