Teachers should have guns

[Smartsub]

This was put forward (by a colleague) as a serious solution to prevent further tragedies in US.

I don't know how American teachers would feel, but I can't imagine any teachers wanting a gun in their desk.

However, AIBU to think that if this did happen, it would increase, not reduce tragedies, either students getting hold of a teacher's gun or a teacher themselves, in a MH crisis?

The Texas attorney general has suggested the same thing.

I had a supply teacher at school who had some sort of breakdown in an unruly class. He threw pens, flipped over his desk, and then ran out of the classroom. I don't want to suggest he'd have shot us... but adding a gun wouldn't have helped.

Even when teachers are doing their best, there are so many things that could go wrong with this. Accidental shootings, a child taking the gun, the teacher becoming more of a target, the blame placed on the teacher if they didn't kill an intruder - or god forbid, a child got caught in the cross-fire.

Guns are an issue?

People are the issue. Guns are inanimate objects until a person picks it up* *

Only in America is adding more guns into the mix a solution to a horrifying gun
violence problem 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️
Protecting their ridiculous “right to bear arms” is more important than protecting the lives of children apparently.
And no matter how much the public protest and demand gun reform, it will not happen while certain political players are still having their pockets lined by the NRA. It’s disgusting.

Absolutely not. Would hate to imagine my teacher sister having access to a gun when she had her mental health breakdown and didn't want to live.

I've given first aid to ECTs who have managed to do themselves a mischief with a fucking staple gun or broken a finger closing the photocopier paper tray.

There's no way they should be allowed anywhere near anything that could actually kill somebody.

America needs less guns not more

Surely either the guns would be very securely locked away in which case not that useful if someone with a gun burst in, or they would be more accessible in which case they run the risk of being stolen and used by people other than teachers in self defence.

Terrible terrible idea.

I think it was proposed in America
a lot of teachers in America were against it
To use a gun, you need proper training and have that training refreshed
assumed the killer comes in and the teacher has enough time to take the gun out and aim you’re increasing the possibility of a cross fire
the teacher has to be prepared to shoot first, to kill, no hesitation
a lot of accidents happen in America where parents don’t properly lock the arms/kids force the lock
what happens when a teacher accidentally leaves the arm unlocked / a student beaks the lock
less guns it’s what they need , not more

Wow. Yep, so glad I left teaching.

If the risk of getting shot at school was so high that teachers had to be armed I wouldn’t be sending my child to school!

God forbid, the US needs less guns. Obama was unsuccessful but he will be the first to support Biden.

The shootings took place in one classroom, just heartbreaking seeing the photos of those children and teacher

People are the issue. Guns are inanimate objects until a person picks it up

Yet in countries with much tighter gun control, 'people' are not nearly so much of an issue and mass shooting of school children does not happen with some regularity.

@OchonAgusOchonOh is correct that teachers in sone states have already armed themselves. Not where I live, thankfully, but there’s security guards (presumably armed) at both my children’s schools. They’ve both taken part in active shooter drills and it’s quite difficult to enter the schools-which I have no objection to.

I’m so angry with the current situation. Americans can’t legally buy alcohol until 21, but this shooter legally purchased the weapons just days after his 18th birthday. 😡

Gun control needs to start happening NOW and I just hope that enough other people agree so we can get the current laws changed.

Looks like we have a strong candidate for clickbait title of the year here 😂😂

That’s the whole point, @Agrudge . People are unpredictable and can suffer from poor mental health or have anger issues, so we shouldn’t routinely have access to firearms.

We don’t NEED give in our everyday lives in 21st century America-yes, a few people hunt, but the vast majority don’t.

Yes, @worraliberty, but it’s not funny at all.

This argument is leaned on far too heavily.

Guns enable people to cause a disproportionate amount of harm with very little effort compared to what they could achieve without a gun.

Completely agree.

Ridiculous idea.

So we need to get rid of the people then?

Oh wait, we tried teaching kids remotely...

I watched a documentary ages ago about schools in America where teachers have guns and I don’t agree with it (and I say that as someone who actively shoots as a hobby - nothing alive don’t worry!) firstly, it causes more fear in children to know there is a gun in the same room they are supposed to concentrate and learn etc. Secondly, whose to say that teacher will always be emotionally and mentally stable - what if they are having a bad and stressful time, starting to have a bit of a breakdown and use it? Thirdly, if there is a fight between other people in the school, someone might grab it and use it

Absolutely not the solution. What a dystopian world that would be - where teachers in primary schools carry guns.

The solution of getting rid of lunatics with guns, is to take the guns off the lunatics (and everyone else). Simple as that.

This. There are as many guns in Canada yet Canadians manage not to carry out several school shootings a month. Why is that?

I'm going one better. We need to arm all the kids. Obviously not assault rifles for kindergarten. They can just have hand guns.

Honestly, they just need to stop making and selling bullets. They will use the ones they have left up soon enough then that's it.

Utter madness. I used to be a teacher and I can tell you categorically that I would neither be using nor keeping any gun given to me!