Arming Teachers?

     Arming teachers is an option that comes up occasionally when we experience the mass shootings in schools that happen way to often these days. There is, of course, debate on both sides. Being a teacher myself, I don’t think it is a good idea nor do I think that it is feasible.
     First, we have the famous No Handgun Signs which I blogged about back in 2014. I thought they would never work. But lately, I have noticed these signs are on every door of our campus. They are right next to the No Smoking signs. As no one smokes in the buildings and those signs have been up for decades, maybe the No Handgun Signs will work.
     Secondly, arming teachers and professors will require a lot of training and practice for reacting to the awful situation we are arming them for. Many of the teachers and professors that I know, and I will include myself in this grouping, would not be very good at this paramilitary solution. When I think of all the teachers and professors I have had, I can only think of two or three I would even consider arming. The rest? The idea them being armed and trained to defend the school and classroom does not fit their character at all. Plus, I tend to think more guns will only cause more problems. While I do believe in the right to bear arms, I also hope that I never have to own a gun let along have a loaded pistol on my person.
     The debate rages however on social media. I saw a post on Facebook today that said: “When my child hits another child with a stick, I don’t blame the stick, but I still take the stick away.” Seems like sane advice and good parenting. I believe I understand the logic behind this and how it is meant to support gun control. Carrying the comparison to the next level, does it mean we should take every stick away from every kid in the country
      I have always liked The Three Stooges. I have watched them all my life. I love the slapstick and the physical comedy. I love their earlier shorts, with Curly and Shemp, all of which were in black and white. I have seen them all several times and never get tired of them.
     While this is all fine and good, what does my love of the Three Stooges have to do with the topic at hand? Well, when this latest debate about arming teachers became all the rage in the news, a scene that was repeated in several of their films just popped into my head. In the scene, the boys find themselves in a wooden row boat as duck hunters. Curly accidentally discharges his weapon and the boat springs a leak. While Moe is reacting to the accident, Larry shoots another hole in the boat. Moe yells “What’s the idea of doing that?” Without batting an eye, Larry retorts “I made another hole so the water can go out.” It goes downhill from there.