POLL: Arm Teachers?
MN legislator says yes, Gov. Dayton says no, but a Mpls. school staffer took matters into her own hands and brought a .357 Magnum to school. Should teachers bear arms?
Updated below. Should Minnesota teachers carry guns at school?
One staff member at a Minneapolis public school apparently thought so—according to authorities, she brought a loaded .357 Magnum to Seward Montessori Wednesday.
MN Rep. Tony Cornish (R-Vernon Center) has a bill that would let educators have firearms in classrooms, according to WCCO-TV. The idea is to prevent massacres like last week's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT that left 20 students and seven adults dead. Cornish told WCCO:
“We found out that nothing else works, and I think teachers are the best people to confront this. Even an armed security or an armed cop doesn’t do a lot of good if they get by him or her. Then they’ve got all these classrooms that they can go to. So, I think the best defense is a teacher."
Update: Rep. Cornish told Patch by email Thursday:
"The bill has not been formed yet. I will introduce one, however. I just don't want to hurry it now that I've seen that two other states have announced they will work on a policy in the same way as Texas generally. I'd like to get as many examples as I can." (Those states are Virginia and Tennesse, he said.)
Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) disagreed, saying, “I think that would increase the danger. To have weapons in classrooms, to me, just defies common sense," MPR reported.
The question of arming teachers has heated up across the country:
- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said the idea should be explored.
- A South Carolina bill would let teachers carry guns if districts OK it.
- A San Juan Capistrano, CA city council member urged private and public schools to let teachers carry guns.
- A California congressman disagreed, arguing against a Texas representative's armed-educator proposal.
Do you support or oppose efforts to arm teachers? We want to know your thoughts. Take the poll above and leave a comment below.
Grace McGarvie
11:19 am on Saturday, December 22, 2012
I can hardly stomach those who believe that even though gun violence has increased as guns have become more prevalent in our society, THE ANSWER is more guns. - MORE GUNS IN SCHOOLS!
Timothy Hall
1:29 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
It would be a better use of our resources to have armed people in the school, then adding more time to the school day. All the kids are going to get with a longer school day is more of the same. In 1988 Wayzata High School closed down the smoking area where students could smoke, and they added security officers to crack down on drugs.
Joe Horvath
4:54 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
If every one is armed, how does one tell the good guys from the bad guys?
Joe Horvath
4:57 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
No guns in school.
rob_h78
8:02 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
Given that so many kids play video games and are very good at first person shooters - I would recommend that each school have machine gun turrets and that students can take turns remotely controlling these turrets from a safe room.
That way not only will the schools be well protected, we will save money by having students man the weapons systems and they can learn lessons of responsibility.
And to go the next step perhaps we could start a Drone program which students could also remote pilot to survey the school grounds and if a gunman is even walking towards the school the student could release a drone strike.
Given that the drone strike wouldn't use a gun I suspect the NRA would shoot down that idea though....
Or I suppose if the NRA gets its way, then I would recommend that the armed guard program be paid for by a special tax on every gun and bullet sold in the country - if the NRA and their supporters think that the only way to have our students be safe is to have armed guards - then they can pay for it.
The NRA used to be a decent organization, however, they have moved so far to the fringe that they are really becoming a joke and everyone knows that their only answer to a problem is "More Guns!".
Alexis
10:15 am on Sunday, December 23, 2012
I said no, but that doesn't mean I don't think Teachers should have the right to carry, as long as they are full responsible and properly trained for the use of their weapon.
I don't think they should need to, or feel obligated to have weapons. There should be a reasonable amount of security provided to the building. Some people feel comfortable carrying a gun, and others don't want anything to do with them. Concealed carry by trained educators and upstanding citizens is perfectly fine and shouldn't be controversial, in my eyes.