# Wisconsin Rep. suggests allowing guns in schools

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 5, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448 "2006-10-05T23:47:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/41 "2006-10-06T14:14:20Z")

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[QUOTE=Linty Fresh]

I’m telling you, **Sabbath** , you’d do better to arm the students in this scenario. This “solution” is worse than the problem.  
[/QUOTE]

Hmmm…that’s not such a bad idea. Within a month, the troublemakers in the school will have been shot by the other students and the schools will be a much more peaceful place. Worth investigating.

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**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/42 "2006-10-06T14:17:56Z")

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[QUOTE=bluethree]  
There was an armed campus security guard at Colombine. He didn’t stop the massacre. Any other bright ideas?  
[/QUOTE]

This is interesting; I hadn’t heard of this before. I can’t find out much about it, though. [A Salon article](http://www.salon.com/mwt/hot/1999/04/27/littleton_reactions/index.html) mentions that “there was an armed security guard”, but that’s about it. [This timeline](http://www.911dispatch.com/info/columbine/timeline.html) says that there was “a school security officer hiding in the school’s main office,” but does not say that he was armed.

So, who was this “armed security guard”, and what did he do when the attacks started? I can’t find any good info.

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**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/43 "2006-10-06T14:33:44Z")

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Giving teachers guns seems like a cure that’s worse than the disease. What’s the prevalence of school shootings in the U.S.? There’s certainly been a good amount in the news, but what proportion of schools in the U.S. have been attacked in this way? I’d imagine a very low one.

So by allowing teachers to have guns at _every_ school - even well-trained teachers and hidden/safe storage - you’d hugely up the risk of either someone stealing the gun, or a teacher not bothering with the safety checks and leaving it out or carrying it, or a teacher using it to threaten a class, or a teacher genuinely going nuts and shooting up the place themselves…

Obviously the shooting of kids is a pretty horrible crime, and I too wouldn’t balk at a perpetrator being lethally stopped during a spree, but honestly giving teachers guns just seems like it’d bring new, much more common problems. It would be like saving someone from a snake by setting a tiger on it; the snake problem is solved, but that’s no longer the biggest priority.

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**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/44 "2006-10-06T14:34:14Z")

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I am in no way anti-gun, but I am dead set against this idea.

Let’s suppose you are the teacher in your school that is trained to handle the school firearm. You hear shots. Are you obligated to retrieve the weapon form your biometric safe and hunt down the shooter or shooters? What happens if you don’t

Look at the recent shooting of the principal here in Wisconsin. The school janitor wrestled the shotgun away from the shooter as he entered the building. He realized that the student had another gun and was pulling it on the principal. He had a shotgun in his hands, but his instinct was not to shoot the student, but instead to shout a warning. I don’t know if teachers could identify a student as a target that needs to be shot.

Oh and **GorillaMan** ,

> [@](#):
>
> …buttfuck-state hick…

You are cordially invited dine on my excrement. Make fun of the moron who came up with this stupid idea, but leave the state I live in out of it.

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**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/45 "2006-10-06T15:07:10Z")

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[QUOTE=E-Sabbath]  
I still believe that my proposal for a small number of teachers to receive gun safety training and be designated ‘marshals’ in each school, coupled with a biometric gun safe in a reasonably safe room such as the teacher’s lounge, holds merit. It really is the only way I can think of to deal with unpredictable events such as these.  
[/QUOTE]

Might as well outsource private security. Of course, in most schools, the priority should be to remove as many children as possible from the area rather than starting a shooting match with an armed intruder.

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**Author:** ![furlibusea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@furlibusea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furlibusea)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/46 "2006-10-06T15:28:14Z")

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[QUOTE=Thrasymachus]

My point is that the effective **guarantee** that the shooter will be unopposed is a consideration in the mind of the madman. In the US it’s common to have signs posted near schools that say “Gun Free Zone” or more commonly “Drug Free Zone”, /snip/  
The passing of a law to the contrary establishing that the school may not, in fact, be gun free is in my mind sufficient - no other action needs to be taken. As I mentioned in the other post, most schools would have 0 guns, same as now…  
[/QUOTE]

The thing is, that schools are not entirely gun free. I can never say for absolute sure whether or not one of the kids is packing. Although I don’t like to think of it, my guess is that a lot of days some kid is.

As to why a gun becomes useless in the hands of someone defending themselves; my feeling is a matter of focus.

When the gunman enters the situation he is intent on using the gun. I, on the other hand, am busy trying to finagle essays out of a 10th grade class of 30 with 5th grade skills. I am aware of my suroundings. I know that Jessica just pulled out her cell phone. I know that Tyrone is about to throw a paper ball. I know that Dwayne is busily writing away but that I need to make sure he really understood what it was he was supposed to write about. I know that Judy and George just broke up and that Quintessa has been hitting hard on George so if that note that just got passed is from one of them, it could get bad in the halls during passing. I can change my focus, but its going to take a few seconds. If we were dealing with other weapons, that is enough reaction time. It just isn’t with guns.

I wish that we could man the metal detectors every day. That would be a good solution. Most of the schools I deal with, people have to be buzzed in after the school day starts. I think we can do better there.

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**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/47 "2006-10-06T15:39:54Z")

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[QUOTE=E-Sabbath]  
Again, I’m open to better ideas, because I don’t think all schools can afford a cop on duty.  
[/QUOTE]

If they can’t afford to hire a cop, schools sure can’t afford to train teachers, pay for licensing, purchase guns/ammo and pay for insurance that’s going to be astronomical.

This doesn’t even make sense. I’d love to see how this idea would fly with the teachers union. Maybe it’s the area I live in, but if a job requirement for teachers is going require teachers to carry a gun and possibly use it your going to have a real teacher shortage. Sure people say they’d defend their students with their life but is it going to be written into their contracts that they **have** to defend the students in their class with their life like a secret service agent? You better be willing to pay these teachers big bucks.

I’m not trying to insult teachers but when I was in school teachers weren’t exactly Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt, willing to hop over desks and have shoot outs with bad guys or crazed students. One of my teachers would forget the combination on his briefcase at least once a week.

If we’re at the point where people are seriously considering something this drastic based on a remote possibility of something like this happening, maybe all kids should stay home and be homeschooled or work online.

Seriously, what about kids during sports practice? Should gym teachers and coaches have guns? How about a kid running cross country track? Are we going to have snipers in the trees in case a nut jumps out of the bushes.

I know people enjoy guns and they have a right to have them but they really aren’t going to solve every problem in the world, especially this one.

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**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/48 "2006-10-06T18:32:59Z")

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If guns make us safer,lets arm the students.

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**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/49 "2006-10-06T20:48:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Max Torque]  
This is interesting; I hadn’t heard of this before. I can’t find out much about it, though. [A Salon article](http://www.salon.com/mwt/hot/1999/04/27/littleton_reactions/index.html) mentions that “there was an armed security guard”, but that’s about it. [This timeline](http://www.911dispatch.com/info/columbine/timeline.html) says that there was “a school security officer hiding in the school’s main office,” but does not say that he was armed.

So, who was this “armed security guard”, and what did he do when the attacks started? I can’t find any good info.  
[/QUOTE]  
It looks like there was a great effort made to keep the man’s name out of the newspapers. There is some discrepancy over whether it was a security guard or a sheriff’s deputy; I’m thinking maybe it was a sheriff’s deputy moonlighting as a security guard. There are lots of links in the New York Times archives that I don’t want to pay for, but I did find the following links, whose journalistic integrity I can’t vouch for (bolding mine):

[This guy](http://www.davekopel.com/2A/OpEds/HeroesOutlawed.htm) appears to be someone stridently in favor of protecting the second amendment. His name is David Kopel. This is from his site:

> [@](#):
>
> Similarly, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold **knew beforehand that they would face a maximum of one armed guard at Columbine**. (That guard fired a few frantic, un-aimed shots before he ran.) These killers also knew it would take the police minutes if not tens of minutes to arrive at the scene. At Columbine, the SWAT teams never got near Harris and Klebold until long after the two had committed suicide.

[Here’s a Slate](http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=25934) article you may already have seen, and here’s an excerpt:

> [@](#):
>
> It’s time to recognize the naiveté of such legislation, a foolishness that has turned our schools into killing grounds. National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston wisely declared this week that the presence of an armed guard might have saved the lives of Columbine High School students. And Gov. Jesse Ventura pointed out that the presence of “someone who was armed” could have “stabilized” the situation. As usual, Moses and the Body were on target, but they didn’t go far enough. As it turns out, **there was a security guard at Columbine** , but a single, lightly armed person is not sufficient deterrence. American schools don’t just need several armed security guards or even armed teachers. They need armed students. Immediately, before another student fires another shot, Congress should pass the Right To Carry Concealed Weapons in the Classroom Act of 1999.

[Here’s one from Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/1999/04/scoop15.html):

> [@](#):
>
> Here’s NRA president Charlton Heston, claiming that the solution is more guns, not fewer:  
> “If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly.”  
> And here’s Minnesota’s bulletheaded moron Jesse Ventura, advocating much the same thing:  
> “Had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized… I believe it supports conceal-and-carry.”  
> **Never mind that there was an armed sheriff’s deputy present** , who got off a handful of useless shots from his sidearm before being forced to flee for his life.

And two [more](http://web.dailycamera.com/shooting/8chris_col.html) [here.](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_10_45/ai_55605802)

> [@](#):
>
> The exception, Columbine,\*\* saw the killers engage a pistol-armed officer with carbine fire when they were out of his range\*\*, but the killing of the innocent stopped as soon as they realized that a SWAT team was in the building with them. It was at this time that the mass murderers, Harris and Klebold, retreated to the school library they had made a killing ground, and died by their own illegally possessed firearms.

> [@](#):
>
> Following the shooting, Charlton Heston, president of the NRA, one of the best friends a gun could ask for and a better actor than observer of facts said: “If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly.” The statements made for good copy and little truth. **An armed guard at the school exchanged gunfire with one of the gunmen**. He was unable to save a lot of lives nor did he end the whole thing instantly. Fifteen people died notwithstanding his presence at the school.

I figure if former military folks like myself wanted to go into law enforcement, they would have done so. If a school wants armed people protecting the campus, they really ought to hire professional security guards rather than trying to pawn the duty off on teachers.  
On the other hand, I’ve never watched a whole episode of 24, but I would probably watch a whole season of Jack Bauer as a high school teacher who is suddenly confronted with a Columbine-style massacre.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/50 "2006-10-06T21:41:13Z")

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I was going to come in here and say that the first time an armed teacher accidentally killed a student, some other idiot legislator would propose arming the students, and then that’d be Game Over.

I should have known that by the time I finished reading the thread, somebody would propose it seriously.

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**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/51 "2006-10-06T21:54:13Z")

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Did some more research, and it turns out there’s a 7,000+ page report on Columbine online for those who want the whole story.

I believe the guard who has been referenced in these various news story was the School Resource Officer, Neal Gardner, a sheriff’s deputy. [Here’s](http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/columbine.cd/Pages/DEPUTIES_TEXT.htm) a link to a CNN special that deals with his part in the events.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/52 "2006-10-06T21:56:57Z")

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[QUOTE=Thrasymachus]  
In the US it’s common to have signs posted near schools that say “Gun Free Zone” or more commonly “Drug Free Zone”, as there’s a law against posessing a gun within 1000 feet of a school.

[Cite (wikipedia)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun-Free_School_Zones_Act)  
[/QUOTE]

That was declared un-Constitutional more than a decade ago.  
From: [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/us\_v\_murphy.txt](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/us_v_murphy.txt)

> [@](#):
>
> The Lopez decision has since been reviewed by the United  
> States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided to affirm the  
> decision of this Court and held that the Gun-Free School Zones Act  
> of 1990 is not within the constitutional power of Congress under  
> the Commerce Clause. [5] The Supreme Court decided that “[t]he  
> possession of a gun in a local school zone is in no sense an  
> economic activity that might, through repetition elsewhere,  
> substantially affect any sort of interstate commerce.” [6] In light  
> of this decision, we need not address the question we previously  
> reserved. We AFFIRM the decision of the district court.

Complete decision at: [United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995).](http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-1260.ZO.html)

> [@](#):
>
> In the Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990, Congress made it a federal offense “for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(1)(A) (1988 ed., Supp. V). The Act neither regulates a commercial activity nor contains a requirement that the possession be connected in any way to interstate commerce. We hold that the Act exceeds the authority of Congress “[t]o regulate Commerce . . . among the several States . . . .” U. S. Const., Art. I, §8, cl. 3.

Although generally good, Wikipedia can at times be one of the most inaccurate or incomplete references on the entire web, and that you should never “cite” it without other backing information.

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**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/53 "2006-10-06T22:26:28Z")

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[QUOTE=Marley23]  
I was going to come in here and say that the first time an armed teacher accidentally killed a student, some other idiot legislator would propose arming the students, and then that’d be Game Over.

I should have known that by the time I finished reading the thread, somebody would propose it seriously.  
[/QUOTE]

Er . . . we were sort of joking about arming the students. Or am I being whooshed?

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/54 "2006-10-06T23:06:25Z")

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[QUOTE=MGibson]  
How does a gun go from being such an effective weapon in the hands of the bad guy to becoming totally useless in the hands of the good guy?  
[/QUOTE]  
Unintended but totally predictable consequence.

Bad guy to other bad guy: “Okay, we think the teachers in this school might be packing, so when I go to kick the door in, have your gun out and cap the teacher immediately.”

QED.

This policy will result in _more_ dead teachers.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/55 "2006-10-06T23:16:44Z")

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[QUOTE=Linty Fresh]  
Er . . . we were sort of joking about arming the students. Or am I being whooshed?  
[/QUOTE]

I think poor old **Marley** didn’t even feel the sonic boom as the joke flew past his head. 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/56 "2006-10-07T01:59:56Z")

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[QUOTE=Clothahump]  
I think poor old **Marley** didn’t even feel the sonic boom as the joke flew past his head. 😃  
[/QUOTE]

Actually, I thought everybody was kidding except you.

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**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/57 "2006-10-07T02:06:19Z")

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[QUOTE=Thrasymachus]  
I contend that the reason their are so many **school shootings** is that the killers are basically assured that no one there can fight back as there are (1) no guns and (2) mostly small people.  
[/QUOTE]  
I contend the reason there are so FEW school shootings is that guns are not allowed in schools.

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**Author:** ![Thrasymachus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Thrasymachus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrasymachus)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/58 "2006-10-07T02:36:30Z")

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[QUOTE=Una Persson]  
That was declared un-Constitutional more than a decade ago.  
From: [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/us\_v\_murphy.txt](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/us_v_murphy.txt)

{snip}

Complete decision at: [United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995).](http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/93-1260.ZO.html)

Although generally good, Wikipedia can at times be one of the most inaccurate or incomplete references on the entire web, and that you should never “cite” it without other backing information.  
[/QUOTE]

Well, thanks for the informed correction **Una** , I sincerely appreciate that. I was in high school back then and remember it being passed (and the sign out front of the building); guess I’ve been out of touch since as I recall hearing nothing about a retraction… Cool.

It appears there are similar state statutes that ban guns in schools for many states, so for the current discussion the point is valid. Here’s the one for Wisconsin, and it’s oddly enough defined as “on school grounds” or “1000 feet from school grounds”

[Cite for Wisconsin (see sec 948.605 - from atf.gov)](http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/statelaws/23rdedition/wisconsin.pdf)

I browsed around and couldn’t find a state that permitted guns in schools. OK, seems that Oregon allows CCW on school premises:

[Cite for Oregon (see sec 166.370 d, f - from atf.gov)](http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/statelaws/23rdedition/oregon.pdf)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/59 "2006-10-07T02:53:42Z")

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[QUOTE=Thrasymachus]  
Well, thanks for the informed correction **Una** , I sincerely appreciate that. I was in high school back then and remember it being passed (and the sign out front of the building); guess I’ve been out of touch since as I recall hearing nothing about a retraction… Cool.  
[/QUOTE]

FWIW, there are still signs up at a school nearby that say “Gun Free School Zone”, even though they have no meaning, as no local laws designated such. I guess there’s no law against a school making a claim to a law that no longer exists.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/60 "2006-10-07T07:46:07Z")

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[QUOTE=Oakminster]  
As I see it, it’s not about detering potenial attackers. It’s about having the ability to put one down if needed.

[/QUOTE]

Thrasymachus said “The important thing isn’t that the teacher has a gun and can shoot a baddie, it’s that a teacher might have a gun and thus the baddie may think twice about the spree.”

Which is why I replied that school shooters don’t seem to care about their safety.

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