August 19th, 2008
North Texas School District Allows Teachers to Carry Guns in School
Kim Priestap at Wizbang:
The Harold Indpendent School District in North Texas is the first district in the nation to allow their teachers to carry guns for protection.
My first reaction to this was it’s about time…
In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls. (emphasis mine [Priestap's])
This is obviously something that many will find very controversial. I was 100% convinced that a program like this made sense until a public school teacher I know said it was a bad idea because teachers would shoot kids that got out of line. And was serious about it. I’m still at least 90% sure that a program like this makes sense and am also at least 90% sure that the teacher I know was either kidding me or just plain wrong.
Now we have a first chance to see. The odds of something happening in this particular school are probably minimal, and the fact that would-be shooters know that teachers may be carrying will decrease those chances. But if this goes without mishap, we’ll be seeing additional schools adopting similar programs. And, if things continue without mishap, it will begin a trend that will start to undermine alarmist fears just as state after state successfully adopting concealed carry without mishap has eroded the “the streets will run red with blood” claims.
Tags: TX
