Is this really the answer?

[elizabeth]

I have just listened to President Trump saying that the way to keep children safe in schools is to arm suitably qualified/competent teachers with guns in order to be able to fire at any possible gunman. Is this really the way to prevent more atrocities in schools, will it save lives in the long run ?

[waz-24-7]

Unlikely in the long term
The American way. The right to bear arms has always been of grave concern.
Full military spec assault rifles are readily available and purchased as weapons of defence.
Such weapons are clearly machines of attack as has been seen on increasing occasions.

If teachers are to become armed guards who will be next? And are schools then to become institutions of warfare training? How might a teachers job description read ?

[PoshinDevon]

I certainly don’t think Trumps proposal is the answer.

However the right to bear arms is something that many Americans cannot and will not let go and therefore this problem will continue.

Given this is the American Way I have no idea what the solution is.

[sophie]

Nuts. Right to bear arms is based on their history. Not life in the 21st Century. Sadly the silent majority, stay silent.

[kayc]

It's certainly not the answer. As an American (now living in Cyprus - thank you!) I think it's the most lunatic response to the gun problem in the country. Arm the teachers after they have instruction on how to fire a gun?! And pay them "a little bonus"... notice he always comments on money. Teachers are nurturers, and I can't imagine any of the teachers my two sons had or my own teachers from my school days willing or capable mentally of shooting someone.

It's a far cry from the America that I grew up in. We didn't have a thought of that kind of threat in school, much less our communities. The society has changed. I don't know why, but some things cross my mind - namely the violence people are exposed to on the Television. Crime dramas are a big draw, violence in movies too. It all contributes to moral decay.People get desensitised. Then there are the video games that glorify violence and killing... Xbox and Nintendo are rampant with those varieties. They influence young minds. And of course drugs, and gangs. Common problems in the schools. Parents are both working to provide enough for the family to support their lifestyle, seldom home when the kids get home, and family time has long since vanished.

I'm no supporter of the second amendment. It was part of the constitution "the right to bear arms" to control the government and prevent tyranny from re-establishing. There is no way in this day and age that an armed militia could adequately fight the government - it's too big. The average American that supports gun rights does so as he doesn't want his hunting rifle to be taken away. That one week in November is about the only time of the year that those hunters get off the sofa and the rifle comes out of the gun cabinet, yet they hold on to that like it's sacred.

The NRA is a big financial supporter of the Repubicans, and Trump is no exception. Why assault rifles are legal is beyond my understanding, I can't think any sportman would use one to kill a deer or an antelope.

BTW... There was a police officer at the school. Armed. And at the other schools where there have been shootings, as well as the recent incident in Las Vegas during a concert. Even with armed guards... they are NO match to a shooter with an AR15 - a weapon of war.

America is at war - with itself. I'm happy to not be there.

[PoshinDevon]

kayc- Thank you for your post and an insight to the problem from someone who knows. Very interesting indeed.

As a Brit, it’s difficult for me to understand the “right to bear arms” and why it is so prized by many Americans......you have explained it well. It just seems that it is all to easy to get hold of a weapon and with all the influences you mention it is no wonder that these shootings are happening all to often.

Thank goodness that here in the U.K. our laws surrounding the owning and use of weapons is so strictly controlled.

[Cally]

I for one, if I was a teacher would find it abhorrent to be "told" I had to carry a gun to shoot someone that came in my classroom..........

All I can think of is they have controlled " entrance" into school with metal detectors as well

[frontalman]

An armed deputy was on the scene in 90 seconds and he was afraid to intervene so what chance would there be of a teacher attempting to be a hero?

[Keithcaley]

An armed deputy was on the scene in 90 seconds and he was afraid to intervene so what chance would there be of a teacher attempting to be a hero?

Mark, I quite agree, If a gunman entered a classroom, spraying bullets, what chance would a normal person have of drawing, aiming, firing and actually hitting a 'shooter' before they were cut in half by the automatic weapon that the shooter was firing - it's total nonsense!

[frontalman]

Not a hope in hell is the answer.

[jofra]

Arm the teachers? What about equal rights? Age discrimination is not acceptable....
Please - let's get it right! Trump is a weak, ineffectual leader, but surely he will finally admit - and proclaim - that the real solution is to enforce - as the primary part of education - the issue of and training in the use of guns to all children over five years old. This will solve all problems - an intruder/an unpopular teacher/an annoying classmate - just blow them all away....

[Keithcaley]

...the issue of and training in the use of guns to all children over five years old...

On 9/11 I was staying at an Hotel near Miami.

That night, the bar was full of grounded pilots, and the conversation naturally turned to strategies for preventing the same thing from happening again.

One suggestion was armed 'Air Marshalls', and it was thought that a minimum of two would be required, widely spaced so as to minimise the possibility of them being simultaneously disarmed or overpowered.

I suggested making it compulsory for every person on the aeroplane to carry a loaded gun, as anyone who posed a threat to the safety of the 'plane or its passengers would be promptly mown down in a hail of bullets.

One of the pilots did point out that flying around in an aeroplane whose fuselage, wiring, and other 'inner workings' were riddled with bullet holes was not a prospect which appealed...

I think that jofra's suggestion also falls down in the 'collateral damage' area...

[kayc]

60% of Americans support stricter gun laws. That support has risen since the Sandy Hook slaughter in 2012 where 20 elementary students and a number of teachers were killed by yet another noted mentally unstable person. Mentally unstable, in need of treatment, as many are... yet health insurance is beyond many people's means. Mental health treatment, including addiction programs are often excluded or very limited. Rather, addicts are prosecuted and sent to prisons - and those facilities are privately owned to a large degree, and part of the business confinement has become. In many parts of the country, there are more people in jail than living on college campuses! The U.S. prison population has more than quadrupled since the early 1980s: when mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drugs when into effect.

Currently, a 12 year old can attain a license to carry an automatic rifle after completing a gun safety class. Think about the insanity of that!

I'm hopeful that this upcoming young generation - the "Millennials" can make change in the gun laws and many other civil issues that will confront future generations. It can begin with the voting in November of this year, as many of them now are more politically aware and eligible to vote. Their dislike of Trump has raised their voices... and for that movement, I'll grant him a little credit. He's woken a generation.

America is crumbling, and it's not just the infrastructure.

[turtle]

What if they have a rogue teacher who flips one day ?... the consequences are unthinkable.
A study says almost half teachers in this country has mental health issues... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 74101.html
You only need one ?

[frontalman]

One could also consider that a disenchanted pupil could just help him or herself to the teacher's gun, rather than bring in their own. The gun would have to be easily accessible to be of any use. Even locked in a draw it wouldn't take much trouble to get to it.

[kayc]

Rogue teachers and stolen weapons - both possibilities. And even if a teacher completed a weapons course, that hardly would be adequate under such frantic situations... military training and combat experience would be needed. Then also there is the liability issue of having staff members armed. Imagine the insurance costs! And the likelihood of a weapon getting into wrong hands and fatalities or impulsive quick actions of a teacher using a weapon and the chances of hitting the students he or she is to be protecting in a shooter situation.

Trump stated he wanted the schools to be protected as the banks are. I am not aware of any banks where the tellers have a glock in the cash drawer, and have only ever seen a guard stationed by a doorway - often sitting eating biscuits and having coffee - more of a greeter than a deterrent.

[elizabeth]

President Trump says the problem is not the guns, it's people with mental health issues. There are people in every country with mental health problems, but it's only in America where they can buy a weapon .
This sort of tragedy will continue until the mental attitude of the NRA and the powers that be really changes.

[Mr B]

No! No! No!

[kayc]

https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/v ... 082116800/

[Keithcaley]

There were two quotes that I liked: -

“In America, they say the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But that just sounds like someone trying to sell two guns”

"20 years ago a man walked into Dunblane primary school Scotland and murdered 16 children and their teacher.....soon after the UK banned the ownership of all hand guns... THERE HAVE BEEN NO SCHOOL SHOOTINGS IN THE UK SINCE!!!!!"

[kayc]

I thought he made some valid comments.

Interesting there seems to be a segment of the population in the US that is paranoid of the govt. and believe this incident and others are false flags - designed with the purpose of taking their guns away. All of them. But then paranoia has been running high for several decades. Understandably. By large this is a political issue.

Real or not, guns have NO place in schools.

[kayc]

I came upon this teacher's comments on arming teachers in the schools. He raised many more questions on the concept. Sharing.

And it's true... many of the states have cut or eliminated school budgets for the arts programs and severely limited the availability of new text books and yet there will be a budget for weapons and training. Priorities are so messed up!

https://www.facebook.com/don.m.dumas/vi ... 165273868/

[kibsolar1999]

Imo it would be the best to close schools. problem solved.

[elizabeth]

Imo it would be the best to close schools. problem solved.

[waz-24-7]

The right to bear arms stems from the "how the west was won days". The rule of law was generally the hand gun, 6 shooter and that mentality has continued.
Unfortunately the commercial opportunities within the arms industry have produced automatic and deadly weapons that have made the 6 shooter look like a pea shooter.
The strength and support of the gun carrying fraternity within the USA has made them almost invincible. To tackle this group head on would result in political downfall. Mr Obama knew this as does Trump. None have the power to halt the march of the death dealing armed masses that dictate the said policy.

[kerry 6138]

The right to bear arms stems from the "how the west was won days". The rule of law was generally the hand gun, 6 shooter and that mentality has continued..

The second amendment pre dates the Wild West and was written to preserve the "efficency of a local militia" after the War of Independence,
How the Supreme Court can interpret this has individuals have a right to bear arms is beyond my understanding

[erol]

another perspective

https://newrepublic.com/article/146190/ ... gun-rights

[Keithcaley]

That's so shocking and appalling that I struggle to comprehend the scope and rationale...

[kayc]

Brutal and heartless. Reminds me of the "ethnic cleansing" ongoing today not far from the shores of Cyprus. Israel's Apartheid regime. Illegal settlers who walk the streets of East Jerusalem - armed and under the protection of the IOF - doing their utmost to eradicate the native Palestinians.

[Soner]

https://youtu.be/iNGz-kO4VYE