By Tom
As bad as things are in Washington – and they're bad – it could be worse. We could have this guy in our state legislature. Mark Christensen, a state senator in Nebraska, introduced a bill to allow schools workers to carry concealed weapons on the job.
Can you imagine?
In an apparent response to the recent shooting in Omaha, this guy actually wants to have teachers walking around with guns in their pockets.
But first they would need professional development.
"I don't think you can simply just hand out guns like you do keys," he said. There certainly would have to be a great amount of training, a great amount of responsibility. What's the standard of care for having a gun for an employee in the district?" he asked.
"You have to be trained to get a concealed carry permit," explained Christensen. "You take a class, you go through the shooting, the training and learn about the responsibility of the gun. So that's why it's another great thing, it is a trained individual."
Another great thing?
He continues:
"I've never seen a gun escalate a situation. Guns don't kill people, people do."
So the next time you're sitting through a literacy workshop, learning about the intricacies of consonant digraphs, just think: you could be taking target practice, getting ready to de-escalate a situation.
Frankly, I can't imagine a gun not escalating a situation.
This guy clearly has no idea what we do, who we are and why we teach. Every teacher I know or have ever known, the good and the bad, the young or old, every teacher – every single teacher – would quit immediately if they were asked to take a gun to work.
And thank God.
Dear Tom,
Can I imagine? Absolutely. Come visit.
Mike in Arizona
Yeah….I don’t think I’d want a gun in the classroom or on my person. I have enough trouble keeping track of the green and pink neon prop dagger I use for Macbeth. I wouldn’t want to worry about a gun.
On the other hand, I have thought about shooters. I’ve got some options I prefer to a gun – a huge glass paperweight, a big plastic King Kong that weighs about five pounds and could do some damage, or a chair.
I don’t know. Given that I’m about 100% more likely to die in my car on the way to work than I am to encounter a school shooter, I think I’ll take my chances with Kong.
Plus, in my building we have these microphones. We’re constantly getting emails that someone’s had a microphone stolen, because it’s fun for kids to hide them and whisper things during class. If people can’t even keep track of their microphones, I hate to think what would happen if kids knew every teacher had a gun.
In my school district, concealed weapon PD would be accomplished through a PowerPoint written in print too small to see and read aloud by either an overly-enthusiastic admin or by a less than enthusiatic staff member recruited for the job. No hands-on training and God forbid–no discussion.