Just four days after 20 children and six employees were killed by a gunman at a Connecticut elementary school, a South Carolina lawmaker has proposed arming Palmetto State school employees.
A S.C. House bill prefiled on Tuesday by Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, would allow employees who had concealed weapons permits and no history of violence to carry weapons on school grounds — if district officials allowed it. Read the entire bill here.
Lowe told The State newspaper that the bill would put doubt in the minds of anyone considering violence at a school.
What do you think? Is the answer to preventing tragedies like the one in Connecticut to have more people at schools armed?
Tell us in the comments below.
kinda doubt it...but, no doubt, examples of guns in hands civilians prevent killings are patently cherry picked and provide no proof. re: Pearl High School believe the shooter was leaving (45 shouted for Woodham to stop. Woodham instead got into a his mother's car) when confronted... re: Appalachia Law School When Odighizuwa left the building where the shooting took place, he was approached by two students with personal firearms... in both instances there is no evidence armed persons prevented any shooting...they did prevent shooters escape which counts fo sumthin... re: That's two of at least 12 that I know of... any ref? maybe the 12 provide better evidence the mother jones (MJ) article is 'patently false'... than pearl hi and appl law... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DDRIGHTS/message/8698 know MJ is a bleeding heart rag and you may disagree w/ their conclusions/opine...but they usually have the facts...and hired fact checkers. another mj clip: 'More Guns, More Mass shootings coincidence? America now has 300 million firearms, a barrage of NRA-backed gun laws and record casualties from mass killers.'
Here is why this is about politics: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/12/19/a-story-of-the-nras-influence-in-2-charts/ See how that works. You challenge my position and I defend it. That you don't is telling.
A lot of Americans wouldn't give up their handguns and assault rifles in an effort to prevent or minimize the next slaughter. A lot of these same people wouldn't give up any of their money to prevent or minimize the next slaughter. That said I do agree that they'd gladly shoot at the people that they believed were instigating the next slaughter, and they'd support everybody else shooting at the people they believed were the instigators too. No way anything bad can happen in that scenario.
i DO NOT THINK IT IS THE ROLE OF TEACHERS TO CARRY, HAVE IN THEIR POSSESSION IN A SCHOOL OR IN THE CLASSROOM ANY WEAPON WHETHER A GUN, KNIFE,CROSSBOW OR WHATEVER. THEY ARE NOT TRAINED, IT IS NOT THEIR ROLE AND IT WOULD ULTIMATELY CAUSE MORE INJURIES AND DEATHS TO OUR CHILDREN AND STUDENTS. LET THEM TEACH!!! LET THEM BE AWARE OF MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND FAMILY VIOLENCE AND ABUSE AND HELP WITH THAT.. LET THEM TEACH , NOT TO BE AFRAID , NOT TO INTIMIDATE OUR KIDS WITH GUNS IN THE CLASSROOM LET US HAVE LESS VIOLENCE IN OUR GAMES AND MOVIES AND TV!
[CLIP] ‘Have armed citizens ever successfully intervened to bring down a potential mass shooter? ‘Yes, but it’s rare. Often it’s not clear whether brave actions on the part of armed civilians prevented further death. In 1997, assistant principal Joel Myrick used a handgun to stop fleeing school shooter [not stop killings]...Armed interventions by retired and off-duty police officers, who have been trained to react, are more common...Other armed civilians who have attempted to stop shootings have been left severely injured or have been killed.’ [END CLIP] http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/12/can_armed_citizens_stop_mass_shootings_examples_of_armed_interventions.html ps any luck with link/refs to 12 known shootings where armed civilians saved lives?
If a group of young black men showed up wearing bow ties at a gun show they wouldn't be welcome by a large portion of the crowd. Replace black men with Muslim in appearance and you'd get an increasingly unwelcoming response. That I mock insulted your troll isn't the slightest bit satisfying. Try harder.
Your assumption about racism is more of a projection than a valid claim. You should try becoming less of a partisan hack and thinking more for yourself.
The racism is a direct response to the racist items, tshirts, flags, etc that are sold in plain sight at gun shows. Seriously Tom, if you aren't going to embrace it at least acknowledge that it's right there. <end /copypasta from libworld.com>
Since the owner of the guns in question in Newtown (the murder's mother) was not a felon, and had not been classified as insane, the guns were legal. It would be great if she could be tried as an accessory before the fact for the multiple murders for providing a troubled youth with access to all these guns, but she got away lucky this time be being the first victim. Her life would have been hell if she weren't already dead. Guns kill. Guns that can shoot lots of bullets really quickly kill even more people before anyone can even react. No one outside of the well-regulated militia should have access to these multiple murder weapons. You don't need semi-automatic assault weapons in your life unless you are a competitive drug dealer. You don't need huge magazines with tens of bullets to protect your home. Not even to eliminate the small number of small-brained CAPS-LOCK users.
I'd rather spend the money on training willing teachers and faculty that do love our children to protect them and not just teach them to cower and pray nothing happens to them.
[CLIP] The Los Angeles Police Department plans to significantly increase its presence at the city's more than 540 public elementary and middle schools, with Chief Charlie Beck saying the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre has created a "new reality" that his department must address. In outlining his plan Monday, Beck said his goal is for uniformed officers to visit the public school campuses on a daily basis, a major change in LAPD deployment strategy that will add an additional logistical stress on a police force already stretched thin by the city's fiscal crisis. "Somebody in a uniform is going to stop by everyday at these schools," Beck said in an interview [END CLIP] http://articles.latimes.com/print/2012/dec/17/local/la-me-lapd-security-20121218
No one needs these weapons for self defense, or to defend their homes. No one needs these weapons for any legitimate, legal, use. They want them. That's all; they want them. You will have to figure out "why?" for yourself.
as mentioned there should be clearly worded legislation to make it criminal (sustainal jail time) for any gun owner who permits access to his/her guns by children and crazies. re: Here is why this is about politics [NRA election spending. see josch link] NRA 'shooter cap' cowboys should be proud of the way their dues are spent...or maybe they (and NRA) should also be tried as accessories...facetious comment? maybe not.
a statistic from the TV: USA has 5% world's population and half the world's guns...stat not factchked, but bet it's close.
Quite frankly, this doesn't sound like the solution to the problem.
Criminals are not a threat to most of us. Real criminals use weapons to rob jewelry stores, liquor stores, banks, etc. where they can get money or valuables. They generally have no interest in killings dozens of people. And they usually work with small firearms for convenience, or try to avoid people altogether. These mentally damaged people who have committed the mass atrocities had easy access to the kinds of weapons which are designed for mass killings. If these weapons were outlawed, these people would not likely have any way to figure out where and how to acquire them. Sure, drug gangsters might still have them. Professional assassins might have them. You know, most of us do not have to deal with these kinds of murderers, and certainly elementary schools are not their targets. Ban the weapons of mass destruction, and the mentally unbalanced people will not have the access to them. Really bad criminals are not the cause of mass school killings. Would all the advocates of the right to possess these weapons please give the rest of us a good reason for it? Do you really think the president is about to send the army to take away your freedom? And would your weapon make a difference? These weapons of mass destruction kill too many people.