The reflexive NRA-Trump-Arkansas-legislator idea to arm school teachers hardly needed more evidence of what a bad idea it is. (so bad even Gov. Asa Hutchinson, as NRA spokesman, opposed it in 2013, pre-Jan Morgan.) But a few bits and pieces today add to the arguments:
* FLORIDA MASSACRE: The high school had an armed resource officer, a county deputy sheriff. He knew shots were being fired. He didn’t enter the building but took a defensive position outside. Who knows what that’s about? But think about a teacher with another job who happens to also carry a gun.
* STUFF HAPPENS: In Pennsylvania, elementary kids found a loaded gun a teacher had left in a bathroom.
* IT’S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS: I can’t vouch for the authenticity of these particular Twitter users, but it’s not the first I’ve seen from cops, soldiers and others familiar with weapons talk about the difficulty of shooting accurately in pressure situations (never mind if you have a revolver and are facing a madman with an AR-15 rapidly firing from a 50-shot magazine). Also, cops have been known to wound or kill the wrong people in pressure situations.
Shooting under stress is extremely difficult. Even for the most well-trained shooters. A teacher is not going to be able to do this. A lunch lady is not going to be able to do this. Cops & soldiers literally get paid to do this & most of them can't shoot accurately under stress.
— Jay Kirell (@JasonKirell) February 22, 2018
This is true. I shot competitively (tried out for the ‘84 Olympics), and spent 16 years in the Army. I was qualified as an Expert in both Rifle and Pistol.
In live fire simuulators I had a really high hit rate, almost 40 percent. Think about that. https://t.co/CUjUrWDhiC
— T Karney (@pecunium) February 22, 2018
* UTAH: From MSNBC
A teacher in Utah accidentally shot herself in the leg Thursday inside an elementary school building.
Just before 9 a.m., Michelle Ferguson-Montgomery accidentally discharged her gun while using a faculty restroom at Westbrook Elementary School in Taylorsville, the principal said in a letter to students’ parents. The incident occurred before school hours, and no children nor staff were present. The teacher was in legal possession of her gun on school property.
State law allows individuals to obtain a concealed-weapons permit and carry firearms onto school campuses, following the completion of a safety training course. Educators in possession of a weapon on school property must keep it with them at all times to prevent a student from finding the gun in a drawer or cabinet. The law does not, however, permit administrators to identify the faculty members who are eligible for licenses.