# Wisconsin Rep. suggests allowing guns in schools **URL:** \ **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:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**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, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/61 "2006-10-07T07:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] furlibusea, if it was even vaugely economically possible for every school to have a cop or two on duty, I’d go for it. But look how glee’s squealing over a possible $500 expenditure. I wish I could think of a better solution. Inner city schools, troubled schools have a better solution, but not all schools can keep that up. [/QUOTE] ‘Squealing’? You don’t think schools are undefunded, especially in inner cities where there is more violence? And you propose spending $500 per school to have one gun usable by one teacher? Also please stop saying you can’t think of a better solution. :rolleyes: I have posted two that work in practice, and all you do is say ‘that wouldn’t work here’. ---
**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, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448/62 "2006-10-07T08:06:46Z")
[QUOTE=Thrasymachus] **Glee** , the differences between the US and England were noted in the other thread already. One of them is a matter of scale, the other is culture (especially organized crime thanks to our prohibition days and War on Drugs). I think this is self-evident, a rare event is more frequent in a larger population. Laying aside the cultural differences, the population difference between the two countries is a factor of 6 (50 mil / 300 mil). If a school shooting such as Columbine or this latest Amish debacle happens every two years here, we would expect it to occur every 12 there; all other things being equal and pretending people are like dice with regard to “snapping” on any particular day. (Yes, I know about the gambler’s fallacy; I’m illustrating a point here about normalizing statistics for population size). [/QUOTE] I think it is ‘self-evident’ that I would allow for differences in population: In the UK: ‘1996 Gunman mows down class of children leaving 16 dead with their teacher’ Incidentally the previous outcry here was when there was a street shooting in 1987. (I don’t know when there was a previous UK school shooting.) ‘…there were immediate calls for greater security in schools and tightening of the laws on gun ownership, last addressed after the Hungerford massacre in August 1987.’ > **[Dunblane Massacre | 1990-1999 | Guardian Century](https://www.theguardian.com/century/1990-1999/Story/0,6051,112749,00.html)** In the US: October 2006: A 32-year-old gunman shoots dead at least three girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, before killing himself September 2006: Gunman in Colorado shoots and fatally wounds a teenage schoolgirl, then kills himself; two days later a teenager kills the headteacher of a school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin November 2005: Student in Tennessee shoots dead an assistant principal and wounds two other administrators March 2005: Minnesota schoolboy kills nine, then shoots himself May 2004: Four people injured in shooting at a school in Maryland April 2003: Teenager shoots dead head-teacher at a Pennsylvania school, then kills himself March 2001: Pupil opens fire at a school in California, killing two students February 2000: Six-year-old girl shot dead by classmate in Michigan November 1999: Thirteen-year-old girl shot dead by a classmate in New Mexico May 1999: Student injures six pupils in shoot-out in Georgia April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine School in Colorado June 1998: Two adults hurt in shooting by teenage student at high school in Virginia May 1998: Fifteen-year-old boy shoots himself in the head after taking a girl hostage May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two students in school cafeteria in Oregon April 1998: Fourteen-year-old shoots dead a teacher and wounds two students in Pennsylvania March 1998: Two boys, 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas December 1997: Fourteen-year-old boy kills three students in Kentucky October 1997: Sixteen-year-old boy stabs mother, then shoots dead two students at school in Mississippi, injuring several others [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wisconsin-rep-suggests-allowing-guns-in-schools/375448.md?page=3)