“Texans are in Texas”
Matt sent me a link to this Digg thread which quotes:
Gov. Rick Perry said that he supported the policy of the Harrold school district to allow teachers and staff members to carry guns at school as long as they are adequately trained in gun safety.
The comments there are… well, they’ve made me whither and die a little inside just by reading them. I would urge you to read them in moderation and do not drive or operate heavy machinery for sometime afterward in case of dizzy spells. I mean, come on. Let’s arm all the teachers in a school? What could be wrong with having a hundred handguns floating around a school, eh? After all, no-one who carries a gun has ever had it taken from them, or lost their temper and used it inappropriately. The stupid, it burns.
(Headline stolen from Misinformant in the comments on Digg)
Both metrics are broken though. Much as I disagree with the “right to bear arms” and it’s mandatory introduction into schools, this is a classic example of minority situations allowing sweeping reforms to take place. One psycho every year blowing away a few students = arm all students and teachers is not a solution I would go for. However, there is tangible logic to the fact that if everybody is armed, the chances of an incident “might” be reduced. Remember, I spent five days in the mid West at a machine gun festival, where I think I was probably only one of a handful of people not packing, out of thousands. I spent the entire time wandering around with a camera bag open and gaping on my shoulder - I didn’t have anything stolen at all and it would have been piss easy except for the risk of getting shot! Also, there were no “incidents” at all. Is there an increased risk of gun related deaths occuring if there are more guns? I don’t know enough about probability and statistics to work that one out, because you can never guarantee that there will never be any guns, what is the statistical increase of an incident if there are “lots” of guns? You also have to be there to feel the tangible love most Merkins have for firearms - it’s ingrained more than you or I would ever get comfortable with - they really do love them.