Teachers should have guns

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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?

A person with an automatic rifle and a teacher with a gun in a closed classroom full of children... what could go wrong, right?

Stupid idea, it would need to be locked away from children so would likely be unobtainable in an emergency also not sure turning a gun on a shooter would resolve the situation. It would probably make it worse. Schools need better security. My ds school is fenced in, every gate and door is locked all day except for 15 minutes of pick up and drop off. The only way in to the school after that is the reception and that's just an entrance area with a small window . To get any further someone needs to unlock the door. No one is allowed in the school other than children, staff and authorised visitors. If a parent drops a bag off or collects a child early they do not get past reception.

Were it not so serious a subject, this would be a laughable suggestion.
Where would I keep it? My desk? The staff room? In my handbag?
Can’t say I would feel great about having a loaded gun in the drawer in a room full of children.
How much training would I have? Who would do it? When would I pull the trigger?
What kind of gun? A little handgun or a big automatic weapon?

And yes, if you think I would ever be able to shoot a teenager in the head, especially if I have probably already taught them, then you’re wrong. This is why I am not in law enforcement or defence - not my skill set.

It’s appalling that this is the insult of a solution we’re being forced to listen to, all because the spoilt little men in charge still want their toys. Literally incredible.

Well as others have touched on most of these attacks are by someone using an assault rifle/rapid fire, don't think a pistol is going to be much help.
Plus they usually seem to be ex or current pupils, they'd know which teacher had a gun and logically go for them first.
Thought it was already happening anyway ?

It's a stupid idea, usually put out there by the gun lobby, who are scared babies worried that their toys guns are going to be taken away. They would rather the classrooms turned into Gunfight at the OK Corral than have one less gun in the world. It's dangerous and pathetic.

When you think you’ve read it all on MN and things couldn’t get any crazier - seems it can and it does.

@SlowHorses
You maybe have not noticed that lots of Americans think teachers should be armed. The Governor of Texas for one. Of course it’s madness but the Americans got there well before MN!

🙄

Sadly yes

No. Dont be Ridiculous

@autienotnaughty a significant number of schools in America already have armed staff members called School Resource Officers, mine did and so did the school that experienced this shooting. I’ve never heard of one killing a child though, I have heard of them stopping school shootings. Whether they are effective for the cost is another question.

All it means is the teacher is the first to be shot when the shooter starts. It solves nothing.

I was living in America when Sandy Hook happened. In the space of 48 hours my colleagues went from shocked to "meh, waddya do". If that event was not going to spur action, then nothing will and we are condemned to watch the same thing play out again and again and again and hope it is not our loved ones in the firing line.

From my colleagues' perspectives, because there was not one single solution where a magic wand could be waved to solve the problem, then they thought nothing could be done. I suggested that there was not one solution, and a variety of different actions were needed - an Apollo program for gun violence with the Man on the Moon replaced by the target of gun violence rates being on a par with other rich western democracies. It was like I was talking a foreign language. I am so glad I moved back to the UK.

The ‘let’s arm teachers’ suggestion has been mainstream on the US right for years now.

Mainstream US right sounds like an oxymoron in itself. I didn’t know this had been advocated for so long in the US.

Not having a go at the OP, just incredulous at both the very sad situation and notion this would even remotely solve the problem.

Do you know what happened to Smith & Wesson shares after this most recent school shooting? Their share price went up.

The NRA and Texas lawmakers immediately pushed for arming teachers, and that's because it would mean more institutionalised gun sales.

It's all about money and always has been, anything else is smoke and mirrors.

God. They never learn, do they?

As the mother of a kid who frequently annoys teachers in various ways and often gets punished for her various class misdemeanours - I would be terrified if one of her teachers had a gun 😬

Such a bad idea for so many reasons. I often think of what happened at Dunblane, especially when teaching PE, and think of how I could get my class to safety as quickly as possible in the event of an armed intruder. If I was expected to get out a gun and fire I wouldn’t be protecting the children and getting them to safety would be delayed. I’d also be terrified I shot the kids by accident.

Colombine had 2 armed people on campus who even took shots at the perpetrator : didn't stop him.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas school had an armed guard on the premises, didn't stop the madman.

So yeah, not a great track record there.

There was a story about a community college shooting in California, on a campus over 2 sites. As word got out about the shooting, someone said "Hey you have a gun. Why don''t you go stop that bad guy?" to which the gun-owner ( a student) replied: "Because the cops will then shoot me, thinking I'm just another bad guy!"

Why the hell would anyone think that children would be more protected from a school shooting, by potentially being in a classroom with a loaded gun all the time