Trump says arming teachers could prevent school massacres

[Antioc]

No doubt about him, he's a genius.

[Grouse]

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

First off, my missive is related to teachers and their students. 

 

For a long time, British cops didn't have firearms, and shooting deaths were rare during that time.  Bringing loaded guns into the equation changed things, not least: peoples' (including criminals') perceptions and awareness of guns.  I realize cops and soldiers should have loaded weapons (and training in how to use them), but arming teachers will exacerbate the dire problems afflicting US schools.    It's an NRA-type solution which, by definition, means it benefits makers/sellers of guns and ammo.  

 

 

British police do not carry firearms normally. It is a rigorous procedure for them to be issued. Don't involve us in this idiocy.

[puck2]

5 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Arming teachers only makes sense. Banks, airports, sporting events all have armed protection, what's wrong with school teachers being able to defend themselves? 

 

The typical Trump logic

• respond to violence by violence. Why bother?

• don't consider the consequences

• don't go to the root of the problem (violent behavior)

• when mortally shot by the villain the teacher/s will kill the villain

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Hey !!! he can read ????

No he can't

[Berkshire]

2 hours ago, Credo said:

Armed teachers is not going to work.   First of all, even police miss their target more often than they hit it.   Teachers, as a group, are never going to be trained to the proficiency necessary to shoot at someone armed with a AR-15 or similar type weapon.   And in large schools, they are going to need a lot of trained teachers, probably one for each building and maybe one for each floor.  

 

They would have to be able to hear where the shooting is coming from, and in a building there are echos that make it very confusing.   They are going to have to make sure no student is in the way or no other teacher with a gun.   'Friendly fire' is a very real possibility.  

 

When the police or the SWAT team arrive, there is a good chance that an armed teacher would be immediately shot.  

 

Then there is the very serious concern of insurance.   There is probably no insurance company that is going to give coverage for any use of lethal force and the broader laws that protect police would not extend to teachers.   School districts could be held liable or some major pay outs for lethal force, accidental death and various other legal challenges.

 

 

Some good points.  Regarding your last paragraph, I can foresee a whole cottage industry of lawyers in business just to sue schools.  Imagine a kid pulls out a toy gun, the teacher panics and shoots him dead.  Or even a real gun, and the teacher shoots him dead.  The parents/lawyers will be all over that teacher/school like white on rice. 

[tonray]

45 minutes ago, Media1 said:

The real solution is post soldiers at schools security checks

Against the law to deploy military within the United States.  Can use state National Guard however

[Familyonthemove]

The teachers didn't need guns in my old school.  They were professional marksmen with the board duster, and if you weren't concentrating you see stars through a cloud of chalk dust.

[puck2]

Congratulation to the boy who survived the shooting for his elementary question to a politician:

 

Florida school shooting survivor Cameron Kasky challenges Sen. Marco Rubio: "Can you tell me right now that you will not accept a single donation from the NRA?" http://cnn.it/2sFKUXW  #StudentsStandUp

 

Elementary, because lobbyism erodes democracy. … and the USA has #1 ranking

[Credo]

18 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Some good points.  Regarding your last paragraph, I can foresee a whole cottage industry of lawyers in business just to sue schools.  Imagine a kid pulls out a toy gun, the teacher panics and shoots him dead.  Or even a real gun, and the teacher shoots him dead.  The parents/lawyers will be all over that teacher/school like white on rice. 

The cost to municipalities is already high when there is a shooting.   Schools are really not equipped financially for that type of cost.   Putting teachers involved in administrative leave is going to be very expensive as well.   

 

The other issue is that many teachers are not well equipped to conceal carry a weapon.   Most women would have a hard time putting the gun somewhere on their person and the % of teachers is mostly women.   

 

This is just about the poorest thought out plan I have ever heard of from a president.   A couple of drunks in a bar could probably come up with more constructive ideas.   

[DM07]

Yeah...just give guns to everyone!

Balance of power worked in the Cold War, so what could go wrong here?

 

[Media1]

21 minutes ago, tonray said:

Against the law to deploy military within the United States.  Can use state National Guard however

Will do the job probably better less agressive

[Silurian]

Guess "Crooked Hillary" was right after all.

 

 

[soalbundy]

27 minutes ago, Familyonthemove said:

The teachers didn't need guns in my old school.  They were professional marksmen with the board duster, and if you weren't concentrating you see stars through a cloud of chalk dust.

I remember that, happy days !

[Calach]

Dear lord that was a close call !

 

[VocalNeal]

4 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

By your logic they should take the guns away from the cops and soldiers too then. 

Norwegian police don't carry guns so how can they be taken away? 

 

Soldiers are issued weapons from an armory when the are deployed but I note they cannot be deployed withing the US. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by VocalNeal

[tifino]

This all gives new meaning; to a teacher conducting a Course Critique after each Semester...

 

I remember them well - in that they were jokingly called 'post-mortems', by Student and Instructor alike!

 

 

Having an armed teacher makes it all too real; but I'm sure there will be subdued students' open discontent, or at least bravado! 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, Get Real said:

Ooh Yeah, roll on dude! Maybe it´s finally going to be the perfect time for that long awaited mental health check now. Please refrain from paying the doctor to sign OK this time.

 

Yeah, let's list the qualifications needed to get employment as a professional teacher:

 

- Degree in education

- Further specific subject knowledge

- Qualified at using rifles and side arms and trained / qualified as to who to shoot in specific scenarios

 

How did this clown ever become the POTUS?

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

"We're going to be very strong on background checks, we're doing very strong background checks, very strong emphasis on the

mental health," Trump said.

 

Please look in the mirror, Buddy... Who are you to be talking about "mental health"?

 

Typical gun nut industry response. The idea ought to be to keep guns OUT of schools, not bring more guns onto campuses.

 

Who's going to train the teachers in gun use/safety, etc? How are the "teacher" guns at schools going to be kept secure and not be grabbed or taken away by students? What would gun-toting teachers do for the educational environment of the schools?

 

Instead, how about securing campuses and making good use of school security personnel/police and metal detectors to enter the campus? Not to mention making it illegal to own or buy assault weapons, which NO ONE needs for self defense or home protection.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Calach]

Now we just need to wait for a depressed or lunatic teacher to score a few students with his "service weapon" to have the NRA proposing children be armed to the teeth too. 

 

Perhaps we should educate everyone in military camps already, that will spare us endless controversies. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Calach

[The Theory]

Guns and more guns. That has always been republicans policy toward their supporters, gun makers. Nothing new. 

Mans trump just tries very hard to be one, a real republican. 

[mauGR1]

Great idea Donald, then, as soon as a teacher shoot a kid, give a gun to everyone of them, problem solved !

[Jingthing]

Here is what "trump" is probably up to. 

Going for tiny things, background check enhancement that already should be done before changing any laws, some technical rules of bump stops (the gun nuts have already stocked up on them .. TOO LATE) and some kind of wishy washy suggestion that STATES might raise the age requirement to buy assault rifles.  No bans. 

 

Nothing about hand guns which kills over 90 percent of the people killed by guns.

 

That minor marginal stuff in exchange for what idiotic right wing NRA stuff?

 

Armed teachers, turning more schools into virtual prisons, and open carry reciprocity between states. 

 

As is the slogan now from Florida -- I CALL B.S.!

 

I also have a criticism of the Florida student activists. They are focusing ONLY on school safety. That is way too narrow sighted. Sure, it's horrible that anyone is murdered while going to school,  but it's like they're blind to the majority of the gun violence in the U.S. that also kills young people in other settings than schools and is almost all about HAND GUNS. Murdered by a gun is murdered by a gun. 

 

I realize the USA can't do what Australia did because of culture and second amendment fetish. But by focusing only on school shootings and not going deeper, the results (if anything) are going to be very minor and marginal and sold as a solution. You've got to go for more for any hope of getting more. 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Jingthing

[Cory1848]

4 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

By your logic they should take the guns away from the cops and soldiers too then. 

 

Yes ... (?) Several people posting have mentioned countries whose police forces don't routinely carry firearms. Some countries, notably Costa Rica, don't have military forces. One can't be unrealistic about the short term, but what's wrong with setting these kinds of examples as long-term goals? Briefly surveying the past few millennia, one quickly sours on the idea that human beings might be capable of evolution, but nevertheless can't one hold out hope, somehow, that someday we might turn the corner?

[JTXR]

When it became clear that slavery was no longer acceptable, the U.S. Constitution was changed by  amendment.  When it became clear that denying or abridging women's right to vote was wrong, the Constitution was again amended.  When it became clear that prohibition was not viable, a earlier Constitutional amendment was repealed.

 

It is high time the 2nd Amendment was repealed.

Edited February 22, 2018 by JTXR

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, JTXR said:

When it became clear that slavery was no longer acceptable, the U.S. Constitution was changed by  amendment.  When it became clear that denying or abridging women's right to vote, the Constitution was again amended.  When it became clear that prohibition was not viable, a earlier Constitutional amendment was repealed.

 

It is high time the 2nd Amendment was repealed.

Of course it is, but realistically that is nearly impossible. But there is a glimmer of hope. Restrictions on gun ownership are possible even with that amendment. We need a lot more of them. 

[Cory1848]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Of course it is, but realistically that is nearly impossible. But there is a glimmer of hope. Restrictions on gun ownership are possible even with that amendment. We need a lot more of them. 

I hope a bit more than a glimmer. What’s required is leadership. A politician determines what people want most to hear and then parrots those desires right back to them. A leader determines the best thing to do and, if he (or she) finds he’s backing a minority opinion, deploys his talent to convince his opponents otherwise. I can’t think of any people capable of that in the United States right now, not on a national level.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

19 minutes ago, JTXR said:

When it became clear that slavery was no longer acceptable, the U.S. Constitution was changed by  amendment.  When it became clear that denying or abridging women's right to vote was wrong, the Constitution was again amended.  When it became clear that prohibition was not viable, a earlier Constitutional amendment was repealed.

 

It is high time the 2nd Amendment was repealed.

 

It's VERY difficult to do Constitutional Amendments in the U.S. these days about anything, because there are very specific and high bar requirements about what it takes for that to happen.

 

As much as I'm anti-gun, I'm not sure I'd advocate for total repeal... but certainly change in accord with the original very limited purpose of the amendment.

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Basil B]

You do not have to be a an Einstein to know that idea must have come from the NRA, with 3.2 million teachers in the USA that is a lot of gun sales.

 

What is worse for many teachers the stress of the job may well see a shortage of teachers with many lasting out their final years on death row... 

[webfact]

 

[JTXR]

Trump is clearly unfit for the office he holds.  He is clever enough, though, to understand that this sort of idiotic statement will endear him to those in his base who still don't see or care that he is unfit.