• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

Time to arm school staff, teachers

Scoop

.30-06
I would like to present a well-written letter to the editor from the
1-19-20 Sunday Cleveland (TN) Daily Banner

http://clevelandbanner.com/stories/time-has-come-to-arm-school-staff-teachers,107563

Time has come to arm school staff, teachers
Posted Saturday, January 18, 2020 9:02 pm
To The Editor:

As the recent shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas shows, a good person with a gun is a valuable asset when a bad guy wants to do harm. When the madman pulled out a shotgun and started shooting, an armed parishioner terminated the threat in less than six seconds. This is fact.

This is much better than a 20-minute wait for the police to arrive, after which they gather outside deciding what to do for another 22 minutes as the shooter continues their mayhem as occurred at the Parkland, Fla. school. This is fact.

Obviously, when the intended victim is armed the results are dynamically different than when they are defenseless. All gun-free zones do is create shooting galleries for maniacs. This is fact.

Given the tight budget most school systems work under, having an SRO (School Resource Officer) at every school is expensive (salary plus benefits equals $70,000 per year for each SRO). Unfortunately, even when present they will never be where they need to be when the crazy person starts shooting. They will always be responding. This is fact.

Now, contrast this to a situation where the teachers are permitted to be armed. With the criminal shooter not knowing which teachers and/or staff members are armed, they will have a much lower probability of mass carnage. This is reality.

Gun-control zealots will scream about unintended gun discharges or a student taking the gun from the teacher. With over 20 states now permitting certified teachers to carry while working ... not one time, not once, has either of these things occurred. Not only that, but not one school with armed teachers/staff has been the victim of a shooting. And all at zero cost to the school system. This is fact.

It’s time that we face reality. There are crazy people, criminals and mentally ill people out there. It’s impossible to put an armed officer in every classroom, hallway, recreation area and cafeteria. And even if we could afford it, all the shooter will do is what Nickolas Cruze did before effortlessly slaughtering 14 children and three teachers; that is, wait until the easily identifiable SRO stepped outside. This is fact.

I believe most people would prefer six seconds over 44 minutes.

It’s time to face reality. It’s time to permit trained teachers and school staff to carry concealed to protect our most precious commodity, our children.

— Raymond Bergeron
Hieskell, Tennessee
 
Sadly, most people (including teachers) are uninterested in arming themselves. And anyone that is uninterested in it, is not going to do well even if they were armed.

Arming teachers is a nice concept, but would probably end with poor results.

Don't get me wrong, if a teacher is competent and wanted to be capable of defending themselves (especially their class first and foremost) I have no problem with it.

None whatsoever.

But just saying arming teachers is going to fix things, simply isn't. Many teachers and administrators are antigun in the first place. I know that many are not, but for many teachers, would be more responsibility than they could handle.
 
When the new principal of my wife's school (skinny blonde gal . . . early 30-ish) found out my wife was learning to shoot, her reaction was almost horror.

"Oh, NO! Judy!!!" . . . Like she just discovered my mrs was sucking blood from 5 year olds in the storage room after dark.
:omg:

I told her she didn't know my wife at all, she was a crack shot at 50 yards, and that I first met Judy at the Academy of Martial Arts when she got her first black belt.
This wasn't about warfare. Some folks were concerned enough that self defense becomes a physical activity and not just a nebulous philosophy.

The irony of the situation, was the skinny woman with no chance in any physical confrontation was the one of the school most horrified by the prospect of having a gun.

My feeling is that all school kids should learn to shoot the .22 LR and that this would give kids who otherwise saw no reason, a motive to learn the physics and math behind shooting.

School doesn't provide a proper challenge for most kids. They need some excitement to motivate their nature to practice things and improve life with effort.
This appreciation comes very quickly from shooting.
 
Sadly, most people (including teachers) are uninterested in arming themselves.
...
Arming teachers is a nice concept, but would probably end with poor results.
...
But just saying arming teachers is going to fix things, simply isn't.

John,
I agree with you here. I don't believe arming teachers is a good policy.
I do believe that allowing teachers to be armed is a different approach.

Putting a gun in the hands of unwilling or incompetent personnel is a recipe for disaster. However, training and ongoing evaluations of volunteer participants has merits. I've seen this work well with church security groups in our little burg that our Sheriff's Office has helped train and guide. Nobody that is unwilling is armed.

Some security measures are openly obvious, but most is covert. Each organization has to evaluate their neads and assets to design a viable and effective system.
 
I can agree with that too Scoop. The generalized "arm teachers" just don't cut it for me though. Many teachers have proven to be so anti-American these days, I would not sleep well if I did arm some of them.

But, there are also good teachers. And good people left. That would legitimately try to protect the children. And you don't just have to stop with teachers either. I know lots of people who would volunteer to do just that.

Sadly, even that is frowned upon. Our society is royally screwed up. It's like we're living in bizarro world.
 
Most teachers I am aware of are WAY too concerned about their wardrobe. Tights, leggings, dresses, etc are the rule.

That means that they would never discard the clothes they love for looser fitting garments that would conceal a handgun.

And NONE would wear a stiff gun belt, and NONE would wear a belly band.
 
As the others stated, allowing a teacher to be armed if they choose, and have the confidence is one thing. And my understanding most school districts here in Indiana will allow it. It should never be imposed upon a teacher to be armed though. Some are anti gun, some are pro gun, but lack confidence, and some are just flat out irresponsible.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk
 
^ dieselmudder, you said exactly what I had in mind so much better.
 
And as I thought about it, I realised, it's a totally different mindset. Teachers arent warriors that decided to educate instead. They are nurtures, and caregivers, that end up caught in a terrifying situation. They cant be expected to have a fight and defend mentality, same as we (those like minded of us in the group) couldnt necessarily be exceptional teachers. I realise those are broad, and somewhat stereotypical characatures. But I think it conveys what I'm trying to say.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk
 
I'm all for the option of a teacher arming him/herself. Since the Parkland shooting, and the onerous laws it created, school depts in FL are tasked with providing some sort of security, whether an armed Sheriff's Deputy/School Resource Officer or "Guardian" which could include teachers and/or staff. I gave a presentation at a school board meeting but was the only one "for" arming teachers while there were a few weinies "against" arming teachers for the usual ridiculous reasons. The attached outlines my presentation. The board did not vote for arming teachers and instead will utilize SROs at MUCH higher cost. :mad:

PS: On my way out of the meeting, a man who was a substitute teacher hoping to go full time, approached me and we had a good talk. He was also an FFL, something not disclosed on his resume... :rolleyes: He didn't want to jeopardize future hiring opportunities by speaking. But at least there was someone else knowledgeable in the room... :D
 

Attachments

  • armingteach.pdf
    16.3 KB · Views: 3
Last edited:
I personally know of a half dozen teachers or coaches that would come out blazing if during an active shooter situation they could get to their vehicles parked on a school campus. None keep one secured in a classroom for fear of losing their job and retirement. But EDC concealed carry on person? Never gonna happen. Those men (yeah... not a single woman) ain't stupid. And 90% of the male teachers are teachers because they were MAINLY hired to first be a coach, so they wear athletic pants and jogging pants and whatever elastic waist crap that Nike and Adidas gives them. Ain't none of them able to be armed during the day.
 
Back
Top