# I will never, ever understand my fellow man. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 2, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993 "2006-10-02T16:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/41 "2006-10-03T06:19:25Z")
Y’know, both of my parents are school principals. I worry every. Single. Day that some stupid fucking dumbass is going to walk in and put a bullet in one of their heads. I haven’t got an ounce of sympathy for anyone that walks in to a school with a gun. Lock 'em up solitary or execute them if they use it. I really don’t give a fuck, because no one gets paid enough to get shot at. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/42 "2006-10-03T07:38:37Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] Agree. In fact, I think we need \*more \* guns… all teachers should be carrying a weapon. [/QUOTE] Yeah, what a great fucking idea…All the teachers I had when I grew up were just prime candidates to carry a weapon all day. Sane, logical and upstanding citizens to the one and fully capable of discerning any situation and warranting whether or not deadly force is/was necessary. And of course, there is just sooooo much funding available to schools for continual gun training and provding mental assesments. Ummm…HELLO!!! Wake up folks! There is a huge difference between arming Pilots (folk who go through a medical examination every 6 months, ongoing training and analysis, peer reviews, psyche analysis, etc) and underpaid teachers. Pull your heads out. Arming teachers would cause more deaths, not prevent them. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/43 "2006-10-03T07:43:09Z")
Are you sure **Crafter\_Man** wasn’t being sarcastic? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/44 "2006-10-03T08:06:00Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] Are you sure **Crafter\_Man** wasn’t being sarcastic? [/QUOTE] No, but it seems unlikely: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7528333&postcount=3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7528333&postcount=3) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7756694&postcount=102](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7756694&postcount=102) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7648663&postcount=28](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7648663&postcount=28) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7812861&postcount=32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7812861&postcount=32) The common theme is “more guns is good”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/45 "2006-10-03T09:35:18Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] No, but it seems unlikely: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7528333&postcount=3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7528333&postcount=3) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7756694&postcount=102](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7756694&postcount=102) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7648663&postcount=28](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7648663&postcount=28) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7812861&postcount=32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7812861&postcount=32) The common theme is “more guns is good”. [/QUOTE] Wow. I mean WOW. :eek: And I continue to thank my lucky stars that I was born in a country that does not consider gun-ownership to be the norm. Fuck. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/46 "2006-10-03T10:03:47Z")
I stand corrected, then. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/47 "2006-10-03T10:53:36Z")
I have to wonder what the death toll would’ve been in Edinboro, PA had it not been for James Strand who pointed a shotgun at the shooter and stopped him as he was reloading, 11 minutes before the police arrived. How many would’ve been killed in Pearl, MS if Assistant Principal Joel Myrick hadn’t retrieved his .45 caliber pisstol from his car, loaded it, and immobilized the shooter? Mr. Myrick prevented the shooter from driving away armed with a .30-30. At Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, VA, a student opened fire at the school and killed three people before two other students, Michael Gross and Tracy Bridges, managed to retreive personal firearms from their cars and subdue him. Three shootings, six deaths. And then there’s Columbine. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve students and a teacher before committing suicide. The SWAT team didn’t even approach Harris and Klebold until they were already dead. Fifteen people, including the attackers, dead. Of course the media has virtually ignored Joel Myrick, James Strand, Michael Gross and Tracy Bridges, but we’ve all heard of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/48 "2006-10-03T11:04:24Z")
You know, maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did. Maybe it’d make things worse. It certainly wouldn’t have helped in this occasion. And clearly arming every teacher isn’t a good idea. Maybe we just need a cop on duty at every school. (Yeah, that’d work well.) But it’s the only thing I can think of that would deal with problems like this, where the threat is external. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/49 "2006-10-03T11:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=kambuckta] Wow. I mean WOW. :eek: And I continue to thank my lucky stars that I was born in a country that does not consider gun-ownership to be the norm. Fuck. :eek: [/QUOTE] Not in the cities, but in Rural Australia I think you’ll find gun ownership is indeed the norm. Victoria has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the country, followed by Queensland… ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/50 "2006-10-03T11:08:54Z")
[QUOTE=Tomcat] Arming teachers would cause more deaths, not prevent them. [/QUOTE] BS. It works in Israel. Works in the Phillippines. Works in Peru. But I guess American teachers can’t be trusted… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/51 "2006-10-03T11:10:46Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] The common theme is “more guns is good”. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Guns save lives. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/52 "2006-10-03T11:10:54Z")
**catsix:** Good point, but all those people took the responsibility on themselves. They chose to act, and before that, they chose to become gun owners. And in two of your examples, the gun was in a car, not in the classroom where someone else could have appropriated it at a wrong time. Also, it sounds like, when they took action, they were not already facing down the gun, at which point it would have been too late. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/53 "2006-10-03T11:17:41Z")
CNN are reporting that another girl has died of her injuries ☹ Can’t imagine what would provoke someone to take revenge 20 yrs after an event - he would have be 10 or 11 at the time, but to store it up that long suggests it was something harsh. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/54 "2006-10-03T11:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] I have to wonder what the death toll would’ve been in Edinboro, PA had it not been for James Strand who pointed a shotgun at the shooter and stopped him as he was reloading, 11 minutes before the police arrived. How many would’ve been killed in Pearl, MS if Assistant Principal Joel Myrick hadn’t retrieved his .45 caliber pisstol from his car, loaded it, and immobilized the shooter? Mr. Myrick prevented the shooter from driving away armed with a .30-30. At Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, VA, a student opened fire at the school and killed three people before two other students, Michael Gross and Tracy Bridges, managed to retreive personal firearms from their cars and subdue him. Three shootings, six deaths. And then there’s Columbine. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve students and a teacher before committing suicide. The SWAT team didn’t even approach Harris and Klebold until they were already dead. Fifteen people, including the attackers, dead. Of course the media has virtually ignored Joel Myrick, James Strand, Michael Gross and Tracy Bridges, but we’ve all heard of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. [/QUOTE] As long as we are engaging in hypotheticals, one wonders if anyone would’ve been killed if tougher gun laws had been in place keeping the shooters from getting guns at all. I’m not advocating tougher gun laws, but I felt that needed to be said. In these recent cases, I think that having armed teachers would’ve made little difference. The shooters offed themselves. Obviously they weren’t worried about getting out alive. The armed teacher wouldn’t have deterred them, and the possible gunfight might have resulted in more deaths/injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/55 "2006-10-03T11:31:26Z")
[QUOTE=Harborwolf] I think that having armed teachers would’ve made little difference. [/QUOTE] If I had been the teacher in that schoolhouse, I guarantee those girls would still be alive. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/56 "2006-10-03T11:50:43Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] If I had been the teacher in that schoolhouse, I guarantee those girls would still be alive. [/QUOTE] You keep saying that as if it’s that easy for everyone. A person has to be a **willing** gun owner and carrier in order to be a proficient, responsible, courageous gun user. Forcing that reponsibility on every teacher is a very. bad. idea. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/57 "2006-10-03T11:56:45Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] You know, maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did. Maybe it’d make things worse. It certainly wouldn’t have helped in this occasion. And clearly arming every teacher isn’t a good idea. Maybe we just need a cop on duty at every school. (Yeah, that’d work well.) But it’s the only thing I can think of that would deal with problems like this, where the threat is external. [/QUOTE] As a teacher, this is particularly upsetting. But to answer your last point, England has far less school shootings than the US, presumably due to our gun ban. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/58 "2006-10-03T12:01:05Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] If I had been the teacher in that schoolhouse, I guarantee those girls would still be alive. [/QUOTE] If the intruder hadn’t had a gun, those girls would still be alive. Instead of sweeping statements, why not consider the evidence as to what does prevent school shootings? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/59 "2006-10-03T12:05:02Z")
Guns don´t kill people, is the culture that says “guns solve problems” that kills people. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993/60 "2006-10-03T12:14:19Z")
[QUOTE=Rilchiam] You keep saying that as if it’s that easy for everyone. A person has to be a **willing** gun owner and carrier in order to be a proficient, responsible, courageous gun user. Forcing that reponsibility on every teacher is a very. bad. idea. [/QUOTE] Simple fix: make it a prerequisite for every teacher to undergo firearms training and carry a gun. If a teacher is not willing to undergo training and carry a firearm, they’re not issued a teaching certificate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-never-ever-understand-my-fellow-man/374993.md?page=4)