South Dakota allows teachers to be armed.

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I would point out that all weapons are currently prohibited from school premises, and that that's never stopped these massacres before. So what good will simply restating "all weapons are banned here" actually do?

Reply 21

bertstare

Original post by Bart1331

That's the point. Banning guns from schools is not going to stop anyone from shooting the place up if they want to, if anything its an open invitation to future psychopaths "come in here, no one has a gun so no one's gonna stop you if you wanna massacre a bunch of kids"

In a country like america where guns are so freely available and already in such massive circulation, arming teachers and training them properly to use firearms seems the best solution to prevent more Sandy Hooks from happening.

Reply 22

username133326

well, given how endemic guns are in the US, this is probably the best way to deal with it

its just sad that its come to this

Reply 23

matt_reem

This is a prime example of American society. They take everything to the absolute extreme. There is more chance of a child getting hold of a gun being carried by a teacher than someone walking in and killing people.

Reply 24

Aardvark1998

Original post by bertstare

Which is all well and good, assuming that somebody attempting to get into a school and shoot children is sane and in a stable state of mind...

Reply 25

bertstare

Original post by bad_moose

Which is all well and good, assuming that somebody attempting to get into a school and shoot children is sane and in a stable state of mind...

Again, its not about the sign. Either the school is a gun free zone, with no one armed, in which case a madman with a gun is given free reign to slaughter however many people he wants (until the police eventually arrive). Or teachers have guns and are well trained to use them, in which case a lot of lives could end up being saved in such a situation.

Reply 26

matt_reem

Original post by bertstare

Training teachers to have guns defeats the whole object of tackling gun laws. I really don't see the point in people protesting to have guns banned in the US if they are going to let teachers have them. Guns shouldn't be in schools, full stop.

Reply 27

gagaslilmonsteruk

It is a shame it has come to this, but this is NOT the way forward. America needs to sort its gun laws and its probably best they did it gradually, as to avoid any negative reaction by states where ownership is ridiculously high.

Other countries such as Russia have seen terrible horrible situations; Beslan being a primary example that I can think of, yet there was no such retaliation issues in regards to school security after.

Reply 28

matt_reem

Original post by gagaslilmonsteruk

I think the biggest problem is the association that represents people licensed to have guns are extremely powerful. I read about how their influence spreads all through US politics, but then you could say it's common sense and should come down to the Supreme Court saying they're banned, full stop.

Reply 29

bertstare

Original post by matt_reem

No rational person would want guns banned in America, that is possibly the worst thing you could do in their current gun situation.

Reply 30

noobynoo

Yeah you've hit the nail on the head.

The gun people say "Only a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy".

But the problem is bad guys are just good guys who've gone mental.

The only solution would be to arm every 10 year old with a gun too.

Reply 31

matt_reem

Original post by bertstare

No rational person would want guns banned in America, that is possibly the worst thing you could do in their current gun situation.

I don't see how? The US need to impose tough penalties for carrying weapons. Have you wondered why in the UK we rarely see shootouts. The police shouldn't be carrying guns either, although I do agree with border police having weapons of course.

Reply 32

Bart1331

Original post by matt_reem

Here's the thing - It's already illegal to have guns in schools, it's already illegal to murder people. It still happens though ,so what good will yet another law do?

Reply 33

matt_reem

Original post by Bart1331

Here's the thing - It's already illegal to have guns in schools, it's already illegal to murder people. It still happens though ,so what good will yet another law do?

Depending on the penalty it will act as a deterrent. I'm sure there would be many more murders if it was made legal. I've seen with my own eyes how having extremely tough laws effects a country. Dubai is the safest place you could go, the penalties are so severe that no one lifts a finger.

Reply 34

Bart1331

Original post by matt_reem

The penalty for murdering people is either life imprisonment or the death penalty. If gunmen aren't deterred by that, then I don't think they will be deterred by any other legal penalty.

Reply 35

matt_reem

Original post by Bart1331

The penalty for murdering people is either life imprisonment or the death penalty. If gunmen aren't deterred by that, then I don't think they will be deterred by any other legal penalty.

Well it seems to work in other countries :P

Reply 36

SillyEddy

Original post by matt_reem

The problem is that gun ownership is seen as a right. In some cases, a God given right!

The 2nd amendment to the constitution permits the carrying of firearms as part of an armed militia. However, this has somehow been warped to mean "everyone can own firearms and buy unlimited amounts of them". Well, pretty much everyone can.

Outright banning firearms would not only be a breach of those amendements, but would be an act of tyranny that the amendment is there to protect against! The citizens might legally be able to shoot anyone who tries to take their weapons away or who tries to impose harsh regulations on them.

Nobody wants to screw with the constitution. To them it's like drinking gasoline, peeing on the flag and setting the explosive urine on fire. People use the constitution to back up just about anything that they want to do because nobody wants to sound anti-American when denying them their "rights".

I don't think teachers owning guns will solve anything. I heard someone was shot at one of these firearms training session a few weeks ago too. Sure, people need training, but they seem to over estimate their effectiveness with a firearm too. They are lethal things and children should not be subjected to that! It's only a matter of time before someone is accidentally shot, and I imagine it will be a child. Trigger-happy sentinels aren't law enforcement officers and I reckon they will end up making a bad call. But hey, no guns isn't an option either. It's just a poor state of affairs when you need armed police at schools and some cases metal detectors just to go to study!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 37

Aardvark1998

Original post by bertstare

That's not the solution. The root of the problem is the fact that guns are ridiculously easy to obtain in the US and people have far too relaxed an attitude towards them. That is what needs to be sorted out. Prevention is better than cure.

Reply 38

419

When everything goes tits up from this move, then Americans can start proposing real change. Sad that more blood will have to be shed for them to get there.

Reply 39

419

The root of the problem is Americans love for their guns. They cheerish their guns more than they cheerish their kids.

No progress will happen until they start tackling their admirations for guns. All this proposal has done is exacerbate the issue.