A Google search on “arming teachers” pulls up these headlines:
- Arming Teachers Is a Terrible Idea, President Trump
- These schools say arming teachers ‘can be done right’
- Schools don’t need an armed ‘lady teacher,’ Alabama lawmaker says
And further down the page:
Some may criticize Emma Gonzalez for using the word “stupid” in an interview, but what people on both sides of the gun debate can’t take away from her is Emma’s direct experience on the subject. Most people, whether you’re the staunchest gun rights advocate or a “bleeding heart liberal” who wants to take everyone’s guns away, simply don’t have her unique perspective.
The Stoneman Douglas H.S. Shooting
On Feb. 14, Emma and many of her classmates came perilously close to being gunned down by Nikolas Cruz and his semiautomatic AR-15, which he lugged to school in a duffel bag. Cruz killed 17 people and wounded 17 more.
Emma has now joined the School Shootings Club for Survivors – with chapters in the cities of Blacksburg, DeKalb, Oakland, Newtown, Marysville, Roseburg, and now Parkland … in a long list of school shootings that goes back to the 1800s.
And let’s not forget Great Mills, Maryland, which is today’s breaking news.
The Great Mills H.S. Shooting
Today’s shooter is dead, two others wounded – but details are scant at this time. All we know for sure is there’s a new club chapter at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County, though with “only” two people wounded (health status unknown at this time), the news barely registers, at least compared to the Parkland shooting.
Can Arming Teachers Be Done Right?
Emma may believe that arming teachers is stupid – and she is certainly within her rights to form an opinion – but there are those who believe it can be done right, per a CNN report about the Clarksville School District in Arkansas, which has trained some teachers and staff to respond with firearms.
“Every second that ticks by is a possibility of a life lost. What we’ve gathered from this is that it can be done, it can be done right … we’ve done it now for five years,” said Superintendent David Hopkins.