Trump suggests arming teachers & staff could prevent school massacres

originally posted by: Lab4Us

originally posted by: dug88
I had a teacher in elementary school that had a breakdown. She used to cry at her desk every afternoon. I don't think I would have wanted her to have a gun. I could just picture her freaking out one day and blowing her head off in front of the class or something....she ended up leaving halfway through the year for 'personal reasons'

Not aimed at you specifically, but all the people in this thread that think there would be no screening with this plan or that it would not be volunteers only...are you kidding me? You folks can’t think this plan through that there would be stipulations? Or as usual, are the naysayers just being contrarians?

Right. Because the government has done so well mandating plans.

Just look at the police. They have great numbers for marksmanship, tactical awareness, and physical readiness right?

It's a complex issue and would take serious thought. Not saying impossible but it's not exactly a given.

Who do you call if there's a school shooting in progress?
Why?

originally posted by: luthier
Agreed but not half ass guards. People who can shoot for real and not hit the innocent bystanders or go on a power trip. No other job like drug enforcement etc just security to isolate their behavioral pattern a bit from the students in any negative light. Imo

I like the Idea posted above about hiring Veterans for the job who have the marksmenship.

Why does everyone think a single solution would work in all cases? I mean, we are talking about securing the people in a building from unwanted intruders. Does every single store do it the same way? No...because not every case is exactly the same. Each community is different, and what would work with one may not work with another.

What needs to happen first is a mandatory security assessment of each school. An assessment by a qualified building security firm. Costly you say? Yes. And, how much is it worth to "think of the children" in this case?

Once the assessment is done, then the school district can decide on their own the best solution for THEM. There could be a Federal security grant program that a school could apply for matching funds to offset the cost. But the only way to qualify would be to get that security assessment.

See, if every place has the same security measures, all one needs do is breach one of them, then every single other school is now vulnerable to the same attack. And, everyone would know it. If it is done using a varied security approach, then a single point of failure would not be possible across every instance.

To me, that is a great first step towards protecting the students and faculty that I think would be accepted by all sides. It does not infringe upon anyone's rights. It allows the local community to have input. And the Federal Govt has the ability to assist in it's implementation.

a reply to: CaptainBeno

Yeah, don't arm the teachers!

Let them run and hide and hope they don't get killed while they wait for guys with guns to show up and............hold on, what? Yeah sounds dumb as hell.

Yes let teachers carry, so they can stop a would be mass murderer before he is infamous.

It's not President Trumps idea, it's an old, good idea.
Are people that F-ing dumb?
Band guns to stop criminals from............. Nothing!

Arm people to protect Stars, Money, Art, the President, but you better not use armed people to protect kids!

Really?
Why not?
How many mass............never mind it's pointless!

Nothing new can be said on any side, can we get back to big foot probing a lizard man from planet X please.

Because turning teaching into a armed proffesion is "healthy ".

originally posted by: lordcomac
I didn't vote for trump, but if you don't believe trained, armed, and willing staff wouldn't put a quick end to a shooting, you're the nut.

And if you think its healthy for society to turn a noble proffesion such as teaching into a armed proffesion , your nuts.

originally posted by: Edumakated
Serious question for those who think having armed teachers is nuts...

Why do we have armed security guards at banks then?

Why do we have armed security guards at sporting and other events?

Why do we have armed security at jewelry stores?

Why is there armed security at convenience stores?

Why do prominent politicians and other famous people have armed security?

If all those things are so important to have armed security, why do you think we shouldn't have armed security protecting our children?

Because they are dedicated security and SHOULD be trained.

Teachers should not be expected to have to undergo additional training and take on additional responsibility to make up for the failings of US society.
Theh shoulad concentrate on TEACHING and teaching alone, something the USA is already failing miserably at without adding new pressures to teachers.


If you want security, hire dedicated armed guards.

Arming teachers with other life saving tools, like CPR, doesn't work either. Right, OP?

Hopefully they'll consider upping teachers pay if they're expected to carry, seeing as how they'll most likely be expected to purchase and pay for training for these firearms....not to mention the stress of having to fire upon a student or previous student should anything go wrong.

Then paid "time off" for "work related stress" if they are responsible for killing someone.

These are public school teachers, not Law Enforcement or Ex-Military.

I'd side more with equipping and hiring trained professionals before arming a civilian teacher, just due to the stress and psychological aftereffect that comes from taking a human life.

originally posted by: GunzCoty
a reply to: CaptainBeno

Yeah, don't arm the teachers!

Let them run and hide

I just got a better idea.

Abandon all schools.

Close them down.

Turn all education into online learning, instead.

From the safety of their own homes, the kids can log in and learn.

So, the kids and teachers aren't "physically located" in the "same spot" somewhere that could make them a collective target.

The shooter will have to go from home to home, which will take a lot of time and effort, to shoot all these kids and teachers.

Problem solved !

a reply to: AMPTAH

I had an earth science teacher in high school that was very level headed, nicest person I probably ever met.. I would trust him to protect my kids in case it was needed. Not every teacher sits at their desk and cries because it's too much, but not all of them are completely incapable of dealing with something like this..

I pay enough property tax that goes to the school, they could easily screen a security guard that is capable of actually dealing with this type of incident and pay him/her well.

And where exactly is the money going to come from for these guns and training/armed guards? Schools are underfunded as is.

We don't have enough money to make sure our kids have up to date books and our teachers are paid well but there's enough money to turn our schools into military compounds? If that's the case then maybe our priorities need to be looked at before we do anything to solve this epidemic.

a reply to: CaptainBeno

I don't know if that's the answer, but I can guarantee you two things.

A. The MSM would be anxiously waiting for a teacher to misfire and shoot a kid so they can immediately blame Trump.

&

B. The shooters knowing they'll possibly be shot back at will be a stronger reason for them to second guess their premeditated actions.

originally posted by: Lab4Us

originally posted by: dug88
I had a teacher in elementary school that had a breakdown. She used to cry at her desk every afternoon. I don't think I would have wanted her to have a gun. I could just picture her freaking out one day and blowing her head off in front of the class or something....she ended up leaving halfway through the year for 'personal reasons'

Not aimed at you specifically, but all the people in this thread that think there would be no screening with this plan or that it would not be volunteers only...are you kidding me? You folks can’t think this plan through that there would be stipulations? Or as usual, are the naysayers just being contrarians?

Ya because they do such a good job screening teachers as it is clearly.

a reply to: CaptainBeno

Yeah, your people could be overtaken by anyone, even if they showed up with swords and rocks.

a reply to: luthier

How many suspects get away? Every story seems like the cop shot right where he was aiming.

originally posted by: Reydelsol

originally posted by: lordcomac
I didn't vote for trump, but if you don't believe trained, armed, and willing staff wouldn't put a quick end to a shooting, you're the nut.

And if you think its healthy for society to turn a noble proffesion such as teaching into a armed proffesion , your nuts.

What about his nuts?

originally posted by: watchitburn
There's no shortage of already trained veterans that would be happy to protect schools.
This is a much better idea than trying to strip everyone of their inherent human rights.

How many of them are qualified to teach? How many of them want to work for the $10/hour we pay teachers? If they're not teaching and are just additional security, where is the money for them going to come from?

Besides that, do you understand the logistics of creating this size of armed force? There are 3.2 million teachers in the US, that's 3.2 million classrooms. For reference there are 750,000 police officers and 1.4 million in our armed forces. This plan would require an in school force that's larger than our entire military plus police forces combined, and you can throw the FBI into those numbers for good measure.

And that would just be for the "field agents" saying nothing of the cost of equipping them and training them. Teachers don't even get chalk in school budgets, they pay for it from their own salaries. Do you think the money for guns will just appear?

originally posted by: Lab4Us
Which is exactly why any educators so chosen to bear such a responsibilty would undergo rigorous and recurring training.

It doesn't help. Chris Kyle, one of the best marksmen the US has ever had, was gunned down at a gun range, while armed, and surrounded by other people who also had guns. Guns don't stop that from happening.

Even if it did, you're just moving the problem from schools to movie theaters, churches, and nightclubs. What then? Are we supposed to put armed guards there too?