Surprised? Gun lobby wants teachers to pack heat

[LTR]

Executive Director of Gun Owners of America Says Armed Teachers Would Have Stopped Newtown Shooting

Well, you knew this one was coming.
Do you think that the root of today's
massacre in Newtown, Conn. is that
there are too many guns available
too easily in a country that worships
gun ownership and glorifies gun
violence? Well, there's a
buuuuuuuuuunch of people who
think that the root of today's
massacre is that not enough guns are
available easily enough to a country
that doesn't value "bearing arms" as
much as it should. One of them is
Larry Pratt, executive director of
Gun Owners of America, who tossed
out this old bullshit today:

"Gun control supporters have the
blood of little children on their
hands. Federal and state laws
combined to insure that no
teacher, no administrator, no
adult had a gun at the Newtown
school where the children were
murdered. This tragedy
underscores the urgency of
getting rid of gun bans in school
zones. The only thing
accomplished by gun free zones
is to insure that mass murderers
can slay more before they are
finally confronted by someone
with a gun."

http://m.gawker.com/5968680?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_twitter&utm_source=gawker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

I assume his children don't attend that school.

[Sadiedog]

1. As a teacher there is no way I would ever take a gun anywhere near my school!nt

[muntrv]

2. Actually, the gun used by the shooter was owned by his mother, a teacher at that school, Larry Bratt

[oldhippydude]

3. was not it the teachers "heat" that did the damage here?

[AndyA]

4. Sure, no problem here.

The teacher can just lock the gun in their desk drawer, to keep it away from curious youngsters, right?

So, when someone swings open the door and bursts in shooting, all the teacher has to do is get to the desk, find the right key, unlock the drawer, pull the weapon, aim, and fire, right?

Right. That teacher would be dead before they even found the key.

More guns in more hands is not the answer, and the world should condemn the NRA for making such a ridiculous statement.

[BigDemVoter]

5. Unfortunately, I am NOT surprised.

I was just wondering when one of them would have the nerve to say something so crashingly idiotic and insensitive.

[Kolesar]

6. Sell, sell, sell!

We have a pistol for everybody!!

[backscatter712]

7. Whose guns were used in today's shooting?

Oh yeah...

[Fumesucker]

8. The same people who think all teachers are incompetent, lazy, overpaid and worthless

Now they want to force those incompetent, lazy, overpaid and worthless teachers to carry guns to protect their children with.

Truly, the right wing mind is indeed a wonder of nature.

[ManiacJoe]

12. Not force but allow.

[Fumesucker]

21. That's what they say now, when not enough teachers want to carry it will be forced

Just like everything else that's happening in education.

[BeyondGeography]

9. What about the students?

Why should they be unarmed? All a shooter has to do is take out an unsuspecting teacher, like when he's teaching and he has the free run of the classroom. With armed students, he wouldn't have that opportunity.

[ManiacJoe]

14. You forgot the sarcasm tag, right?

[BeyondGeography]

16. Of course

[WinkyDink]

10. So now the Newtown teachers were to have been soldiers against this armed killer?

[ManiacJoe]

13. Having the tools to fight back with is never a bad thing.

Had members of the staff been armed when they confronted the shooter, the number of dead and wounded might have been less.

[MotherPetrie]

15. Go back to your gun fantasies

[WinkyDink]

19. Well, you picked the correct Username.

[Jennicut]

22. Have you ever been in a classroom? With 5 and 6 year olds?

Good luck getting the gun out in time away from the kids while they are hanging all over you. Good luck with that one. As a sub teacher in Connecticut I just shake my head at a lot of the ludicrous crap some people are coming up with tonight.

[ManiacJoe]

24. For some folks it works, for others it does not.

In your example, concealed carry might be better left to the office staff. That is why these decisions are best made by the people involved instead of a poorly thought out blanket policy.

[Generic Other]

25. School is not the OK Corral

How long before an unhinged teacher pulled that gun on an unruly student in Study Hall? Or a stickyfingered student stole it from the gym teacher?

[ManiacJoe]

26. I give up, how long?

(They are your teachers.)

[Freedomofspeech]

11. I'm a retired teacher...

Fuck the gun lobby.

[Matariki]

17. Oh, that will go well.

[Bigmack]

20. I posted this on FB to a similar post...

Horse shit. Ever actually been in a firefight? I have. You think some kindergarden teacher... excuse me... "heavily armed and trained".. kindergarten teacher is gonna be able to hold 'em and squeeze 'em while under fire and trying to shield her kids..? Ever hear of fratricide... blue on blue... friendly fire...? It happens with the best of trained troops. With teachers - and I know teachers - or anybody else, you're talking about a bloodbath before the bad guy gets off a single round. Entertaining little story.... The school district sent a team of administrators to our school to tell us what to do in case of a bomb threat. They asked for volunteers to search the school. I raised my hand and pointed out that I had some EOD training, had handled and fired a LOT of explosives, and currently held a Permit to Buy and a Permit to Use explosives... and there was NO FUCKING WAY I would search for a bomb, and any of my comrades who would were dumber than shit. Actual words. I told them they had no idea what a bomb would look like, how it could be triggered, and where it could be hidden. I told them it was insulting to even ask such a thing. Teachers are trained to teach. They are not warriors. I'd even be nervous having a cop armed with a handgun on campus... he could be overpowered and the weapon used on students.

This person I posted to was a former student, so I added that he surely remembered that I told all my HS students that if they even suspected the presence of a gun on campus that they should tell me. I'd pull the fire alarm and we'd all run like hell. I'd call the cops myself... not wait for administration. And that's if they suspected a gun on campus. I told them I'd been shot at, and I wasn't interested in getting clipped in some classroom.... or seeing my students clipped, either. NOT a game. NOT snitching!

I have no idea what to do to stop the school shootings, but I know arming the teachers or students is dumber than hell.

[Politicub]

23. If we only had more guns we would have utopia

I honestly think that's what some people actually believe.

Idiot simpletons.

[spin]

27. Let's look at this rationally.

It does seem that gun free zones with large numbers inside do seem to attract mass murderers.

If you see some truth in that statement please read on. If you disagree it would be a waste of time.

In order to stop or reduce the number of these violent acts we need to either pass more effective laws or provide some form of security.

The problem with passing new laws is that they rarely prevent crime or criminal acts. Obviously it is against the law to carry a firearm into a gun free zone and also illegal to murder.

Many here suggest banning semi-auto military style rifles but millions and millions are already in civilian hands. Even if a ban was passed and no such firearms were legal to sell, a shooter could simply carry a 12 gauge shotgun into the gun free zone and these weapons are even more deadly at close range than a military style black rifle. Some suggest banning all firearms but that is politically impossible.

Therefore laws and bans are unlikely to actually reduce mass murders in gun free zones.

Perhaps the answer is better security in gun free zones. If so there are two ways to achieve this.

1) Hire trained armed guards. Retired police officer often get a job as a security guard after they leave the force and might make a good armed guard at a school. I favor this approach as such officers usually the necessary training and experience for the role.

2) Allow teachers or some school personnel to carry firearms in school. If so I would hope that they are required to have significant training far above the standard that a civilian has to have before getting a carry permit. This might be the cheaper approach but would be harder to implement and possibly less effective than the first option.

Either of these two options might be a deterrent to a shooter or a guard might be able to stop the shooter and save lives.