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100
2 votes
Nov 25, 2015

Again, people advocating this are acting like there is one solution to mass shootings in schools or public places - more firearms in the hands of more people.

If only the teachers were armed. . . .

If only more citizens were armed. . . .

If we did away with gun-free zones. . . .

Gun violence for any reason is a more complex problem. Contrary to what some assert, there is no clear statistical evidence that more guns in the hands of civilians can stop gun violence or lower crime. It certainly hasn't in the US, where citizens have more guns and more types of guns per capita than in any other advanced nation. The countries that rank above the US in homicides are developing or third world counties where guns are plentiful. Canada and all of the advanced nations of Europe that have more regulations on guns rank lower in homicides.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

I am not against gun ownership, but the US Government asserted long ago that the right to own firearms can be regulated, particularly with the advent of modern automatic weapons, which were first regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934. All the rights in the Bill of Rights can be regualted in order to protect US citizens and the welfare and security of the nation, just as freedom of religion was regualted in the case of polygamy, the freedom of assembly is regulated in some cases by requiring permits, and freedom of speech is regualted when speech is used to incite others to violence.

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50
4 votes
Aug 4, 2015

I love how the right constantly rails against how incompetent our school teachers are... but now want to give them all firearms!

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0
main reply
0 votes,
Aug 4, 2015

I really believe their are some teachers that are capable of doing this. But, they are very special.

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0
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0 votes,
Aug 4, 2015

Most of the "right" doesn't claim that teachers are incompetent, they argue that the public school system is all sorts of messed up, and just throwing more money at it won't fix it. I know many (liberal) school teachers that agree 100% that the system cripples teachers' ability to educate.

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0
0 votes
Aug 4, 2015

Allowing teachers to be armed won't solve the problem of mass killers, and may lead to more problems. It also gives schools a false sense of security. I doubt teachers are going to be walking around the classroom with gun in hand. If you are the first classroom hit by the killer, it won't do any good to be armed. These killers have been using shotguns or semi-automatic rifles. Abandoning your class and going out into the hallway is not a good idea. Yes, if you are not the first class, and have advanced warning, you might prevail and save lives, but lives will still be lost. There are some politicians that like it, since it is the cheapest way they think to provide security. Again, there is a greater probability of gun violence involving students arguing with teachers, accidents, and so forth, than a mass shooting.

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50
main reply
2 votes,
Aug 4, 2015

It wont solve the problem is correct. On the other hand will likely deter a lot of people from going into a school and shooting it up. I know if I was to walk into a school and knew that a teacher in that school might be carrying. I wouldn't take that chance. These shooters are cowards. Another aspect is to train these teachers that are willing to carry in the school.

Another system that could be put into place is a advanced warning system that alerts authorities that there is an immediate emergency going on in the school. Im not talking about fire alarms. Im talking about something along the lines of what banks have put into place. Each classroom should be equipped with such devices. These are just measures to help when a situation has occurred. Its not going to stop someone from acting out. We need our society to wake up and get off their butts to make a significant change in the minds of the youth.

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0
0 votes,
Aug 4, 2015

I doubt any of the killers at any of these schools would have been deterred by anything. In fact, they probably would have taken it as a challenge. Again, once someone is inside the building, people are going to get shot. The key is to have better preventation such as outside cams and automatic locking doors.

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0
0 votes
Aug 4, 2015

I think schools should at least be allowed to keep guns in the building so that they are accessible in case of an emergency, in the administration office or similar. There is a lot of fear around having weapons in such close proximity to immature students but I find it hard to imagine that students stealing or messing with their teachers guns will become a national problem to the same degree as school shootings are. Even the 'tougher' kids will be hesitant to mess with deadly weapons.

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0
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0 votes,
Aug 4, 2015

that may be a bIf guns are around something will go wrong. A student will get get and someone will get hurt or killed by accident or on purpose. The guns will just be a problem waiting to happen. I wonder how many school guns will get stolen? Pepper Spray worked that sounds like a better solution in most cases.

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0
0 votes
Aug 4, 2015

I think the escalation in violence, to include homicide, in schools is indicative of a much deeper problem that needs addressing.

Adding more methods of violence to a violent situation is ludicrous, regardless the "good intentions" of whoever is involved with a nonsense solution like this.

As in most recent U.S. policy, the "knee jerk" reaction is almost as bad an idea than the problem is in the first place.

I understand there are "wheels within wheels within wheels... turning" that the public are intentionally not made aware of (although, for another time, one might ask "why, if the public is PAYING for the government, does the government feel the need to keep everything secret from the people who are signing their checks? - it wouldn't work where you and I get a paycheck, would it?), but adding guns to people who shouldn't have them on top of crazy people having guns is NOT really a solution as much as it is coining the phrase "putting out a fire with gasoline".

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0
0 votes
Jul 25, 2016

and many of them will become murderers with carrying guns in school. I'm sure

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