Guns in school and everywhere else
I can’t conceive of any valid argument against expanded federal background checks for gun sales. We came within one vote on the Public Safety committee when Bush was governor of passing a requirement for background checks, and my recollection is that Bush killed it with a phone call.
If we are going to have guns in school, as Dewhurst wants to do, I don’t think we should arm teachers. I would favor hiring veterans or former or off-duty peace officers to work at the schools. The worst idea is funding CHL classes for teachers. I have nothing against CHL classes, having taken one myself, but I don’t think we should arm people who are not comfortable with guns.
Tagged: concealed handgun license, guns
Francine says:
I for one am glad my teachers were not armed. I’m pretty sure a couple of my classmates would have never seen their graduation day (or any other day) if the teachers had been packing…..
Reply »
Tom says:
The state isn’t interested in paying teachers, but is interested in helping them get their conceal carry license so they can get a second job as a security guard at night and weekends.
Maybe Dewhurst will pass legislation requiring WalMart to give hiring preference to teachers during the summer.
Reply »
Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Arm them all, let God sort ‘em out!
Reply »
Paul Revere says:
How about a third way?
If teachers want a CHL, more power to them. If they want to carry on campus, the law should not restrict them.
Maybe the legislature provides an additional layer of training for teachers to legally carry on campus, but no one should be *required* to carry a firearm anywhere.
This way everyone wins: no new spending, children are protected, teachers are the responsible adults in the room rather than making our schools look more and more like prisons.
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
This idea is happy horse pucky. My son is a teacher here in Texas at a highrisk school. You’re recommending a strategy that could get a lot of people killed. My son has never had a gun in his life, doesn’t know or want to know how to shoot. I worry every day that an angry kid or parent will shoot him in the head.
If Texans want armed guards in schools, they are going
to have to PAY FOR THEM! Teachers are already serving as instructors, psychologists, cheer leaders, nutritionist, anger management specialists, and other duties not defined.
Reply »
Absolutely Sweet Marie says:
If teachers are going to pack inside the classroom, they will need to undergo psychiatric tests as well swear they’re not on certain medications. Wonder how many teachers will go for that.
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Most teachers don’t want to pack. Got it?
Reply »
Tj says:
What about the issue of students (esp teenage males) overpowering the teacher in the classroom and getting the gun?
Reply »
Jt Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:59 am
You don’t know if someone is carrying a concealed weapon.
Reply »
Dave Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:17 am
I seem to remember it being near impossible to keep secrets in high school.
Reply »
Walt Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:51 am
where would female conceale their weapons?
ANON Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:42 pm
Sure you can.
Reply »
Texian Politico says:
We? It reads like you were personally lobbying for the background check when Bush made that alleged phone call.
Reply »
donuthin Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:20 am
You goober, we means we the public.
Reply »
Edward R. Murrow Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:41 pm
Reporters and writers are not to use we. It removes the objectivity one may try to claim, you gooberknocker.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:34 pm
Actually, goober guys, I think Mr. Burka’s use of “we” in this instance meant the state of Texas considered as a single corporate entity, a slightly different concept than the public (all the individual Texans considered as a group). So it’s probably OK usage, even by a reporter, in my opinion.
I hope this comment is the most pedantic utterance I’ll make this month.
OK then, back to yelling at one another.
paulburka Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Anonymous is correct. I was at the committee meeting. “We” meant “the state.”
Reply »
Beerman says:
My high school football coach, in the 50′s, packing an AK47 is downright scary!
Reply »
John Johnson says:
No one has suggested that teachers be required to carry. In many schools there would be volunteers…most probably the rural ones. In urban elementary schools I don’t see as many, if any, raising their hands.
An armed guard, unless undercover, would be the first shot by a crazy. He would be looking for him. The merits of concealed and anonymous should be obvious to all. IMHO.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Well, that settles it! JJ has spoken. Just one more thing. The thought of 99% of my former teachers carrying a weapon is so pathetic, I just threw up a bit in my mouth. But of course no one here wants to pay for an actual solution. you might have to cut back on your android cell phone plan a little, god forbid. having some Ms Mirtle packing heat is not going to solve anything. having coach packing heat isn’t going to solve anything, except give everyone an out (problem solved, good work) so we can go back to watching the news between our toes and tisk tisking at the latest catastrophe. But then, its always someone else’s kids, isn’t it?
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Here, let me add a little more for you…stricter purchase laws are fine with me, a ban on assault rifles is fine with me, as is a ban on mega clips, but…….please don’t try and tell me that this prevents a Sandy Hook massacre or a Colorado theater slaughter from happening again. Only an ignorant twit would think so. It’s the crazies that buy legally or illegally, already own, or steal one that is the root of the problem yet it appears that many here, and our President, are only going to give this genesis a cursory glance and then, for the most part, ignore it.
I wonder if not so long ago, teachers had weapons in the school house in Texas when Commanche raiding parties and rattlers were prevalent. Anyone know?
Reply »
Jed Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 1:43 pm
the logic that “only criminals will have them” is incomplete. where would they get them?
this whole thing amazes me. why not look at what all the other countries do that don’t have this problem? there are data galore that should answer this problem for anyone with any sense. all the things hannity is telling you will happen don’t happen over there.
not to say i expect that this matters in texas.
donuthin Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I doubt the kids that used “assault type” weapons at Sandy Hook and in New Mexico this past weekend would have bought them.
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Oh great! Some old grandpa who’s half senile running around with a gun . . . geez!
Reply »
Jed Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 4:14 pm
yes, donuthin. perhaps they stole them from a law-abiding citizen.
but if they can’t be bought, then who would have them to steal from?
i have never seen anyone make this point, and i am not sure why not.
surely the logic isn’t, “well, i have one now, but i need to be able to buy another one when this one gets stolen.”
Reply »
Jim says:
The vote count in Public Safety on background checks at gun shows in 1999 you refer is not correct. The vote was either 6-3 or 7-2 to defeat the measure. The vote took place on I believe April 20th or 21st. The day to the Columbine shootings. It was a Debra Danburg bill.
The next day Governor Bush came out and almost stated that private collectors at gun shows should conduct background checks.
Reply »
ANON Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
He almost stated.
Story of his failed Presidency.
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:59 pm
Jim’s memory is better than mine. I thought the measure failed by one vote.
Reply »
Jim Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 10:25 am
Najera and Gutierrez voted for it. Driver was absent. 2-6-1. Went to look it up. Actually ANON, Gov. Bush backed off because he knew it was bad public policy. The Statesman was reporting he supported the measure the next morning.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=76R&Bill=HB1199
Reply »
Blue Dogs says:
Burka, I support the efforts of Texas political leaders to defend the 2nd amendment.
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I want the Supremes to define the second amendment. The founders never intended for angst-ridden teenagers to shoot up a bunch of first graders – and you know it. One of those little babies had 11 bullet wounds.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:02 pm
“District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes …”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 6:10 pm
Assault weapons? No way!
Jed Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 1:45 pm
that case dealt with the possession of a simple handgun in the home – by an officer of the law no less.
but don’t let facts get in the way of your demagoguery. scalia sure doesn’t.
paulburka Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
The Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for self-defense. I don’t have any problem with that. It’s the lethality of assault weapons that is the problem.
Reply »
Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 4:06 pm
Yet there are laws that forbid me from possessing a howitzer, which is what I feel I need for true self-defense. If my neighbors have automatic weapons, I want artillery!! That 2nd amendment is a real bugaboo!
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
If a teacher has a concealed carry license and they want to carry why does that upset some? I carry because there are so many low information voters running around loose without supervision.
Reply »
Jed Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 1:05 pm
question asked and answered.
very efficiently done.
Reply »
Cletus Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
JBB carries because he is a scared little mantroll.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
JBB, wouldn’t all the cheeto greese make your glock all slippery?
Reply »
ANON Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
In general we try not to respond to JBB. He is a troll, and likely Old Army aggie.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
would you like to find out?
Reply »
Jim Sirbasku Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Sure, shall I drop by your house?
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
what’s stopping you?
Jim Sirbasku Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:11 pm
I try not to venture outside the loop. I certainly have no interest in having a beer at your pathetic little beer bar on your 100 sq ft patio.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:37 am
I can certainly understand your being in a loop, a very small one with a narrow perspective.
Try 1200 sq ft patio.
Look I appreciate you trying to seem revelent but I’m afraid you’re pedantic views are out of touch with reality.
My advice seek meds now.
Johnny Comment says:
Some idiot is going to introduce the concealed carry on campus bill, right? Or has it been done?
Reply »
Steven Schrom Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
SB 182….
Authors:
Birdwell | Campbell | Deuell | Eltife | Estes | Hancock | Hegar | Nelson | Nichols | Patrick | Paxton | Schwertner | Taylor | Williams
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
It’s been done, by Wentworth last session. It is a terrible idea. There are a lot of young people under stress on college campuses, not to mention those who drink. My alma mater, Rice, is exempt because it is a private university.
Reply »
Alan says:
Teachers won’t have the “option.” Parents will be complaining one way or the other – some parents will say they don’t want their child in a classroom with a loaded gun; others will say they want their child’s teacher to be carrying a gun. There will be lawsuits. School districts may pressure teachers into carrying a weapon or not, depending on the whims of the administration or the parents.
This whole idea is just opening a can of worms, litigation and liability issues.
Teachers are responsible for their students’ education. They are not responsible for their personal safety.
Reply »
Beerman Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Very good point!
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:27 pm
I agree!
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:31 pm
update for the low information voter, concealed carry by teachers on campus is already being done in Texas.
Reply »
Anon Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:18 am
Update for low intelligence voter, Texas is generally wrong on most issues
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:39 am
only from a low information view point.
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Face it, jbb, anon got you!
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:21 pm
the average low information voter doesn’t know when I’ve owned them as you obviously have affirmed repeatedly.
Tim says:
On the upside in 10-20 years the majority of gun owners will have died of natural causes and will have left such distaste in voters mouths that strong gun control (or override of the 2nd amendment) is almost assured.
Reply »
Patriotone says:
The fact is we don’t have the political will to address this problem and that is a shame on all of us. The common sense positions the President laid out yesterday should be no brainers but the NRA will hear none of it. Having said that, we should spend money on mental health care. Who do you call if you think someone might be dangerous? What help will they get if you make that call? No one knows because there is no resource. There is no resource because that costs money and we are cutting taxes and budgets rather than protecting children. We will pay for firearms classes for teachers but won’t pay for school supplies. I love Texas but we are being run by idiots.
Reply »
Johnny Comment Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:46 pm
Ditto the above. The NRA is a terrorist organization.
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:29 pm
A slave to its corporate masters . . .
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:39 am
you forgot they hate women, are racists and homophobic.
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
They not so discriminating. They hate everyone who doesn’t own a gun.
anon-p says:
The quickest, cheapest antidote to a Sandy Hook style shooting would be to arm the teachers and administrators.
Volunteer CHL holders should be allowed, and to defuse the ludicrous argument of hostile children gangrushing a known CHL holder and taking his weapon, the CHL holders could go on a secret rotation known only by participants in the program and administrators.
Personally, if I’m in a school where there is a likelihood of students overpowering me and taking my weapon, I would want to be armed anyway. Who would work in a place like that, and why would we ever expose teachers and other children to that kind of risk?
Here’s a interesting thought experiment for the rest of you bloggers: Compare and contrast voting right restrictions (such as voter ID laws) to further restrictions on 2nd amendment rights.
Reply »
Tim Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Cheapest and easiest solution based upon made up facts and figures is to arm teachers. That’s true.
Reply »
Vermin Supreme Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
@anon-p, it’s clear that Perry views the Constitution as a line at the cafeteria — he picks certain items to place on his tray, amendments to champion as encompassing “freedom” (2nd and 10th Amendments good, 5th, 8th and 14th bad).
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Isn’t there a pretty good correlation between states that make it harder to vote and states that make it easier to purchase or carry a firearm?
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Texans love their their liberties.
Texas is a right to work state.
Texas is a concealed carry state.
Texas is the number 1 job creator of all states.
Texas is not a blue state.
Do you suspose there is a correlation?
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
I see a correlation between right to work and job creation. The rest, not so much. I certainly don’t see a correlation between making it more difficult to vote and either job creation or right to work; and making it harder (as a practical matter) for citizens to vote is inconsistent with liberty as far as I’m concerned.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
I reckon that’d be hard to see with a closed mind.
Anonymous Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:42 pm
Explain it to me JBB. What’s the correlation between making it more difficult to vote and either job creation or right to work? How is making it harder as a practical matter for citizens to vote consistent with liberty?
Anon Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:21 am
Geography, ports, climate and a national border? Natural resources and land mass? To claim conservatives are responsible for Texas success is the mark of an uninformed individual.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:42 am
First you gotta get you mind right. Learn to read and comprehend. Voter ID is the law of the land, why choose to be a low information voter?
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Try Logic 101.
Vermin Supreme says:
As the parent of a first grader, I have a problem with the notion that my child’s teacher is going to have a firearm in the classroom. Think about it — children are inquisitive, they will find the gun. This happens in homes across the country every day, a child finding a gun and injuring/maiming himself or others. It’s just a toxic mix.
Our society needs to take a deep breath, give this some thought. Guns don’t belong in schools, period. We’re at the point where your “right” has infringed upon my child’s ability to get an education in a safe and secure environment, free from guns.
Reply »
Johnny Comment Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Nicley said. Guns just don’t belong in schools or bars or sporting events. COMMON SENSE.
Reply »
anon-p Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Vermin> This happens in homes across the country every day, a child finding a gun and injuring/maiming himself or others.
I am interested in seeing a citation to a meaningful statistic which demonstrates this frequency.
Even so, I doubt the situation is comparable to a situation involving a teacher with a CHL.
As a parent of three school-attending children, I am mostly fine with the gun-restriction laws as they are currently configured. Mass school shootings are far rarer than other kinds of deaths that could occur to my children.
However, if something must be done with little cost to state and local pubic budgets, then simply loosening CHL law to allow teacher/administrator carry would be enough.
Reply »
Vermin Supreme Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Here you are:
Guns at Home Increase Dangers, Not Safety
Based on a review of the available scientific data, Dr. Lippmann and co-authors conclude that the dangers of having a gun at home far outweigh the safety benefits. Research shows that access to guns greatly increases the risk of death and firearm-related violence. A gun in the home is twelve times more likely to result in the death of a household member or visitor than an intruder.
The most common cause of deaths occurring at homes where guns are present, by far, is suicide. Many of these self-inflicted gunshot wounds appear to be impulsive acts by people without previous evidence of mental illness. Guns in the home are also associated with a fivefold increase in the rate of intimate partner homicide, as well as an increased risk of injuries and death to children.
Gun-related violence also has psychological and other consequences for survivors—especially children. Dr. Lippmann and colleagues point out that easy access to guns also enables tragic episodes like the mass killings at Virginia Tech University, in which a background check might have prevented the shooter from obtaining a weapon. Such “tragically recurrent” events are in addition to gun deaths related to criminal activities, gang violence, interpersonal disagreements, and other incidents.
Reply »
anon-p Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:52 pm
Interesting.
Utah has allowed concealed carry in their public schools for years and there hasn’t been a single accident or incident involving an educator’s firearm.
Robert says:
There are many reasonable things that libs can’t “conceive”. No surprise.
Reply »
WUSRPH Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 6:46 pm
Utah is defintely not TEXAS. The ethnic and very every other statistic are different, plus it has all those Mormons…what works there may well not work in Texas.
Reply »
anon-p Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 7:33 pm
WUSRPH> Utah is defintely not TEXAS. … what works there may well not work in Texas.
Very well then, can you give an alternative evidence-backed example of how allowing CHL-holding teachers endangers schools more than it protects them?
Reply »
Vermin Supreme Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Can you at least acknowledge that the chances of someone being harmed by a gun in a school increase with the actual presence of guns in said school?
anon-p Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:56 am
Sure, I’ll acknowledge the chance is increased.
Following your logic absent good evidence, I’ll also acknowledge the following:
The chance of accidental drowning is also increased if the school puts a fountain out front.
The chance of accidental stabbing and slashing is increased if schools allow the use of scissors.
The chance of vehicular theft and misuse by students is increased if schools allow teachers to carry their car keys with them into the classroom.
The chance of prescription drug theft, use, and abuse is increased if teachers are allowed to bring their prescription medications (or OTC) into the classroom.
Beerman Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:47 am
I have had a place in Utah for over 20 years and spend several weeks a year in that state. I am not aware of concealed weapons being allowed in schools? In fact, I have found that guns are not allowed in many venues in Utah such as public events, bars, public buildings, etc. And, this law is heavily enforced by law enforcement.
Also, Utah leads the nation in suicides by gun among young adults per capita. Just a note to this conversation.
Vernon Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 12:31 pm
anon-p : But were talking about levels of acceptable risk. An accidental firearm discharge has the potential to cause much more devastating damage and death than an accident with scissors, a fountain or a stolen car.
An accident involving a sarin gas discharge would have a near 100% chance of death/s if we allowed it in schools, just as an accident involving guns raises the percentage of death to an uncomfortable level…far above that of common items like scissors or fountains.
Even if Utah has had no accidents, there are a lot of factors to consider. How many Utah teachers carry? 20? 200? 2000? What kind of training and standards do they have?
We must also consider the new legal framework we’ll have to establish for carrying teachers. What if a teacher’s weapon is just inadvertently exposed in school? How are they liable if the weapon is stolen from a locked desk? What kind of insurance would be required by the school or the teacher?
I’m not against the idea of teachers carrying. I’m truly open to any idea that will keep kids safer OVERALL, but I think a lot of questions must be given serious attention before we go that route.
PCbutnotPC says:
Put your money where you mouth is: If you sell a gun to a person, you’re liable for any damage they do with it (Better do those background checks). If your gun is stolen, you’re liable for any damages done with it (Aren’t guns to protect yourself?).
Reply »
Steven Schrom says:
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=SB182
Authors:
Birdwell | Campbell | Deuell | Eltife | Estes | Hancock | Hegar | Nelson | Nichols | Patrick | Paxton | Schwertner | Taylor | Williams
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
My project this year is to convince a republican to sponsor a bill that makes it a punishable offense for a reporter to knowingly report false information in a story. This will confuse the low information voter who depends on these stories loaded with misinformation to keep them from dying of boredom on their tax payer funded jobs.
Reply »
WUSRPH Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 6:48 pm
The Supreme Court has already struck down laws that punish lying by reporters or candidates…If you are hurt by a story, you can take them to civil court for libel or slander…Otherwise there is this small problem of the First Amendment.
Reply »
Anon Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:26 am
Uninformed folks don’t believe in the first amendment, they only like the second. Conservatives have trouble with media, they write things the poor ol’ rednecks can’t quite understand.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 10:17 am
So there is no law that can make liberals tell the truth.
Reply »
paulburka Reply:
January 24th, 2013 at 10:57 pm
JBB, we have been through this before: I will not allow you to make blanket statements about Democrats and liberals and leftists or any such comment, nor would I allow a Democrat to make such statements about Republicans. You are going to be civil on this site or not be here at all.
Jerry Only Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 7:18 pm
if thats to become the law of the land then fox, newsmax, wnd, and a whole host of others are in deep shit.
Reply »
Johnny Comment Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:26 am
Adios, Fox News.
Reply »
buy a clue Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 8:55 am
I thought you were a conservative republican jbb. Why do you want to kill off the only type of information that your tribe relies on?
Reply »
WUSRPH says:
To try to lighten the tone of today’s discussion a little:
Putting an aremed guard in the school just one will not do the job. He may be at the wrong door or in the bathroom when the need arises…Nor will arming the teachers because they will be isolated in their class rooms…The real solution is to make sure everybody is safe by arming the kids. That way everyone can protect his or herself. Of course, it will add a whole new level to playground squabbles…but that is just the price we have to pay to be safe (sic).
Reply »
Jed Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier to close the schools?
Reply »
vietvet3 Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 11:03 pm
(sic) was your last word. Very appropriate. What could go wrong when a deranged man with a rifle AND the element of surprise, bursts into your classroom, and there you are fumbling for a pistol small enough to conceal.
Sic.
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:35 am
Playing devils’ advocate here, WUSRPH…
The whole point of having a weapon “concealed” and not carried openly by a person in uniform is so the crazy will not know who or where someone capable of killing him might be coming from.
Air Marshals do not wear a badge on their chest or carry their weapon in an exposed holster for obvious reasons. Announcing that some people, in any given public school in the U.S., could be carrying a concealed weapon to protect students, would be a huge detriment even if no one in 80% of the schools was acutally armed. No one outside of a very few people would know. The crazies wouldn’t know. The parents wouldn’t know. Only the school admin office, the principal, and the armed person would know.
Drunks don’t drive down a highway if it has been announced that THERE MIGHT BE sobriety checks somewhere along the way the next weekend. It is a detriment. It is not 100% sucessful. Neither will having concealed weapons in schools, but it will have more impact than outlawing certain weapons when millions of them are already out there. Do both.
Reply »
Vernon Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
To play the role of another devil’s advocate…it seems that those who go on shooting rampages don’t have any intention of leaving the scene alive.
Except Aurora, in most incidents that I recall the shooter has killed himself when he was finished or when he knew the authorities were close.
I’m not yet convinced that an increased risk of death will deter a shooter from schools since most seem ready to kill themselves anyway.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
The crazy will pass up several closer theaters to enter one that has “no consealed weapons” signs posted, like the guy did in Colorado.
He will normally go where there are no armed security guards. If they are there, he will look for them and shoot them before they know he is there.
Even if he plans on being killed, or killing himself, he does not want to go down before he gets the job done. If this happens, it would just be another line added to the long list underneath his Life’s Failures column.
Anonymous Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 9:56 am
Depending on what neighborhood and what city you’re talking about, the kids could probably supply the teachers with guns.
Reply »
texun says:
The NRA was right–as far as it went. The obvious solution is to arm everybody in our schools. Start the younger ones off with two-shot derringers, then work up to six-shooters in junior high and finally to big mag 9s for high school students. However, there has to be some sanity in the system, so teachers and administrators will be armed with assault weapons. So face it: that’s the solution and the kids who survive recess and cheerleader try-outs will thrive thereafter.
On public college and university campuses–the same system with one exception: tenured faculty will get the single shot muskets envisioned by our founding fathers, as a gesture toward tradition and with the knowledge that higher fatalities in their ranks will lower costs.
It’s all very rational, if you look at the NRA the right way!
I will disclaim responsibility for these positions if the Gov adopts any of them!
Reply »
Whoa, Nellie! Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
haha!
Too sensible for this state, I’m afraid!
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks says:
When I was a public educator, I’m currently retired however also young enough to teach a few more years (I started when I was 23.) I have taken knifes away from students, been assaulted by a 16 year old student, a ward of the state, that was classified as emotionally disturbed. Although he didn’t weigh quite as much as me, which is about 200 pounds, what could have possibly happened if he was able to get my gun? The last few years of my career I was trained in non-violent crisis intervention. We had a team of teachers to deal with students who might cause harm to other students and we were trained how to use the art of persuasion to deescalate and resolve by persuasion situations and students involved in them whom were acting out and had the potential of harming other students and or their self. We were also trained how to restrain a student without causing him or her physical harm. I have stopped fights between black and white students and not just two students, and have had countless other situations I was involved in because my responsibility wasn’t just for my class but was campus wide. What if in any of these circumstances one of the students was able to get my gun? As far as an armed intruder, I would have no problem protecting the campus or confronting the intruder or even using deadly force. This is a much more complicated issue than many comments which people have made that haven’t had thirty years of experience dealing with the day to day issues at a public school campus.
Reply »
Johnny Comment says:
Hmmm. Someone with boots on the ground experience speaks. Not in line with Mr. Birdwell, Perry or the NRA.
Guns in schools is such a bad idea, the support of such is immoral.
Reply »
texun says:
The current spokesman for the concealed guns on state college and university campuses refers to doing so as a “God-given right.” Wow! A giant step forward for organized religion, obviously. The remaining question is: What would Jesus pack? The inmates are running the asylum again.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 10:10 am
It’s right there in the Gospel of Luke. He told his disciples to buy swords.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sell_your_cloak_and_buy_a_sword
Reply »
WUSRPH Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 10:22 am
But he told them to put them away after one of them cut the ear off one of the guards who came to arrest him….
Reply »
texun Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
So, we should buy swords?
Reply »
donuthin says:
It has become virtually impossible to have and informed, intelligent conversation about most significant issues in Texas. The dialogue is captured with demagoguery and extremist who are unwilling to listen and understand the issue, but would rather lock down on a position for or against an idea before they understand. We have allowed ourselves to be overwhelmed by them nationally but especially in Texas.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
Remember when the low information voters loved to hi-jack planes? What happened after pilots were allowed to carry and undercover air marshalls were implemented? But but but JBB if you shoot a gun on a plane we’ll all die!!!!!
Obviously the low information voter has never heard of frangible ammunition.
Reply »
Beerman Reply:
January 18th, 2013 at 10:22 am
JBB, don’t get off your daily talking points…..it makes you look like a low information idiot!
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
Beerman obviously you had one two many again….
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
Using liberals logic we should ban all cars with auto transmissions and large capacity fuel tanks to prevent high speed car chase accidents?
But JBB it isn’t the cars fault its the driver’s!
So should all driver have psychological evaluations?
I love me some liberalism it’s a hoot!
Reply »
Indiana Pearl Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:18 pm
More Logic 101 for jbb . . .
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:19 pm
I plainly stated it was liberal logic pay attn:
Reply »
Blue Dogs says:
The Manti Te’o scandal is getting more attention nationwide including here in Texas, but it appears that the football team and coaching staff knew about this.
Reply »
Whoa, Nellie! says:
Civilized societies look at this whole argument and rightfully think, “Those people in Texas are just insane. They love guns more than anything else and think more guns are the answer to any problem involving guns and violence.”
Guns before adequate teacher pay or sufficient numbers of schools, yep. Only in this state. What century is it again? I’d guess 11th, but that was before guns. Same mindset, tho’.
Reply »
ErnestTBass says:
This is a typical overreaction by government. You still have a better chance of being struck by lightning than shot at a school. Do we really want teachers shooting people?? Come on Dewhurst, if you want to pay to have trained, armed guards at every school, pay for it. But letting every Rambo wannabe with a two hour gun course bring a gun to school is insane!
Reply »
donuthin says:
BS. More kids killed in one of the school incidents than have been killed by lightning in years.
Reply »
Smokin says:
Sen. Birdwell in the Houston Chronicle on his campus carry bill:
“For me, this isn’t just about the firearm,” Birdwell said. “It’s about trusting citizens with their God-given, constitutional rights.”
I don’t know what God he worships, but when exactly did God chime in on guns?
Reply »
Truman Sparks says:
Exodus 22:2-3 tells us: “If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”
Reply »
Jed Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 11:23 am
and then does it say:
“verily, for this reason, god shall bestow upon the people in about 5000 years something called a constitution. and it will be good. and it will protect their right to shoot firesticks that have 30 bullet magazines.” (exodus 22:stfu).
Reply »
Truman Sparks Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
I forgot to mention the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Yet another of God’s chosen weapons. And now a reading from the Book of Armaments…
Reply »
Vermin Supreme says:
And you contend that “struck” in this context means by a weapon that was not invented for over 1,000 years?
Reply »
Indiana Pearl says:
The US is asecular country, folks. Leave God out of policy.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Founders didn’t think so when they wrote the Bill of Rights. You have heard of the Bill of Rights?
All that jazz about “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”
You haven’t. oic
Reply »
Smokin Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
I’d love to see some evidence that the authors of the Bill of Rights intended for Americans to enjoy an unfettered right to hoard Howitzers or rocket-propelled grenade launchers, take them at will to their neighborhood school. Having some trouble with that one.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 7:07 am
yes thats the argument plainly stated by the NRA.
Jim Sirbasku Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 5:52 pm
JBB–
That phrase is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, you low information nitwit. One is law, the other not so much.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 7:00 am
Have a grownup explain the post to you, apparently it went over your head as usual.
WUSRPH Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 9:47 am
That is in the Declration of Indpendence, not the Constitution. There is no mention of God at all in the Constitution and only two mentions of the word “religion”–in a clause establishing that religion can not be a qualification for office and in the First Amendment (which was added later). John Adams, for one, said it was the first government ever created without reliance on a God of some sort.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 1:23 pm
real slow for the low information voters
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”
concentrate on the word “Creator” any idea what it means.
JohnBernardBooks says:
SchoolBus Nagin is going down, that has to make you proud to be a low information voter.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/18/new-orleans-mayor-ray-nagin/1845617/
Reply »
Smokin says:
Dew was a fool to strip Davis of her seat on Education. She would have no power because of the partisan makeup, but now she has license to muck with every education bill when they come to the floor. Would have been better to simply leave her on.
Dew — not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
January 19th, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Please define “muck with”. Do you mean, “seek to screw up a good bill”, “seek to improve a bad bill”, or what, Smokin?
She was the only beam of light emanating from Education last session. Got something specific to discuss that she was wrong on last session, or are you just spouting party rhetoric..”We good, they bad”.
Reply »
Burka Buy a Clue Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 9:56 am
Oh Please! Davis is taking it in the shorts for forcing a special session. That’s why. And Dan Patrick will turn her into hamburger meat on most education bills, with the possible exception of vouchers, which doesn’t appear to have 16 votes to pass much less be brought up.
Reply »
Smokin says:
My point was that it was a ham-handed, and unnecessary, move. I agree with you that she recognizes the importance of education to our state and population. The Dew should have left her on the committee.
He’s only screwing himself by removing her, thus giving her a bigger platform on the floor.
Reply »
Indiana Pearl says:
I’ve heard of the Bill of Rights. The US is still a secular country. I learned that in Catholic school.
Read “The Godless Constitution,” by Kramnick and Moore. ‘Splains it all.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 1:26 pm
only again for the really slow
“endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”
now ask yourself what the Founders meant by “Creator?”
I know this is hard for a low information voter but you need to learn our history.
Reply »
Anonymous Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 6:21 pm
creator => your mother & father
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Do you know the definition of the capitalized word “Creator”, Anny? Look it up. It ain’t momma and poppa.
Anon Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 8:58 am
And you need to go back to school. A&M is not considered a bastion of philisophical start back in your corps days with the flubenor.
Reply »
SusieFatGurlBankston Reply:
January 20th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
“Kramnick and Moore”
are you serious?
Reply »
John Johnson Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 7:35 am
I believe this piece offers a serious retort to the two liberal college professors’ position regarding God and government.
http://wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=84
Reply »
crazy horse says:
In an actual school shooting crisis scenario, unfortunately i believe having more guns on campus in the right ppls hand would not likely have much positive effect. Police responded to newtown in something like 3 min, yet the carnage was done. There was also an armed guard at Columbine. The equation “a good guy with a gun is the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun” doesnt add up, as the bad guy has the element of surprise and superior firepower. Im surprised there arent more liberatarians posting that feel like having armed officials in all schools isnt from some NWO fascist playbook….liberatarians seem to be for it b/c they are pro-gun culture
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 6:17 am
Yes and we need more of the quick action from the left ie the school administrators who suspended a 5 yr old for threatening to shoot a classmate with her pink bubble gun.
lefties are so enlightened.
http://www.inquisitr.com/488555/bubble-gun-suspension-kindergarten-students-comment-draws-controversy/
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks Reply:
January 21st, 2013 at 10:54 am
The zero tolerance policies at schools, (my opinion) was “mostly” a Republican law & order type initiative. Whomever had this brainless B.S. idea, regardless of whom it is the fault of, left, or right, it should be ended. How about a little common sense instead?
Reply »
ANON says:
Righties are so moronic. See the idiots that shot folks at the gun shows this week?
Reply »
Anonymous says:
Hey JBB, do you think Senator Dewhurst will attend President Romney’s swearing in ceremony?
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
I was wondering if any bored state workers would show up being its a bored state worker holiday.
It’s only the 21st of Jan. and they’ve already had 3 holidays.
Reply »
Anonymous says:
Grumpy mood, JBB?
Reply »
Kenneth D. Franks says:
I’m not a bored state worker.
Reply »
JohnBernardBooks says:
Even Obama admitted in his speech today that Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness were given by the Creator, then he added for the kooks, “and man must give those rights too.”
Reply »
Anonymous says:
JBB, grab ole Mr. Paddington Bear, hug him tight, sip some o Mama Book’s hot cocoa, cloae your eyes real tight (after reading one more Redstate article), and shut reality away for one more day. Because if you open those puffy eyes of yours, you just might glimpse how amazingly not relevant you are. Look at the crowd, then look in the mirror, and realize
Democracy has passed you by. JBB, you are the weakest link, good-bye.
Reply »
Helen Wheels says:
Arming teachers is a really bad idea. I am pretty sure my drivers ed teacher (who chewed Alka Seltzer tablets) would have shot me if he had been packing heat in 1965.
Reply »