As the debate over guns is bound to be revisited with many arguments going near the breaking point, I wonder if the left even vaguely considers the position that has been implemented in the school at Harrold, Texas under superintendent David Thweatt, where some teachers are permitted to carry weapons in school under a concealed carry permit. I am sure the left only sees the assault weapon ban and high capacity magazine side of the argument and I am sure that they are gleefully licking their chops in anticipation of winning that argument, which they just may do so. It just may be that they will have to concede some ground in this regard.



As horrible as it may sound I believe I am on board for such an arrangement as implemented at Harrold. Gun free zones must be eliminated as they are too soft of a target. None of these shooters have chosen to attack the local police department in order to make a statement. I guess you have also noticed that once these episodes escalate they all call the police�the guys with the guns. Why don�t they call the ice cream man or the candy vendor to sugar the coat the culprit. Because the only way to fight fire is with more fire.

If someone you know doesn�t think that advertising our schools and mauls as gun free make them more susceptible to an attack, ask them if they are will to advertise that their home is a gun free home, or would they rather keep it a secret.



On a larger scale, our President is leading our nation into disarmament and I suppose he believes that our enemies will lay down their weapons just because we did. What has kept America strong and a super-power in the past; bigger and better military�namely guns.

What is a deterrent to the shootings in these gun free zones, an armed police or trained citizen.

Soft Targets like people's homes & people driving in cars in Texas and other CHL states have virtually been eliminated as well.

You compare car jackings & home invasions pre CHL & Post CHL it will prove that arming the law abiding citizen is the way to go. IMHO

Amen!!!!! If every school system isn't armed in the very near future something is wrong....

Offer police firearms training to teachers in school districts and have them certified open carry.
Watch this insane nonsense of school shootings come to an end!

I am strongly opposed to teachers carrying firearms on school grounds. This is a law enforcement issue...period.

There are TONS of highly qualified security people returning from the middle east in the military. These highly trained men and women need good jobs. They are much more proficient with security than even L.E.O......With a developed security program to apply their experience to a school setting, this is a win win win

Who foots the bill for the security folks? One more mouth for the dry government teat to feed? We could always raise taxes though.

A $500 loaded pistol is much cheaper than a $25,000/year rent a cop.

More leo. More leo.

That's what I keep hearing, but it still doesn't make sense. How about more rights to carry, or rather, less infringement upon the rights we should have never lost?

Teachers willing to carry and be trained in tactics should be allowed to carry. Place signs on campus stating no longer a gun free zone. We can not afford the extra cost, we are already broke.

The key paragraph is this one:

As horrible as it may sound I believe I am on board for such an arrangement as implemented at Harrold. Gun free zones must be eliminated as they are too soft of a target. None of these shooters have chosen to attack the local police department in order to make a statement. I guess you have also noticed that once these episodes escalate they all call the police�the guys with the guns. Why don�t they call the ice cream man or the candy vendor to sugar the coat the culprit. Because the only way to fight fire is with more fire.

ya cant put a cop at every door and window. if the principle and office staff were packing heat, there would be no story about 20 kids.
if volunteer teachers can pass a psych evaluation and train how to handle a situation, use a fire arm and how to make sure kids cannot get a hold of the firearm...along with continuing education annually...there is no problems with teachers packing.
you dont see stories of teachers massacring children...because they are in that field because they love kids. they will protect the kids. natural hero's!

Please explain why you think it's a law enforcement issue?

LEO will be there to investigate after the fact. They will seldom be there during the crime.

even if the police could be there in 5 minutes, that is to late. you have to have instant action to stop these idiots that are running free. the guys mom was having trouble having him committed. when someone is said to be off, they should immediately be checked out to make sure they are safe to be roaming free. i guess the problem is, we are an animal, just like all others, but to many think we are not. we are at the top of the chain. if a dog bites, we get rid of it. why do we let bad people roam free?

I have a different take on this issue.

I think that we, as free people, have a right to protect ourselves. Protect ourselves from theivers, from invaders, and from oppressive governments. I DO NOT think that this tragedy could have reasonably or certainly been avoided. This random, senseless, and frankly insane act could not have been prevented. Sure, we can make every elementary school a fort knox, the cost and inconvenience would be rediculous and unstustainable.

I see news stories looking for a motive of the shooter. The public is struggline to understand why these murders happened. Maybe if they can understand it, they can keep it from happening again. . .but this guy was either evil or crazy. I don't know. Frnakly, I don't care. I believe in God. I believe in evil.

There is simply no way to stop this. Let joe average own a gun is a mark of a free society, but it won't prevent crime. Most shooters are generally untrained, poor shots, and have no tactics, and as a defensive shooter, your always at the disadvantage.

I'm not a sheep, but I'm not a "sheepdog." I'm not a protector. I have a wife. I work. I don't make much money now, but I will hopefully make more later. But I would protect me and mine with the utmost if threatened.

It saddened me that children were murdered, but making policy and law based off the action of a mass murder is folly.

not if we just allowed the teachers that wanted to pack heat at school, pack heat..with some requirements like i stated above of course...
of course some people cant throw themselves in front of a gunman to save children, that means you dont wanna be a teacher that carries.
and allot of guys that say they would, might not when it came down to it.
but i know allot of teachers, as my family is wrapped up in a few isd's...and i know a few of them will dive in head first to safeguard children!

well you my friend are WRONG!!! a qualified teacher would not be seen till they where needed. and the Freaks that are coming out everywhere now a days would not know which one was fixing to put an END to there madness! so just why are you against it????

Some of us are forgetting the fact that most of the shooters have been suicidal. They apparently want to die. I don't think armed people will stop them, the arming of school personnel will slow the mass killing, but I think the attacks will continue.

They commit suicide to prevent heroes from stealing their spotlight. They need to be the center of attention, if someone stops them, that person becomes the news story. Ask around your office to see how many people can name a victim then see if they can name the killer.

Do some research on that. I am not in front of my computer (have a study saved), but its something like 18.3 people die in a mass shooting if cops intervene and like 2.2 if citizens intervene. By the time the cops get there its over.

The problem is, we don't drop our kids off at the police station, we drop them off at school, and most school budgets are stretched to the breaking point as it is.

Isn't any type of shooting a law enforcement issue and how much has the fact that it is a law enforcement issue slowed down shootings?

That's one of the best descriptions of the type I've seen yet.

I am simply not in favor of a blanket policy which would allow all teachers the right to carry on campus. First and foremost is the level of training that would be required for teachers to respond to an incident. I don't believe I have seen an outline describing the type of training that would be required. The training would surely have to extend far beyond that of a CHL course followed by a couple of in-service days.

Safety is another cause of concern. Where will the firearm be kept? How will the firearm be secured when a teacher's intervention is required to break up a simple fist fight? How could a female teacher thwart off a male student that takes her by surprise to obtain her gun?

To effectively try to prevent an incident such as Sandy Hook would require that each and every teacher, secretary, custodian, coach, principal, etc., carry a firearm and receive the necessary training. Simply stated, all faculty members would have to be armed to effectively prevent a shooter from getting into a classroom. That being said, there are exceptions to every circumstance, but I am opposed to a broad, blanket policy which enables each and every member of the faculty the ability to carry on school grounds. I am simply not in agreement that possession of a teaching certificate or employment by a school district should equate to an on-campus cancelled handgun license.

These people are educators, not police officers. Some say that a couple of trained teachers could prevent tragedies from occurring. I don't believe that is entirely accurate. Conversely, I also don't believe that a couple of police officers stationed at every campus would prevent each and every tragedy either. However, I believe that fully trained, uniformed police officers would be a more effective deterrent. Furthermore, the on campus officers could handle the situation more effectively.

Some say we can't afford to station officers at every campus. I disagree. This would be one instance where a rise in taxes would be warranted, justified and seldom opposed. Or, we can stop spending money on $60,000,000 football stadiums, new basketball gyms, diamond vision, charter buses, softball fields for schools that don't even have a softball team, etc, etc. For crying out loud, in our district, every seventh grader and above gets a new computer each and every year and every teacher gets an I-pad. It's not a monetary issue. It's a priority issue. The money is there to put police officers on campus.

Again, there are too many questions/concerns for me to summarily advocate that all teachers should carry a firearm. In my opinion, many are having a knee jerk reaction to an emotional and disturbing tragedy by stating that all teachers should now be allowed to carry guns. The same can be said for those that favor an anti-gun/ban approach in response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

I know some of you feel close to this issue because you are a teacher, your spouse/son/daughter is a teacher. I get that. I understand that. My sister-in-law is a teacher. I am a former LEO. I am trying to look at this topic from both points of view. I feel that teachers chose their profession in order to educate others. LEO chose their profession in order to protect and serve. Let the teachers teach. Let the LEO protect and serve. I am in favor of LEO on every campus. That is why I stated and still maintain that campus security is a law enforcement issue.