More does not equal better (or safer).
Putting guns in schools for select teachers to conceal in case of an active emergency is the single most irrational answer to the school shooting problem.
Sure, classroom educators are protectors of young minds (and unfortunately - lives), but putting even more pressure on these underpaid and underappreciated beacons of society is ridiculous. We cannot expect teachers to double as undercover marksmen in the making in addition to all the continued educational training they undertake. Bundle that atop juggling a current curriculum and maintaining interpersonal relationships with students.
And how many nervous trigger finger accidents are we liable to see if we expect these domestic community pillars to become vigilant [potential] gunslingers?
Eventhough intuition and communication sometimes fail, teachers, coaches, counselors, etc. are better suited being proactive in helping stop an issue before it turns into a catastrophe. Arming educators with weapons of war is a simply being reactive. Over-reactive.
But furthermore… and even more of a harsh indictment to this ludicrous idea:If you believe a would-be shooter's access to firearms is a simple path now, imagine a pistol and bullets right there - on the student’s home field (or perceived battleground). Scary.
Remember back to your school days. No matter how secure a locked desk/cabinet or teachers' lounge appeared, how many times did non-deranged pranksters steal grade books, answer keys, sports equipment or all the classroom markers and erasers? In these cases, kids were playing innocent jokes. Imagine the cunning of an unstable assassin with an agenda for mayhem, not just laughs.
On second thought: don’t. Guns in schools absolutely will not happen.
Regulations on prescribing pharmaceuticals and purchasing weapons are the much smarter path to preventing another tragedy.
Guns are not the sole problem, but they clearly are the means to a troubled zealot’s ends.
More does not equal better (or safer).
* = I did read one significant, evidence-based feature on the issue .
[Notes: I have never lost anyone to gun violence and can almost hit the broad side of a barn with a BB gun.I went to a moderately diverse public school in a predominantly middle class, Midwestern suburb. The biggest bouts of 'excitement' we saw were merely a few infamous hair-pulling or haymaker-swinging squabbles every schoolyear. But like any school, fellow students were definitely bullied and made to feel like outsiders. Whoever these souls were, they stayed quiet or found ways to cope with their anger, sadness and/or stress. My junior and high school days were post-Columbine.
I did, however, participate in an active shooter training drill at my former workplace in 2016. None of us realized the gravity of the situation with how unlikely it seemed at the time.]
