J
JAZZGASM
Guest
Have you thought about the possible ramification that such a circumstance would basically start a 2nd cold war between young people and grown ups in parenting roles?..
Probably a bit of an over-exaggeration, but I get your point, and I have considered it. Without expounding too much, I don't really see that as a huge risk. The idea isn't to police our student body, it is to protect them. Putting myself into the shoes of a student, I wouldn't want a teacher carrying around a weapon all day. And tbh, a teacher may not make any difference is a true shooting situation. That is the main reason I suggested non-lethal, incapacitating solutions, and those being locked up in strategic, and in inconspicuous locations so the kids don't feel they are pervasive, and a shooter won't know where these locations are. A silent alarm hooked to the box would also be a good idea. Maybe even pass a law that if a teacher opens a box in an event not to be perceived as a shooting situation they will get fired, etc. Also letting the faculty/staff pick who has access to the box makes sense. I can think of a few of my teachers I wouldn't want to have had access to a gun.
Trying to ban all guns (which is probably the only solution to stop these random shootings, and even that will take a long time before the guns are weaned away) may start an actual civil war or lots of standoffs. I think even trying to ban semi-auto rifles would cause a lot of unrest. There are always consequences. Doesn't mean you don't do something. And there are a lot of nuts in this country. I am on-board with banning guns. I grew up with guns, and I own them, but I also see the societal problem with them. It doesn't mean, as a society that there won't be consequences we will have to deal with if/when a ban occurs. That said, I don't think banning guns, in a manner that would be allowed to happen in this country, will every make a difference.
In the current environment, I would prefer my child's teachers having access to non-lethal options to protect his or her students vs having nothing.
Logically, I do see a correlation with an area being more dangerous if it is a "gun-free zone" in our current gun environment. Currently, there are a lot of incapacitating, non-lethal options that I would be fine with limited access in schools:
-Bean Bag Rounds
-Taser Rounds (shotgun based)
-Chili Pepper Grenades
-Incapacitating foam (essentially a gun covers you in foam and you can't move)
But on the whole, while school shootings give me concern, the odds are much less likely than my child getting killed by a drunk driver (over 1,000 children between ages 0-14 per year), yet society seems to be accepting of this. Not to mention the cost related to alcohol related deaths @ $44B per year. According to MADD, (take it for what it's worth), over 300,000 people drive impaired every day and only 3,200 are arrested. Same argument for texting. One out of every four car accidents is caused by texting. Eleven teenagers die every day while texting and driving. When I lived in a large city, I would often take the bus. I would see texting everywhere. Probably 1 or 2 of every 4 drivers had their phone in their hand. Being on the road is scary. Part of the reason I drive a 7,500 lb. Land Cruiser.