Stop School Violence -- Let Teachers Pack Heat?

AP reported yesterday that a majority of South Dakota schools have written plans for responding to on-campus violence but that another majority lack formal programs for deterring school violence. (Do video cameras count?)

How about a policy that deters violence and responds to what violence might happen: how about letting teachers carry firearms? The Christian Science Monitor runs an article on an Oregon teacher who is suing for the right to carry a concealed weapon at school [Brad Knickerbocker, "Should Teachers Be Allowed to Pack a Gun?" Christian Science Monitor, 2007.09.18]. An anonymous high school teacher wants to carry her Glock 9-mm pistol to school to protect herself against her ex-husband, who earned himself a restraining order for making threats against the woman and her children.

The interesting legal hang-up here: the teacher's school district prohibits anyone other than law enforcement from carrying weapons on campus, but Oregon state law says that authority "relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition, is vested solely in the Legislative Assembly."

Now imagine a school in which the teachers are armed. Would potential troublemakers really think twice about starting fights or making even more serious trouble? And if some malcontent did stage a rampage like Columbine or Virginia Tech, would armed teachers be able to put a stop to it without harming innocent students or each other? The state panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shootings doesn't think so:

"If numerous people had been rushing around with handguns … the possibility of accidental or mistaken shootings would have increased significantly," the panel wrote [Knickerbocker].

Nonetheless, various state legislatures are considering legislation to allow teachers to carry weapons on school campi. Some legislators cite the example of Israel, although there it is armed security guards and not teachers themselves who carry firearms. Nonetheless, in Israel, where the potential for violence from political extremists and terrorists is much higher than that in the US, three decades have passed with neither Palestinian terrorists nor disgruntled students shooting up schools.

The Madville Times offers no policy endorsement this morning, just food for thought. In our fair state there's probably more chance of kids getting shot in hunting accidents than in school. What problems we may have with school violence won't go away with a written plan. We may not need target practice, but we at least could use some creative brainstorming.