HARROLD, Texas -- A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported. Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.
Wow...just when I begin to wonder how many flavors of stupid you can find in small-town Texas, I learn something that (almost) leaves me speechless. I mean, really, y'all...shouldn't the idea of teachers packing heat in classrooms NOT scare the Hell out of any lucid human being? Unless you really DO live in mortal fear of terrorists random disaffected White men packing heat descending on your small (in the middle of frickin' nowhere) town....
Superintendent David Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district's lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.
"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in Friday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Thweatt said officials researched the policy and considered other options for about a year before approving the policy change. He said the district also has various other security measures in place to prevent a school shooting.
"The naysayers think (a shooting) won't happen here. If something were to happen here, I'd much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them," Thweatt said.
So, obviously the solution is to turn our schools into free-fire zones? I'm all for being able to protect our children, but study after study after study has shown that guns are more likely to injure or kill the innocent than whoever or whatever the intended target may be. Of course, no one wants to have to deal with the possibility of a school shooting at their child's school, but if we're going to weigh risk vs. reward, it would seem that the risk of injury or death from a mishandled firearm is infinitely higher than any risk a crazed gunman might present...simply because the odds of that happening are infinitesimal.
I have a hard time believing that the resolution to this "problem" is to turn our schools into potential free fire zones. Of course, on the upside, the idea of teachers packing heat does open up a whole new realm of possibilities for maintaining classroom discipline and make sure that students complete their homework, eh??
I'm sorry I had to shoot little Johnny, Mrs. Smith...but he didn't finish his math assignment....
