My Opinion: Keep Guns Out of Schools

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“Do you have any guns in your house?”

Bobby was having a new friend over.  I was meeting his new friend’s mom for the first time.  We had already crossed off our discussion list “any food allergies” and “any pet allergies/fears.”

“In our house?  Oh gosh, no.  Do you?”

“No.”

We both nodded.  Okay.  Whew.

Yes, this question comes up.  It is still relevant.

We do not want our children around guns.

Can you see where I am going with this?  Feel free to bail out now.

I am veering off my planned post course to talk about something that keeps rearing its ugly head into my world.

Guns in schools.  Arming teachers.

That other mom I was talking to?  She’s a teacher.  I’m guessing she feels the same way I do about all this.

I don’t want my children in a school where the teacher is armed.

What is bringing this situation to a head?

As of March 8th, there have been 14 school shootings inside the United States.

The most notorious offense of the year is the following:

“February 14: Parkland, Florida

A 19-year-old man gunned down students and staff with a rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, slaughtering at least 17 unsuspecting students and adults.”

It should be noted that this school employed an armed security guard.  When the attack took place the security guard froze outside.  When his “fight or flight” was called upon, his “flight” took over and he did not go in the school or attempt to stop the shooter in any way.

One of the initial cries was that the people who are doing these school shootings need psychiatric help.  The mental health system is failing, and disturbed people are harming the innocent.

Having worked in the mental health system for many years, I was captivated by the perspective of an emergency psychiatrist, who relates in this article, “The Mental Health System Can’t Stop Mass Shooters” her experience with individuals brought in for emergency psychiatric care, against their will, who harbor ill feelings towards others.

She states that the mental health system does not identify these individuals for need of mental health care as they do not come in for help.  The individuals do not always have a history of mental illness.  Mental illness is rarely the cause of the mass shootings.  There are laws to protect the civil liberties of individuals, stating what care can be administered to individuals against their will.

Ultimately there is no cure for angry men who harbor violent fantasies.

Her recommendation?

Try to make it more difficult for angry young men to get guns.

That seems legit.

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In the past few weeks major stores in the United States have put a stop to their sale of certain weapons to help curb their ease of availability.  Which is great.  Certainly, something I support.

But the cynical part of me says, Robyn – does it really matter?

Here’s a video I came across that makes me upset and fuels the cynical part of me.

In the video, Jack, a 13-year-old paid actor goes to prove a point.  In short, he attempts to buy alcohol and is denied.  He attempts to buy cigarettes and is denied.  He attempts to buy pornography and is denied.  He attempts to buy a gun and succeeds.  Mind blowing.

I found this authors take on Assault Weapons to be informative, even for me, a non-gun lover: “F*ck You, I Like Guns.”  As an Army Veteran she is clear to state there is no reason for any civilian to own an assault weapon and why.  Their only use in the ARMY was to kill people.  That’s it.

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This morning I am reading through my news feed and come across the CNN article, “Devos Struggles to Answer Basic Questions About Schools in her Home State.”

Betsy Devos is not my buddy.  As the appointed US Secretary of Education her goal is to privatize schooling.  There are many implications to this move, however, the most offending to me is that private schools do not have to provide for the needs of kids with special needs.  They do not need to follow an IEP.  I wrote more about this in my post, “What are School Vouchers?”

Today, I read Devos interview on 60 minutes.  In it, Devos offered that some schools should consider arming teachers.  When she is asked if she could even imagine her own first grade teacher brandishing a weapon in the classroom.

No, she could never imagine that.

My first grade teacher was a nun.  So, me neither, Betsy.

Nor would I want that for my kids.

As a marine, now educator, the author of “I was a Marine.  I do not want a Gun in my Classroom” agrees he is fully capable to handing a weapon with skill.  But would never do so in a classroom.  The presence of a weapon in the classroom is an invitation to violence.  If his college loses its “gun free zone” he will resign his professorship stating he will not work in an area where professors and students will be packing heat.

Educators are trained educate.

There are so many scenarios that go through my mind when I think of a teacher possessing a gun.  An elementary teacher puts the gun in the top drawer of her desk  to go help a student.  Another student goes to the desk to get a pencil and finds the gun.  Not realizing it is real, fires.  Or an angry high school student gains possession of his teachers gun and now there is an angry gun in the classroom.  And I can only imagine how many parents will say a teacher doesn’t like their kid, so my kid should be allowed to carry as well.

I find it important to point out that school massacres are not only occurring at high schools or colleges.  Elementary schools are at risk as well, as in the case of Sandy Hook Elementary where twenty 6-7 year olds were shot in 2012.  Absolutely horrific.

So, my view is simple.  It is not “add more guns.”  I support, “Less guns.  Serious gun reform.  Now.”

Personally, I kind of like this:

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Please know, I have no interest in getting into a debate about guns.  This is all, simply my opinion.

26 thoughts on “My Opinion: Keep Guns Out of Schools

  1. I do not understand the gun culture at all. We don’t have guns here, well not every citizen has one, there are big rules about those that do keep rifles (like farmers) like where they are kept etc.
    We watch the news with horror, the school shootings are truly awful but what’s sad is that the children are trained in what to do in that situation. I’ve heard guns don’t kill people, people do and it’s crap.
    We talked about the arming of teachers and thought it was a joke. How can that possibly be a solution? Reduce the amount of guns is surely the way to go.
    We see news from America all the time about shootings and mass shootings and we wonder why nothing is done. Are the NRA really that powerful?
    I know we aren’t perfect, we had Hungerford and Dunblane for example but it’s not a weekly event and every time we do have one our laws change. After Dunblane all firearms were banned to the general public and are only available to certain groups under special license.
    I expect this will not be a popular view at all.

    1. I like your view a lot and completely agree with you. I would love to see something change after one of these horrific incidents, instead we are being programmed to believe “More guns” is the answer – which is ridiculous. Thank you so much for sharing from your perspective – I have often wondered what the thought was from people in different countries – it’s great to hear everyone’s feedback and their country’s take on guns – which is that they are very limited if there is access at all.

  2. I 100% concur. We have strict gun laws in Australia and it works a treat. Since the laws were passed, mass shootings have been all but stamped out. My heart bleeds for the U.S. every time I turn on the news and there has been another mass shooting. Very sad.

    1. Thank you and thank you so much from sharing – I really like to read what the gun laws are like in other countries. It really sheds a light on how negligent the gun laws are in the US. It is very very sad to see people keep dying and nothing changing in the right direction.

  3. 1st, it’s always great to start things off with a Vonnegut quote, so thank you. In Gettysburg, probably 80% of the houses have guns. Since our kids first started going to other houses without us, we’ve had protocols to follow if a gun comes out (we also have a protocol for what to do if a deer crashes through the back window, but that’s another story). We’ve only banned our kids from visiting one house so far and that’s because they have guns *and* drinking problems. I worry about my kids all the time when they’re at their friends houses.

    Teachers with guns: When the cops come during a school shooting, they are going to shoot anyone they see with a gun, they won’t stop to ask if you’re a teacher. And what happens when a teacher misses the attacker and shoots an innocent student.

    Mental illness: 20% of the population is on psychotropic medications. How do we choose which people are a danger. This whole “debate” is 100% stupid. Here’s my proposal: make it illegal to buy, sell or transfer ownership of an assault rifle. Implement a government buy-back program. I promise the high casualty shootings will decline.

    BTW, I’ve been reading Anastasia Writes (the author of F you, I like guns) since she posted that excellent essay. She is a fantastic blogger.

    1. Vonnegut said it best. In his letters and his writing, but I like this quote the best. I thought about that – my town, my area, the suburbs around my area – we are not a gun community. My only connection with guns in this area was to counsel school students whose fellow classmate was murdered by being shot. That is a guns only purpose in this area. If hunting was more of a sport around here, then I would probably have the same protocols as you.
      That is a very good point as well. There is just too many other things that can go wrong any given day for guns to ever be considered safe in a classroom.
      I agree – I guess there is always going to be finger pointing. I just think pointing it at the mentally ill is wrong. Generally, the attackers have no history of mental illness – why would they be on the mental health system’s radar? I think buying back the assaut rifles is a great idea.
      Good to know – I will give her a follow. I really enjoyed that piece – I would like to see what else she has to say.

  4. I like the direction of you’re last few blog posts. Not sure if you’re making a conscious change or these topics just happen to be on your mind. Regardless, I appreciate hearing more about *you*.

    1. Thank you very much. I have enjoyed writing them. This one was reactionary – I read Devos’ interview, and like everyone else, I had the “what?” face. The next article I read was about Trumps plan to move forward with the idea of arming teachers – and I just had it. Wanted to say something.

  5. Excellent post, as always.

    I believe that the issue of guns reverts to money, and the individual citizens who support the NRA don’t see this. Money is the oil that keeps all government wheels churning and palms greased. Unfortunately it also supersedes morality.

    1. Thank you!
      I agree. The NRA is lining everyones pockets for their support and protection. That is a great way to put it – it does supersede morality

  6. Yes. Teacher here. In India, thankfully. We have issues up the wazoo, thankfully guns aren’t one of those. With everything else here, would have imploded if guns were added to the mix. I don’t get why the most prosperous country in the world, with a pretty good system of public security feels this insecure. Sure, things aren’t perfect but adding violence to the situation makes it all worse by a factor of 10!

    Mental health is an issue but many of those who shoot aren’t only dealing with those – to me, it seems like making kindness ‘uncool’ is a part of it, being unaware of our own emotions is a part of it (your CBT post would help tons!) and taking to violence instead of handling what really happened is a huge part of it. When guns enter the picture, violence inevitably does. Coming from a land that earned independence non-violently, it might be easier to see how another option works better and we stay alive after. I don’t know, since I can’t understand this belief that keeping guns to protect ourselves individually is required. Stunned that it was written into the constitution!

    1. I agree with you. There is so much violence inside this country that I wish wasn’t here, and would be greatly lessened if guns were taken out of the equation.
      Yes, I agree. If handled, regulated guns should be in the hands of mature adults. Instead assault weapons are being used immaturely and creating a lot of death and violence. They are being misused. And could be avoided. I agree with you about it being in the constitution. I had to look it up. Only 3 countries have the right to keep and bear arms in their constitution. Guatemala, Mexico and the US. And it should be pointed out, the US is the only country in the world that does not include explicit restrictive conditions.

  7. Great post, it makes no sense for a gun problem to introduce more guns, that’s kinda like putting out a fire using a flame thrower. I don’t think it’s fair to ask teachers to carry this burden either…what does happen if a high school teacher has a bad day? This was a very insightful post, it’s just a shame those with more influence and power can’t read this too. Bravo!

    1. Thank you! That is a great analogy. I don’t think it is fair either. There is way too much that can go wrong on any given day – a gun in the classroom just adds to another possible bad scenario. Thank you so mcuh!

  8. Every American has the right to free speech. I respect your view, but we have a pistol in our home. The bullets are kept on the basement. The gun is always locked and in the safety position.

    My husband has attended training from the state of MN from a retired Navy Seal. Jason passed with flying colors. Jason also has applied for and attended training on concealed carry permit. Again he passed with high marks. So now when he travels around the state, if he hits and injures a large animal (deer, bear, you get the idea) if it is suffering, he can end the animals suffering.

    I am not legally allowed any where near a gun due to the fact I called a friend to say good bye because I was going to commit suicide. A state trooper knocked on my door before I took the medicines I planed to use to end my life. Ended up spending time in a psychiatric hospital. Took years before our marriage recovered from that mess.

    We have no problems with guns in our home. No kids, no loaded guns any where! We have great kids in our neighborhood. Do not want any of them to accidentally come across a loaded gun.

    1. Thank you for sharing, Jeanette. I really do appreciate your honesty. We do not live in an area that guns are a part of. In our town, and surrounding suburbs, guns are just not a part of our way of life. The only interaction I have had with guns is to counsel school students whose classmate was murdered by being shot in the back as he was running away from a separate gang member. If I lived in a hunting town, or an area where guns were more present, than I would have to have rules for my kids when they went into another person’s home with guns.
      I am sorry you were feeling that bad. I am glad that you got help and are safe. I am glad your marriage recovered. I am thankful for you.
      Thank you again for sharing. It sounds like your husband is a very safe and responsible gun owner.

    2. Genuine question as I’m a town dweller but how often do large animals get hit by cars? We have the odd squashed hedgehog or cat but not game so I was genuinely wondering how often it happens.

      Happy the state trooper turned up in time, so sorry you felt that way. Glad you seem to be back on track x

      1. we travel by motorcycle all over the state. Deer got hit back when we lived in Lombard, IL on the roads all the time! Lombard is a suburb of Chicago. Here we have deer, bears, wolves, you get the idea. Up in the northern part of MN there are less people and more wild life. We like escaping the city when ever we can.

        1. Thank you for replying. We see it on films all the time, someone hits something on the road and it turns out to be a big animal but didn’t know if it was true or regular occurrence. Now I know I can ponder more questions that pop into my head at 4 am
          Thanks again

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