ARM THE TEACHERS ? ? ?



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We Know How to Stop School Shootings

-- Mayan Palace Theater, San Antonio, Texas, this week: Jesus Manuel Garcia shoots at a movie theater, a police car and bystanders from the nearby China Garden restaurant; as he enters the movie theater, guns blazing, an armed off-duty cop shoots Garcia four times, stopping the attack. Total dead: Zero.

-- Winnemucca, Nev., 2008: Ernesto Villagomez opens fire in a crowded restaurant; concealed carry permit-holder shoots him dead. Total dead: Two. (I'm excluding the shooters' deaths in these examples.)

-- Appalachian School of Law, 2002: Crazed immigrant shoots the dean and a professor, then begins shooting students; as he goes for more ammunition, two armed students point their guns at him, allowing a third to tackle him. Total dead: Three.

-- Santee, Calif., 2001: Student begins shooting his classmates -- as well as the "trained campus supervisor"; an off-duty cop who happened to be bringing his daughter to school that day points his gun at the shooter, holding him until more police arrive. Total dead: Two.

-- Pearl High School, Mississippi, 1997: After shooting several people at his high school, student heads for the junior high school; assistant principal Joel Myrick retrieves a .45 pistol from his car and points it at the gunman's head, ending the murder spree. Total dead: Two.

-- Edinboro, Pa., 1998: A student shoots up a junior high school dance being held at a restaurant; restaurant owner pulls out his shotgun and stops the gunman. Total dead: One.

By contrast, the shootings in gun-free zones invariably result in far higher casualty figures -- Sikh temple, Oak Creek, Wis. (six dead); Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va. (32 dead); Columbine High School, Columbine, Colo. (12 dead); Amish school, Lancaster County, Pa. (five little girls killed); public school, Craighead County, Ark. (five killed, including four little girls).

All these took place in gun-free zones, resulting in lots of people getting killed

You were saying?

Yeah its funny when the same people claim that tax is theft and "Guvmint is too darn big".

It's conceivable that it could be done at the local level by concerned volunteer citizens for zero cost on taxpayers. If standing outside the school in body armor and heavily armed for 4 hours/week ensured my kid never gets shot by some crazy emo loser that decides shooting others > cutting self, I'd sign up immediately, and so would most of my neighbors. Kind of a moot point up here tho, when 8/10 trucks have a (at least one) rifle in the back window and the rest are concealed carriers, starting shit with guns in public just doesn't happen. Deterrents FTW.
 
I don't see putting armed guards in schools making schools any safer than enhanced TSA security measures have made flying any safer.

The type of guys who crash schools with guns blazing are mentally unstable and almost always commit suicide at the end of their rampage. The risk of getting killed buy a guard will not be a deterrent as they want to die anyway. Also, the guard won't be able to cover all entrances at all times, so the shooter will easily be able to find an easy entry point. Finally, considering how rare these shootings really are, most guards will get complacent after a few months/years and become less effective.

The additional cost of armed guards at schools could put a lot of financial pressure on schools that are already cash-strapped, for little to no real benefit.

Not only that, the first time a guard accidentally kills a student while trying to protect the school, or the first time a guard is overcome and his weapon is used against the school children, or the first time a guard cannot prevent killings, the whole concept of guards in schools will be axed as a costly failure.

The idea of armed guards in schools is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the right. Just like banning guns is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the left.

There is no single reason why these shootings happen, so there will be no single solution to stop them.
 
I don't see putting armed guards in schools making schools any safer than enhanced TSA security measures have made flying any safer.

The type of guys who crash schools with guns blazing are mentally unstable and almost always commit suicide at the end of their rampage. The risk of getting killed buy a guard will not be a deterrent as they want to die anyway. Also, the guard won't be able to cover all entrances at all times, so the shooter will easily be able to find an easy entry point. Finally, considering how rare these shootings really are, most guards will get complacent after a few months/years and become less effective.

The additional cost of armed guards at schools could put a lot of financial pressure on schools that are already cash-strapped, for little to no real benefit.

Not only that, the first time a guard accidentally kills a student while trying to protect the school, or the first time a guard is overcome and his weapon is used against the school children, or the first time a guard cannot prevent killings, the whole concept of guards in schools will be axed as a costly failure.

The idea of armed guards in schools is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the right. Just like banning guns is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the left.

There is no single reason why these shootings happen, so there will be no single solution to stop them.

^ This exactly sums it up.
 
To those saying put guards in teh schools - are you prepared to pay extra taxes to fund this?

According to the following link

Number of educational institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1980-81 through 2007-08

there are approx 132,000 schools in the USA. Say you put two armed guards in each - that's 264,000 guards. Say you can get them cheap for a salary of just $30,000 a year. That's still $7,920,000,000. I understand that most armed guards expect to be paid more.

Are you really volunteering to raise taxes to pay for it, in the middle of a fiscal crunch?

While I am not necessarily an advocate of school gaurds The US spends over $820B on education currently. Your $8B is a drop in the bucket, far less than standard annual increases even.

The cheap option is either a) ban semi-automatics and automatics or b) raise the taxes on ammunition. Given that the majority don't own guns and don't buy ammunition, the costs won't fall on them at all.

Automatics are banned. If you ban a semi-automatic, I can grab a revolver or pump action, etc. I guess Lanza could have just brought molotov cocktails, or improvised bombs, homemade plastic explosives, etc. You really think you can stop the crazy person? How hard is it to make an IED?
 
While I am not necessarily an advocate of school gaurds The US spends over $820B on education currently. Your $8B is a drop in the bucket, far less than standard annual increases even.

Automatics are banned. If you ban a semi-automatic, I can grab a revolver or pump action, etc. I guess Lanza could have just brought molotov cocktails, or improvised bombs, homemade plastic explosives, etc. You really think you can stop the crazy person? How hard is it to make an IED?

Right now most people seem to be just talking about banning "black rifles" and 30 round magazines. How quickly everyone forgets that the Virginia Tech shooting was done buy a guy with two handguns. It's just because this particular recent shooting involved an AR-15 that everyone's all yelling "ban assault rifles", like that's going to stop mass shootings or somehow make them less deadly.
 
I don't see putting armed guards in schools making schools any safer than enhanced TSA security measures have made flying any safer.

The type of guys who crash schools with guns blazing are mentally unstable and almost always commit suicide at the end of their rampage. The risk of getting killed buy a guard will not be a deterrent as they want to die anyway. Also, the guard won't be able to cover all entrances at all times, so the shooter will easily be able to find an easy entry point. Finally, considering how rare these shootings really are, most guards will get complacent after a few months/years and become less effective.

The additional cost of armed guards at schools could put a lot of financial pressure on schools that are already cash-strapped, for little to no real benefit.

Not only that, the first time a guard accidentally kills a student while trying to protect the school, or the first time a guard is overcome and his weapon is used against the school children, or the first time a guard cannot prevent killings, the whole concept of guards in schools will be axed as a costly failure.

The idea of armed guards in schools is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the right. Just like banning guns is nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk reaction of the left.

There is no single reason why these shootings happen, so there will be no single solution to stop them.

Fear is $$$$$
 
Arming a teachers is not a good idea. I guess its better if they hire more security guards to secure the children and teachers.