# NRA says arm teachers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 27, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408 "2005-03-27T00:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/1 "2005-03-27T00:07:58Z")
Why not just give every child born a gun in the delivery room? I am all for responsible people having guns. But I do not want my childs teacher getting into a shootout. > [@](#): > > PHOENIX (March 25) - All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives - including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday. [http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050325200609990003&ncid=NWS00010000000001](http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050325200609990003&ncid=NWS00010000000001) ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/2 "2005-03-27T00:13:04Z")
Even if it may possibly protect your child? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/3 "2005-03-27T00:19:24Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Even if it may possibly protect your child? Even if it means the teacher may misinterpret something and shoots my child? ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/4 "2005-03-27T00:19:58Z")
So? Besides the usual liberal fear and loathing of firearms and freedom what’s a matter with it being an option for some teachers to be carry a personal weapon, especially if qualified and they have the desire to carry said weapon? I don’t carry one anymore (it’s a HPIA) and don’t believe that most teachers would want to, but I don’t see the harm if some were responsibly armed. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/5 "2005-03-27T00:23:32Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Even if it means the teacher may misinterpret something and shoots my child? One would have to have pretty shitty kids if they are doing something that can be misinterpreted to the point that a teacher would fear great bodily harm or death or wish to stop the said child from committing certain other violent felonies that are legally stoppable by lethal force. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/6 "2005-03-27T00:29:25Z")
> [@Machetero](#): > > One would have to have pretty shitty kids if they are doing something that can be misinterpreted to the point that a teacher would fear great bodily harm or death or wish to stop the said child from committing certain other violent felonies that are legally stoppable by lethal force. Yeah, but we are talking about **Reeder** , here. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/7 "2005-03-27T00:42:34Z")
**Reeder:** read [this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5991337&postcount=84) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/8 "2005-03-27T00:47:42Z")
What would keep some kid from grabbing a gun from a teacher in a critical moment? ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/9 "2005-03-27T00:49:47Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > What would keep some kid from grabbing a gun from a teacher in a critical moment? Elaborate this scenario, please. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/10 "2005-03-27T00:51:53Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > What would keep some kid from grabbing a gun from a teacher in a critical moment? I dunno. What would keep a meteor from hitting the school and killing everyone inside? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/11 "2005-03-27T00:54:04Z")
I was honestly wondering why this had not shown up in the pit yet. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/12 "2005-03-27T01:00:44Z")
I am not Bosda but let me elaborate Physical confrontations in schools are fairly common. Normally no one is in life threatening danger rather it normally degrades into a couple wild swings and a wrestling match. Situations like these do not warrant the deadly force a firearm brings. Now bringing a firearm into this situation whether drawn or on a person increases the danger to everyone. Whether it be from a teacher that panics or from an enraged student that gets the firearm. The possibility of someone getting seriously hurt has increased dramatically. Certainly if a student has a deadly weapon it would be helpful to have a firearm but these situations are vanishingly rare. Bringing a firearm into a place where there are a large number of irresponsible and possibly violent people makes the situation more dangerous not less. In my opinion the number of deaths and injuries from accidents would be greater than the number of lives saved by a firearm in the school. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/13 "2005-03-27T01:01:34Z")
_checks_ yep, it’s the pit… FOR FUCK’S SAKE!!! Why not do, ummmm, just about anything other than the most laughable idea since the middle ages. Please, tell me, this is just a random yokel being ‘attributed’. Surely even the NRA wouldn’t try this one. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/14 "2005-03-27T01:18:34Z")
> [@treis](#): > > I am not Bosda but let me elaborate > > Physical confrontations in schools are fairly common. Normally no one is in life threatening danger rather it normally degrades into a couple wild swings and a wrestling match. Situations like these do not warrant the deadly force a firearm brings. Now bringing a firearm into this situation whether drawn or on a person increases the danger to everyone. Whether it be from a teacher that panics or from an enraged student that gets the firearm. The possibility of someone getting seriously hurt has increased dramatically. Certainly if a student has a deadly weapon it would be helpful to have a firearm but these situations are vanishingly rare. Bringing a firearm into a place where there are a large number of irresponsible and possibly violent people makes the situation more dangerous not less. > > In my opinion the number of deaths and injuries from accidents would be greater than the number of lives saved by a firearm in the school. Exactly. And I challenge the integrity of the posters who attacked me. My post’s meaning was obvious, and transparent. I regard my critics as willfully disingenous. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/15 "2005-03-27T01:27:45Z")
My first response to the idea of teachers carrying guns is an incredulous “waaaaah…?” I can imagine so very many things going wrong - leaving the gun where students can get to it, a teacher with control issues doing something very stupid with the gun, assault by a student intending to rob the teacher of the gun. My second response is a slight smile and thought, “heh, that’d be pretty cool. Bet none of my students would even _think_ of talking back to me if I had a gun.” That is a Very Bad Reason to be carrying a gun in a school. Most campuses these days already have armed police officers there, ready to respond to whatever emergency happens. For someone to have possession of a gun in a volatile situation when that someone has not been trained up, screened, and counseled on how to use a gun properly is a bad idea. Let the cops carry the guns. Invest more money in intervention programs that identify and defuse threats. If you must, allow certain teachers or administrators to train to handle firearms and then hold them to much, much higher standards than the rest of us. But don’t go saying “let’s have teachers carry guns!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/16 "2005-03-27T01:32:51Z")
Well, rather than have teachers packing, consider a centrally-located lockbox containing firearms (as well as a direct phone line to the nearest police station), which can only be opened by any of several school employees who’ve been throughly vetted and trained. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/17 "2005-03-27T01:36:48Z")
_shrug_ Sure you have reduced the risk but you have also reduced the benefit. I just don’t see this making schools any safer. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/18 "2005-03-27T01:39:19Z")
> [@treis](#): > > _shrug_ > > Sure you have reduced the risk but you have also reduced the benefit. I just don’t see this making schools any safer. If it won’t, then how can there be a benefit, reduced or otherwise? I guess we’ll just have to wait for some couragous progressive forward-looking state (say, Texas) to give this a whirl and report the results. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/19 "2005-03-27T01:43:54Z")
**Bosda!** Chill, man! I was 99% sure that what **treis** said is what _you_ meant, but not _entirely_ sure. I thought it possible you meant something like “the teacher turns around to write on the chalkboard, and student grabs gun from holster.” Or possibly, “Teacher walks down hall, psychotic/depressed student snaps and grabs gun from holster.” I had my doubts as to what you meant because you have always seemed an intelligent, reasonable, and funny poster, and I wasn’t ready to ascribe anything to your words until I was sure of their true meaning and intent. **Because:** Could the critics please just read the article and the words therein, and not ascribe any additional meaning to them? > [@](#): > > “I’m not saying that that means every teacher should have a gun or not, but what I am saying is we need to look at all the options at what will truly protect the students,” the NRA’s first vice president, Sandra S. Froman, told The Associated Press. She’s not advocating Universal Armament of every single teacher; she’s arguing that arming teachers (as part of a possible “Select Response Team,” maybe?) is an option that should receive some consideration. Is it possible for a teacher “wrestling” an unruly student to have his/her gun snatched away? Sure; it’s also a possibility that cops face and consider too, but there are certain types of holsters that protect against this. Is it possible that a teacher simply gets pissed at a student and blows him/her away in a fit of pique? Sure; it’s also possible for cops to do the same thing. It’s also possible for just about any of the 150 million gun owners in the U.S. to do that to anyone on any given day. As an idea espoused seemingly off-the-cuff in a news blurb, it is certainly lacking in the details necessary to implement as a full-fledged “plan;” that doesn’t make the idea in-and-of-itself bad, just incomplete. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408/20 "2005-03-27T01:49:03Z")
And I also agree with **phouka** and **Bryan Eckers**. **Phouka’s** closing statement of allowing select (and screened) teachers to carry concealed is, IMO, an idea worth considering, but from a risk/reward standpoint, I also agree that better detection programs may also yield similar results _without a shot having been fired._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nra-says-arm-teachers/296408.md?page=2)