Teachers And Staff With Guns. Could It Work In Oklahoma?

[Old Fart]

A growing number of schools across the country are combating gun violence with more guns.

One school in Harold, Texas became the first school in the country to arm teachers and staff with guns and have done so for 6 years. Kelly Ogle speaks with administrators, parents, and students to see if they feel safer, or more at risk. Could Oklahoma adopt such a program – and would it work?

Kelly Ogle is working on this story and will have the complete report, tonight at 10:00 on News 9.

http://www.news9.com/story/17036112/tonight-at-10

 

[Lakenut]

Will be interesting for sure.

 

[rawhide]

Set the tivo a couple of days ago. Interested to see how news 9 spins the story.

Harold, Texas became the first school in the country to arm teachers and staff with guns and have done so for 6 years.

Does this mean the school armed the teachers? I watched a story on a school in AZ that not only has armed teachers but has drills in PE class to teach students how to handle an armed attacker. Utah has allowed anyone, including teachers, with a carry permit to carry at school for years. No negative incidents that I can find have occurred.

 

[rawhide]

The online version

The anti argument:

retired Putnam City Elementary School Principal Karen Fisher.

"I would feel very uncomfortable with a gun in an elementary school," said Fisher. "There's too many scenarios that could go wrong, having a gun inside the school. One would be to accidentally shoot, kill or injure a child or an employee or an innocent bystander."

A Harrold parent:

"Who else would be better to have a gun than our teachers, because their number one priority is the children," said parent Kenya Templeton. "They're not going to put those children in harm's way, and they're not going to let anybody hurt those children."

Harrold schools was the first in the nation with armed staff. Now about 70 districts in Texas and at least 18 states allow it. Oklahoma did pass a law in 2013 that does allow handguns on private school property.

Even Hawaii is one of five states that specifically allow armed teachers.
The Superintendent in Harrold is a proactive guy. Some of the pro-gun administrators and school board member I know and know of take the cross our fingers and hope nothing ever happens approach. That won't change without pressure from parents in the community speaking up.

 

[WessonOil]

It's also going to make a difference which district they interview.

I doubt they're going to want to drive much farther than the metro area to do interviews, and wind up having to stay past 5:00.

 

[caojyn]

I wonder if it'll make the sex with students more exciting

 

[WTJ]

I have a bro that set up a program in a rural school district in TX. It was not this school. This school (Harrold) has had this program since 2008. Both programs were created for the same reason: the LEO response times are long due to geographical constraints and size of the available QRF. I know little about Harrold's program. The program I am aware of is well structured, the people who were armed have been well-trained, and the information about who is armed is confidential. This program is much more structured than allowing teachers who hold permits to carry in class.

I don't know how it would go over in a place with adequate LEO coverage, but if the training is done properly I am for it.

 

[dutchwrangler]

It'll work when the parents are the teachers and the student stays at home under their safety zone. The concept of ceding your child's safety (and education) to any government employee is nuts.

 

[jakerz]

It'll work when the parents are the teachers and the student stays at home under their safety zone. The concept of ceding your child's safety (and education) to any government employee is nuts.

I don't know about most people, but we need my wife's income as well as mine to get by. As did my mother and father. Plus my wife is a teacher and cares more about the children then most parents do. If a child's education relied on the parents teaching them; our nation would be even more in shambles then it is now.

 

[Arin Morris]

I've posted my opinion on this subject before. It seems pertinent to the conversation at hand, so I'll quote myself.

As this has been argued, my thoughts have changed on the subject. I previously thought that it would be good for a teacher to get CLEET certified, etc., but I think I was missing the point. My wife is an educator and I really think the recent school shooting clouded my judgement thinking teachers should be there to protect children. I don't think teachers should be armed security for the school, I think they should be armed to protect themselves, just as I have the right to do so.

If somebody breaks into my wife's classroom, she should be able to protect herself. It's a benefit that the children in her classroom are protected by circumstance. I don't want my wife actively hunting down a shooter on school grounds. Don't go looking for trouble, but if trouble finds you, be prepared.