An Ohio judge has ruled that teachers don’t need special police training to carry firearms at the job as the debate on school carry enters another phase.
With today’s political divide, it sometimes seems as if if neither side can recognize common sense when it reaches up and kisses them on the lips. It may seem as such, but the reality is that people who don’t own guns aren’t opposed to their use by responsible people, nor do gun enthusiasts expect criminals to be allowed guns during their trial in a court of law. The reality is that both sides understand why a hunter needs guns, target shooters and especially competitive ones needs guns, and homes need weapons to provide for their defense. The real question has to do with who has guns, and where they should be allowed to carry a gun, particularly, at school around children.
A majority of Americans trust teachers based on the district’s background check of employees they hire to work in the classroom. The very basic answer is that yes, teachers should be armed in order to stop a potential threat against the school. The other side of the argument suggests, “what if,” someone who isn’t responsible manages to pass the background check and bring a weapon around children to cause more sinister effects?
Courts have been divided in their rulings so far, but tend to favor the liberal view of not allowing teachers to carry guns. The fact is that most teachers are too busy doing their job, grading papers and developing lesson plans, and simply don’t have the time to attend gun safety classes or attend Police Academy and learn the proper reasons behind when, why, and how to use weapons efficiently. The few localities which have ruled that teachers can carry a concealed weapon have enacted such rules so recently as to not have had time to conduct real time studies on how such laws affect not only the quality of teachers employed, but the more important aspect of what level of quality those teachers are providing toward the education of their students.
Most teachers are against the idea of allowing themselves to carry weapons while teaching. The reason might be different than what first comes to mind. It isn’t that a teacher doesn’t want armed security in the school, or that they are opposed to their colleagues having access to a weapon in the case of an emergency, but rather a case of they don’t want a gun as “one more thing” they have to keep track of during what is already a hectic day.
The Second Amendment clearly states a right to bear arms, but there is also an underlying philosophy behind democracy which says one person’s rights aren’t to interfere with another’s. The real question to ask is at what point does one person’s gun interfere with another person’s right to enjoy their freedom, and how to define such a situation in real terms.
~ Firearm Daily
