Training Teachers To Shoot Guns Is A Colossally Stupid Idea

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In a call with reporters on Sunday night officials of the Trump administration set forth his plan to combat school shootings. Unfortunately it contains one of the dumbest ideas ever proposed in Washington, D.C.: he wants the federal government to help states pay for gun training for teachers.

As part of that ridiculous plan, the president has told the U.S. Department of Justice to work in coordination with local law enforcement agencies from around the country. According to Andrew Bremberg, director of the president’s Domestic Policy Council, they will provide “rigorous firearms training to specifically qualified volunteer school personnel.”

Part of Trump’s plan is for states to pass temporary, court-issued “Risk Protection Orders,” which would allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from individuals who “pose risks to themselves and others.” These so-called RPO’s would also identify the risky individuals and temporarily prevent them from buying any type of deadly firearm.

Ever since he first proposed the idea of giving teachers guns it has been severely criticized by gun violence experts, educators, and school safety advocates.

“It’s a crazy proposal,” said Dr. David Hemenway, a professor of health policy at Harvard School of Public Health. “So what should we do about reducing airline hijacking? Give all the passengers guns as they walk on?”

Studies have concluded that states with stricter gun laws and fewer guns have less overall gun violence than those with less strict gun laws and more guns. Hemenway, an expert on the public health impact of gun violence, said that reducing gun violence is very simple: we must limit access to the weapons themselves.

Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, called Trump’s plan a “colossally stupid idea.”

“If having more guns in more places made Americans safer, then we would have the lowest rates of gun violence in any developed country in the world, and the exact opposite is true,” she said. It is ridiculous to think that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

“There could be instances of real confusion that would lead to tragedy if we had more guns in more classrooms,” Ms. Gardiner said. “What about the time the teacher accidentally leaves the gun unlocked in the desk drawer, and it’s picked up by a student? Think about the burden on schools to make sure the teachers are safe to carry guns. Who’s doing that checking and monitoring and retraining?”

Putting more guns in all of America’s schools is such a stupid idea that it could only have been concocted by the NRA, which is a tool of gun manufacturing companies. Of course the NRA has bought Trump’s loyalty with massive campaign contributions, just like they have with all the other Republicans in Washington.

More guns in schools will not make our children safer. The only way to reduce gun violence is to reduce the number of guns. “Less guns means less violence,” Hemenway said.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.