Yee Haw! Texas School District Letting Teachers Carry Guns

It sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch but I actually read it on my Reuters feed.

A school district in Texas is going to allow teachers to carry concealed firearms to school this fall.

No, you did not misread that, teachers can legally carry guns to school in the Harrold Independent School District.

Are you kidding me? The article says that this measure was unanimously approved by the school board.

My favorite part is this quote from the Superintendent, David Thweatt:

"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do? It's just common sense."

I respectfully disagree.

Okay, that is a lie. There is no respect involved. What are these people thinking? Teachers carrying concealed weapons? That makes me want to join a commune - and I am no hippie.

Some Texans are even suggesting that the students be allowed to carry concealed weapons as well.

Dude. That just sounds like a gunfight waiting to happen.

There are only two scenarios where I can see this coming in handy. Either 1) When those kids really start pissing you off or 2) when the Soviets invade your high school.

WOLVERINES!!!!

[source]

Comments

[DianaCLT]

Ummm...I find it hard to believe that this school district is more dangerous and in danger than South Central L.A., and they don't have a law like this. Come to think of it, it's probably the kids carrying concealed weapons in South Central, but I digress...

Ummm...maybe this will the "The Alamo of the New Millenium?" And if a smaller, not-so-strong teacher is carrying a concealed weapon, who's to say that a larger, stronger student with a thirst for blood won't just take it from said teacher, and use the teacher's own gun to commit murder?

[Amy H]

Well of course they passed this unanimously. This is TEXAS! (bangs head against desk)

I love my state, don't get me wrong. I have lived in other places and I have to say that Texas is a fantastic place. But sometimes crap like this comes along and it makes us all look bad.

I don't know where this school district is, but unless it is in the heart of Houston where there has been a huge increase in crime since hurricane Katrina (thanks to a screwed-up plan to move people out of New Orleans without thinking everything through), I don't see how these schools could be any more dangerous than Compton.

A bunch of crazies....(continues to bang head)

[Karen]

Well, maybe the reason that Columbine happened...and all the other school shootings...is that the students who brought the guns to school knew full well that their teachers wouldn't be able to stop them with their own gun.

I'm just saying. You know why you rarely hear of, say, a police station being shot at the way schools are nowadays? Because the bad guys know the police, they have guns. And they can fire back.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here. School shootings are damn scary. Just one of the 1,999,002 reasons that I prefer to homeschool my kids. I can understand a school system AND the parents feeling that this might help deter a crazy loner kid from bringing a gun to his history class.

I'm not saying I agree with it, just trying to see it from their angle.

[Karen]

Oh, and Columbine wasn't in, say, L.A or a drug zone. It's not about the school being in a dangerous area. It's about somebody knowing that nobody else in that school has a means of defending themselves against an armed attacker.

I mean, think about it. If you were a wacko like the guy who shot up the Amish school, and you wanted to make a point with your weapon, do you go to a place where you know the authority figures might well be able to disable you with a well-placed shot before you can shoot people, or do you go to a place where you know weapons are not allowed?

Hmmm.

[DianaCLT]

In that case, why doesn't every teacher in every po-dunk town across America carry a gun? Nope. Not a good idea (and for that matter, teachers have gone nutso, too), IMHO. Shit happens. Everywhere. The only reason we don't hear about South Central in national news is because it's expected there and happens all the time. There are a lot more small towns in this country than there are large metropolitan areas. If this district allows teachers to carry guns, and a nutjob happened to be in the area, wanting to wreak havoc, it just means that said nutjob will go somewhere else to wreak said havoc - post office, laundromat, another school district, etc.

[Snarky Amber]

Karen,

I guess I kinda see your point, but I think guns are too often turned on the person holding them, or found and used by someone other than the owner, for this ever to be a good idea, anywhere. Honestly, metal detectors at the entrance of the school are far more likely to keep the people inside safe than teachers packing heat.

[B]

It's an interesting debate for sure. I do think that perhaps having the school district hire armed guards or training the teachers as well as the police are trained is definitely in order. IMHO Having trained adults carrying concealed weapons isn't very scary. Of course, I live in a conceal and carry state, and I'm not going to get all freaked out by reflecting that Joe-Bob probably is packing. We'll have to see how it plays out, I suppose.

[missbanshee]

As a social worker who works with people in various stages of delusion and rage, I would never, EVER want to carry a gun. Yes, there are people, kids even, who could open fire and one would want to defend his or herself and the innocents around them, but more weapons in an already volatile situation? I can't get behind that. It seems a recipe for disaster.

[BaltimoreGal]

You know, there's a reason they call that position the DEVIL's advocate. It's not a good thing.

[KimPossible]

Speaking as a parent, this would NOT make me feel safer for my child. Where would the teacher keep this concealed weapon? In an old desk drawer, because goodness knows our teachers don't have state of the art furniture. So this lock couldn't be picked by a punk kid? Come on people, this is insane. Not to mention the teachers my son has had in the past sometimes have had a few screws loose. What if one goes off the deep end and decides to threaten an unruly student? My child would be stunned for life.

This law is proof that most school board officials should be put on an island for a battle of the fittest, WITH concealed weapons.

[Kyla]

My husband is a gun guy and he thinks it is a fine idea. I, on the other hand, think WHAT THE HELL?! I don't want anyone in charge of my child to be able to brandish a firearm at him or her! Teachers aren't above reproach and shouldn't have that kind of power.

[kathy]

Giddy-up!!

[ivymae]

No no no. Even police, who are trained extensively in use and safety of guns, how to protect themselves and others, and how to assess a situation that needs gun power, sometimes even THEY shoot the wrong person. No, I would never send my child to a school where the teachers are encouraged to carry a gun.

[sarah]

This is one of those situations when, as a native Texan, I feel like labeling this story (over & over & over) as being IN TEXAS and ABOUT TEXANS does a disservice to all of the Texans that wouldn't ever want to attend a school or send their kids to a school filled with guns. There is so much more to Texas than the gun-loving small towns that are often portrayed in the media.

That said, I'd never send my kid to a school where the teachers had guns. The idea of allowing an adult have that much absolute CONTROL over the kids in a place that they should feel safe is not one I'm comfortable with.

[avonlea]

OK, seriously, a concealed weapon is carried on the person not locked in some random desk drawer. The concealed handgun laws specify that you must be trained and pass certification, so you're not stupid enough to let someone know for sure that you have a gun (that's brandishing your weapon and illegal) or let someone get it from you.

If someone has a "few screws loose" I would hope that the background checks and certification would screen them out. But since someone with screws looose might not care about laws, it doesn't matter whether the law is there or not; they could just bring a gun in to school anyway.

[sarahthe]

It's shocking to me how many of you are saying that you'd rather send your children to a place where they have no advocate that is able to protect them vs. a trained person who would be able to use a weapon to potentially save the lives of dozens of people.

It's not like the teachers are going to be pistol whipping the kids, or threatening to shoot them if they don't turn in their homework on time.

The bad kids are going to get guns into the schools, metal detectors or not. They literally march in and shoot fish (your children) in barrels (classrooms). Shooting fish in barrels would be infinitely more difficult if the fish shot back.