And there we have it. The only way there will always be a police officer available for you instantly is if one is literally tramping around with you or standing at every street corner. Do we really want that?
WTF is going on???school shooting.
- Thread starter titaniumman
- Start date
And there we have it. The only way there will always be a police officer available for you instantly is if one is literally tramping around with you or standing at every street corner. Do we really want that?
titaniumman
Member
only in his mind....I guess that nothing can be sarcastic..(ie:ringos super intelligence) if it is put in print here?
And FWIW The wording of the OP was meant as a statement more than a question. Something to start a conversation about an incredibly sad day in history. I wasn't expecting a personal attack for my choice of words, when there was none delivered by my post to begin with. thanks ringo you are a true Christian.
r1derbike
New member
OK Rhino, never be allowed in my post may be replaced with the vast majority of teachers will never be allowed to carry in the classroom. Let's not get caught-up in semantics or word games. Nationwide teacher concealed carry will not happen. In those places not protected, armed police or security should be employed. That's my story and I'm sticking with it, as before.
BC1
,
Teachers are under no obligation to protect anyone. Police officers are also under no obligation to protect the public as ruled by the SCOTUS.
BC1
,
This isn't about our opinion. This is about what society will decide is prudent or safe, regardless of whether it's based in any fact. Teachers will never be allowed to carry a gun at schools across America. Perhaps some districts in some states may consider it, but it's not a national solution. Know how they say "never say never?" I'm saying never. Teachers are among the most liberal backward thinkers in America. The majority are anti-gun. Further, I will not call a plumber to fix an electrical problem. I will call an electrician. Armed guards in every school, not armed teachers. I want a person who is trained in active shooter situations, the use of force and the law. I don't care about the cost. I would not bet my child's life on the fact that some teacher has a gun in her pocketbook. This subject is as dead a Julius Caesar.
r1derbike
New member
BC1, your statement hit me like a ton of bricks, as legally it is true. May be the reason I don't see the slogan "to protect and serve" plastered on black and whites much, any more.
We are on our own, and if Obama and company have their way, we will be on our own, with no means of protection.
I'm concerned.
We are on our own, and if Obama and company have their way, we will be on our own, with no means of protection.
I'm concerned.
BC1
,
History shows us the only thing we can depend on government to do is make the wrong decision.
Rhino
New member
I don't think it will ever be universally allowed, that much is true. But you can't simply rule it out as a norm either. It wasn't that long ago that your original comment would have been accepted as absolute truth, that teachers carrying guns in schools would have been beyond comprehension. But the world changes, societal norms change and attitudes change with them. That's why you have teachers with guns today when no one would have ever have imagined such a thing that long ago, and it's also why you can't simply say that such a thing will never be the norm. Just as with those people in the not so distant past who could never imagine any teacher anywhere who would ever be allowed to carry a gun in school, we can't just sit and claim we know what will or will not be in the future. Societal norms can and do change in very unexpected ways. 30 years ago there probably wasn't anyone who believed that concealed carry would be legal in some form in all 50 states, but we stand on the cusp of that today. It isn't a semantics or word game to envision that teachers could indeed legally carry guns. Given the way laws and attitudes towards guns have been changing the last couple of decades, even with school and othe spree killings taking place, it isn't even unreasonable to believe such a thing. The old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be.
Rhino
New member
The majority maybe, but not all. I've come across conservative and/or pro-2nd amendment teachers in every school I've come across, and that's quite a few. My wife is a teacher. I've never expected that every teacher would be armed. That's a pipe dream. But there are plenty of teachers who could, and one of the beauties of the idea is that a potential attacker would never know who they might be. Just as the shooter in the Portland mall demonstrated, they don't want to be confronted by an armed opponent. Just having the option available could potentially save lives through deterrence without a gun ever being present.
.
So you won't be participating in the discussion any more? :biggrin: The subject is still very much alive and well for me. The average citizen isn't trained in active shooter situations, the use of force and the law, yet I assume you support them carrying a gun. I see no reason why a teacher should be denied that same right. On the contrary, I see many reasons why they should NOT be denied that right. I saw 20 reasons on Friday.
It really depends on how bad it gets , many people never thought our airports would need the security they now have , that we would have a department of homeland security . We are becoming more and more like Israel and may have to adopt the Israeli model . The sad thing is our government is so worried about political correctness and exploiting this tragedy to push there gun control agenda that this type of thing will happen many more times before any steps that will actually help are instituted . The AWB did allot of good for the students at Columbine HS didn't it but once again that will be there solution
Rhino
New member
"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
-- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
.
"But what...is it good for?"
-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
.
"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
-- Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
.
"The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys."
-- Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
.
"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility."
-- Lee DeForest, inventor.
.
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
-- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
.
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
.
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."
-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."
.
"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."
-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.
.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
.
"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax."
-- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.
.
"It will be years, not in my time, before a woman will become Prime Minister."
-- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.
.
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone."
-- Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869.
.
"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market."
-- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
.
"That Professor Goddard with his 'chair' in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react--to say that would be absurd. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
-- 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work. The remark was retracted in the July 17, 1969 issue.
.
"Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality."
-- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.
.
"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
-- Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
.
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."
-- Albert Einstein, 1932.
.
"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."
-- Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project.
.
"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
-- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
.
"There will never be a bigger plane built."
-- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.
.
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
.
"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon."
-- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.
.
It's funny how seemingly axiomatic truisms can change over time.
-- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
.
"But what...is it good for?"
-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
.
"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
-- Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
.
"The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys."
-- Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
.
"While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility."
-- Lee DeForest, inventor.
.
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
-- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
.
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
.
"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."
-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With the Wind."
.
"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make."
-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.
.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
.
"Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax."
-- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, British scientist, 1899.
.
"It will be years, not in my time, before a woman will become Prime Minister."
-- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.
.
"I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious sensibilities of anyone."
-- Charles Darwin, The Origin Of Species, 1869.
.
"With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market."
-- Business Week, August 2, 1968.
.
"That Professor Goddard with his 'chair' in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react--to say that would be absurd. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
-- 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work. The remark was retracted in the July 17, 1969 issue.
.
"Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality."
-- Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861.
.
"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy."
-- Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.
.
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
.
"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."
-- Albert Einstein, 1932.
.
"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."
-- Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project.
.
"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
-- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.
.
"There will never be a bigger plane built."
-- A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.
.
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.
.
"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon."
-- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.
.
It's funny how seemingly axiomatic truisms can change over time.
BC1
,
No, not at all. I don't mind allowing teachers to be armed but I still would want a guard trained in active shooter situations. Someone who's primary job is protection. A real hitter. I want to completely eliminate soft targets.
.
Now "The Big O" is announcing his initiative to prevent school violence. Crazy uncle Joe is at the helm and his advisors are Barbara Boxer, Diane Fientstein and Carolyn McCarthy. The initiave will be entirely about gun control, not criminal control, not protection, not mental health. Considering the nature of that shooting, the demands of the majority of the people and those tasked with finding a solution, the result is inevitable. You're going to lose some rights. And the GOP will allow it simply becuase blocking it opens the party up to beint called baby killers.
.
What changes can we expect? A combination of of the following... gun registration, background checks on private sales, the end of high cap mags, assault weapons ban, limits on ammo stocks and purchases, increased taxes on firearms and ammo, mandatory education, laws against carry within XX feet of a school, etc., improved background reporting on persons with psychiatric issues. National carry is gone and the U.N. treaty will get more attention.
.
Write your legislators. Make sure any initiative not be limited to gun control. Make sure they understand the following from my prior post...
.
Johnny is angry. Angry at the world for his lousy life. Johnny is also nuts. He's so nuts he can't get a gun. Cause Johnny is on the federal nutjob list. And most guns have now been banned by the new O administration anyway. But Johnny has a drivers license. And he has an idea. He rents a Ford Excursion from the local Avis and drives on over to the campus. The campus where people laugh at him and teachers don't understand him. There's 30,000 full-time students on that campus. He waits until the 15 minute break between classes and points his 4,000 pound weapon toward the college green. The headlines read "84 Mowed Down by Lunatic at State University!" The liberal pundits ask "what made Johnny do this?" "Was it the rap music? Video games? Violence on TV? Should we ban these things?" Nahhh. Johnny was nuts, remember? What happened to being nuts, that's no longer an option? One can never stop insane people from doing insane things by passing insane laws. It's Insane!!!!
Rhino
New member
I can understand that sentiment. Where the money will come from to pay for that will be another issue. Every time the federal government gives money to pay for something, they attach conditions that give them more power over local decisions that the federal government has no place deciding in the first place, so I wouldn't be happy with federal funding along those lines, at least not with any conditions attached. The fed is far too involved in education as it is now. They shouldn't be involved at all.
Ringo
A WATCHMAN
People may be surprised when the "gun control issue" turns into more of a "mental health issue" where government determines what is or isn't considered a mental illness, or more so a mental disorder to restrict you from owning a firearm. As an "example", people should be aware that the liberals have suggested that Christianity be labeled a "mental disorder". With government making judgement as to what is determined to be a mental disorder to restrict gun ownership, they would have to go no further to accomplish their agenda. It won't be long before we actually find out the devil's details hidden within the thousands of pages of Obamacare giving government even more control of our lives. IMO there won't be any real threat to the 2nd Amendment pertaining to gun control. Controlling "WHO" is restricted from owning a firearm is much easier and acceptable to the majority than restricting "FIREARMS" and avoiding a Constitutional issue. I could be wrong, we'll see.
BC1
,
I was thinking more along the line of state-by-state. for example, NYC schools have over 7,000 police officers securing it's 1,400 public schools. Considering their are 1.1 million kids in NYC schools alone we rarely hear about an incident and there haven't been any mass shootings. The cost is bourne by the residents of NYC. Upstate schools should be staffed by the NYS Police. A division of school safety staffed by officers specializing in active shooter situations may be costly but it's much better than arming teachers. First, one must assume the teacher is actually any good with a gun. Maybe nobody in the entire school can hit the gound with their hat. Maybe no one is tought enough. Will they have the proper training to deal with active shooters. Are they schooled in PP? Will they take a shot when they shouldn't. Is she/he a deliberate person? can they do what needs to be done? With proper training and testing many teachers could develop the skills. But the public is never gonna allow it.
BC1
,
Teachers are under no obligation to physically defend a student or to put themselves in harm's way. They are mandated reporters but it ends there. The point was that even a LEO is under no obligation, forget about teachers. Arming teachers won't make it into any national legislation, policy or any program. It's simply not acceptable to the masses.
gejoslin
Illegitimi non carborundu
Just saying,
Texas town allows teachers to carry concealed gun
WBOY-TV
updated 1 hour 21 minutes ago
Associated Press
HARROLD, Texas (AP) - In this tiny Texas town, children and their parents don't give much thought to safety at the community's lone school - mostly because some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons.
In remote Harrold, the nearest sheriff's office is 30 minutes away, and people tend to know - and trust - one another. So the school board voted to let teachers bring guns to school.
"We don't have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution," Superintendent David Thweatt said. "A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master's degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children."
In the awful aftermath of last week's Connecticut elementary school shooting, lawmakers in a growing number of states - including Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota and Oregon - have said they will consider laws allowing teachers and school administrators to carry firearms at school.
Texas law bans guns in schools unless the school has given written authorization. Arizona and six other states have similar laws with exceptions for people who have licenses to carry concealed weapons.
Harrold's school board voted unanimously in 2007 to allow employees to carry weapons. After obtaining a state concealed-weapons permit, each employee who wants to carry a weapon must be approved by the board based on his or her personality and reaction to a crisis, Thweatt said.
Employees also must undergo training in crisis intervention and hostage situations. And they must use bullets that minimize the risk of ricochet, similar to those carried by air marshals on planes.
CaRae Reinisch, who lives in the nearby community of Elliott, said she took her children out of a larger school and enrolled them in Harrold two years ago, partly because she felt they would be safer in a building with armed teachers.
"I think it's a great idea for trained teachers to carry weapons," Reinisch said. "But I hate that it has come to this."
The superintendent won't disclose how many of the school's 50 employees carry weapons, saying that revealing that number might jeopardize school security.
The school, about 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth near the Oklahoma border, has 103 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Most of them rarely think about who is carrying a gun.
"This is the first time in a long time that I've thought about it," said Matt Templeton, the principal's 17-year-old son. "And that's because of what happened" in Connecticut.
Thweatt said other Texas schools allow teachers to carry weapons, but he would not reveal their locations, saying they are afraid of negative publicity.
The Texas Education Agency said it had not heard of any other schools with such a policy. And the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence did not know of any other districts nationwide that allow school employees to carry concealed handguns.
But that may change soon.
Oklahoma state Rep. Mark McCullough said he is working on a bill that would allow teachers and administrators to receive firearms training through the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, which would authorize them to carry weapons at school and at school events. Other states are proposing or considering similar measures.
However, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder this week vetoed legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons in schools, churches and day care centers, saying he seeks a more "thoughtful review" that includes school emergency policies and mental health-related issues.
In Texas, guns have an honored place in the state's culture, and politicians often describe owning a gun as essential to being Texan. At the state Capitol, concealed handgun license holders are allowed to skip the metal detectors that scan visitors.
Gov. Rick Perry has indicated he would prefer to give gun owners the widest possible latitude. Just days after the Connecticut attack, Perry said permit holders should be able to carry concealed weapons in any public place.
Last year, many Texas lawmakers supported a plan to give college students and professors with concealed handgun licenses the right to carry guns on campus, but the measure failed.
Opponents insist that having more people armed at a school, especially teachers or administrators who aren't trained to deal with crime on a daily basis, could lead to more injuries and deaths. They point to an August shooting outside the Empire State Building, where police killed a laid-off clothing designer after he fatally shot his former colleague. Nine bystanders were wounded by police gunfire, ricochets and fragments.
"You are going to put teachers, people teaching 6-year-olds in a school, and expect them to respond to an active-shooter situation?" said Ladd Everitt, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, who called the idea of arming teachers "madness."
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner said she would not have felt better if teachers at her children's Seattle school had been armed during a May shooting at a nearby cafe. A gunman killed four people at the cafe and another woman during a carjacking before killing himself. The school went on lockdown as a precaution.
"It would be highly concerning to me to know that guns were around my kids each and every day. ... Increasing our arms is not the answer," said Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and CEO of MomsRising.org.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign, said focusing on arming teachers distracts from the "real things" that could help prevent a school shooting "and at worse it furthers a dangerous conversation that only talks about guns as protection without a discussion about the serious risks they present."
As the debate continues, Harrold's school plans to leave its policy unchanged.
"Nothing is 100 percent at all. ... But hope makes for a terrible plan, hoping that (a tragedy) won't happen," Thweatt said. "My question is: What have you done about it? How have you planned?"
___
Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano in Houston and Nomaan Merchant in Dallas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Texas town allows teachers to carry concealed gun
WBOY-TV
updated 1 hour 21 minutes ago
- Font:
Associated Press
HARROLD, Texas (AP) - In this tiny Texas town, children and their parents don't give much thought to safety at the community's lone school - mostly because some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons.
In remote Harrold, the nearest sheriff's office is 30 minutes away, and people tend to know - and trust - one another. So the school board voted to let teachers bring guns to school.
"We don't have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution," Superintendent David Thweatt said. "A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master's degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children."
In the awful aftermath of last week's Connecticut elementary school shooting, lawmakers in a growing number of states - including Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota and Oregon - have said they will consider laws allowing teachers and school administrators to carry firearms at school.
Texas law bans guns in schools unless the school has given written authorization. Arizona and six other states have similar laws with exceptions for people who have licenses to carry concealed weapons.
Harrold's school board voted unanimously in 2007 to allow employees to carry weapons. After obtaining a state concealed-weapons permit, each employee who wants to carry a weapon must be approved by the board based on his or her personality and reaction to a crisis, Thweatt said.
Employees also must undergo training in crisis intervention and hostage situations. And they must use bullets that minimize the risk of ricochet, similar to those carried by air marshals on planes.
CaRae Reinisch, who lives in the nearby community of Elliott, said she took her children out of a larger school and enrolled them in Harrold two years ago, partly because she felt they would be safer in a building with armed teachers.
"I think it's a great idea for trained teachers to carry weapons," Reinisch said. "But I hate that it has come to this."
The superintendent won't disclose how many of the school's 50 employees carry weapons, saying that revealing that number might jeopardize school security.
The school, about 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth near the Oklahoma border, has 103 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Most of them rarely think about who is carrying a gun.
"This is the first time in a long time that I've thought about it," said Matt Templeton, the principal's 17-year-old son. "And that's because of what happened" in Connecticut.
Thweatt said other Texas schools allow teachers to carry weapons, but he would not reveal their locations, saying they are afraid of negative publicity.
The Texas Education Agency said it had not heard of any other schools with such a policy. And the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence did not know of any other districts nationwide that allow school employees to carry concealed handguns.
But that may change soon.
Oklahoma state Rep. Mark McCullough said he is working on a bill that would allow teachers and administrators to receive firearms training through the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, which would authorize them to carry weapons at school and at school events. Other states are proposing or considering similar measures.
However, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder this week vetoed legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons in schools, churches and day care centers, saying he seeks a more "thoughtful review" that includes school emergency policies and mental health-related issues.
In Texas, guns have an honored place in the state's culture, and politicians often describe owning a gun as essential to being Texan. At the state Capitol, concealed handgun license holders are allowed to skip the metal detectors that scan visitors.
Gov. Rick Perry has indicated he would prefer to give gun owners the widest possible latitude. Just days after the Connecticut attack, Perry said permit holders should be able to carry concealed weapons in any public place.
Last year, many Texas lawmakers supported a plan to give college students and professors with concealed handgun licenses the right to carry guns on campus, but the measure failed.
Opponents insist that having more people armed at a school, especially teachers or administrators who aren't trained to deal with crime on a daily basis, could lead to more injuries and deaths. They point to an August shooting outside the Empire State Building, where police killed a laid-off clothing designer after he fatally shot his former colleague. Nine bystanders were wounded by police gunfire, ricochets and fragments.
"You are going to put teachers, people teaching 6-year-olds in a school, and expect them to respond to an active-shooter situation?" said Ladd Everitt, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, who called the idea of arming teachers "madness."
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner said she would not have felt better if teachers at her children's Seattle school had been armed during a May shooting at a nearby cafe. A gunman killed four people at the cafe and another woman during a carjacking before killing himself. The school went on lockdown as a precaution.
"It would be highly concerning to me to know that guns were around my kids each and every day. ... Increasing our arms is not the answer," said Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and CEO of MomsRising.org.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign, said focusing on arming teachers distracts from the "real things" that could help prevent a school shooting "and at worse it furthers a dangerous conversation that only talks about guns as protection without a discussion about the serious risks they present."
As the debate continues, Harrold's school plans to leave its policy unchanged.
"Nothing is 100 percent at all. ... But hope makes for a terrible plan, hoping that (a tragedy) won't happen," Thweatt said. "My question is: What have you done about it? How have you planned?"
___
Associated Press writers Juan A. Lozano in Houston and Nomaan Merchant in Dallas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
