Teachers may pack more than books

Thirty six people were murdered in the
Virginia Tech Massacre. Three professors
were murdered by a coworker at
the University of Alabama, three others were
critically injured. Six students were left dead
at Northern Illinois University and 18 left
wounded. One student was murdered in the
Ohio State University shooting.

Campus and university shootings occur
too regularly.

People suggested ways to be proactive in
the prevention of these situations, such as
the suggestion that teachers carry guns.

A faculty member with a gun could have
taken the murderer at Virginia Tech down
before he took his own life and 36 others. But,
if faculty were armed, they could accidentally
hit more students in an attempt to get the
murderer. An Alabama University faculty
member could have pulled a gun on the attacker
during the staff meeting and threatened
her to reconsider her actions but in
this case, there is no telling who would have
reached the gun first. Maybe a professor
at Northern Illinois University would have
stepped out of his classroom and taken an
accurate shot. In retrospect, if the shot was
not accurate, bullets could have ricocheted
and left more than 18 wounded. The Ohio
State University student could have been
saved had a teacher hit the murderer first,
but had the teacher missed, there could be
more than one student dead.

Reactions were too late and the actions
non-retractable.

Transcripts and recommendation letters
don’t determine an individual’s mental
stability and universities don’t have the time
or manpower to evaluate each applicant in
depth. Students just go to school with the
mindset that everyone is there, like them, to
get an education for a brighter future.

Everyone is entitled to feel safe at school.

I wouldn’t feel very safe if I knew my teachers
were packing a 45, though.

Teachers of higher education tend to have
upper-level education degrees such as a master’s
degree, law degree, or doctorates. These
degrees were earned over years of hard work
and dedication, which adds a couple years
of experience to the college faculty, but this
doesn't guarantee shooting abilities.

A student disturbed enough to bring a
weapon to school and open fire has no concern
for his own life or anyone else’s. Encouraging
teachers to openly carry guns could be
all too tempting for a troubled student who
may stay after class or lag behind to overtake
the teacher and turn the intended defense
mechanism into a weapon.

Teachers and students should be encouraged
to take self-defense classes, or instruction
on how to react in the event of a campus
shooting. Campus security officers should be
entitled to carry guns because they are able
to react to a campus security threat in less
time than it takes local authorities.

Most campuses have police officers onsite,
however SCC abides by Native American
land laws and depend on reservation authorities
to respond to any incident as quick
as possible.

The idea of allowing teachers and students
to carry concealed weapons on campus
has been a topic of heated debate for a
while, but no real progress has been made
with any resolutions in legislature.

Universities like UofA have held open forums
and debates for opinions to be voiced.
The most recent debate of UofA was in February.
No consensus was reached, however
there was a lot of controversy and passion
expressed.

Faculty and students should embrace
the peace of a campus and be wary of questionable
student behavior. Abnormal behavior
can often be detected in student’s work
throughout the semester and being aware of
that is going to be more effective than packing bullets in with the lesson plans.