Instead of arming teachers, hire police: Column
- Several states are considering allowing teachers to carry guns.
- Actually%2C both the president and NRA agree on one approach.
- School resource officers have proven their effectiveness in the past.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Despite calls from conservatives to arm teachers, a voice of reason and dissent has emerged from this reddest of states. Alabama Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, a conservative Republican, says it is "doubtful" that teachers here should be armed.
Holtzclaw, a retired Marine, has something many of us don't: experience about what it means to use a gun in combat situations. He was a primary marksmanship instructor who trained other Marines. "We must recognize the difference between a teacher carrying a concealed weapon and the training required to engage an active shooter," Holtzclaw wrote in his Dec. 28 blog post.
Hollywood myth-making and NRA-pronouncements aside, having a teacher pull a gun is not a simple solution when split-second decisions are the difference between life and death. Nevertheless, Alabama joins a list of states that are considering legislation that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools. Other states include Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
Although Holtzclaw is a pro-gun rights conservative, state legislatures should consider critical questions he raised on his blog before voting to arm teachers.
Reacting in a moment
"Does the teacher draw to show, or draw to shoot?" Holtzclaw asked. "Shoot to kill, or disable? Are teachers granted immunity with regards to collateral damage, friendly fire ... you know, shooting a child? ... Is the shooter active or threatening, on the move or holed up with hostages?"
Holtzclaw also said that if teachers are to be trained, the "fog of war" — "loud noises, confusion, gun flashes, confined spaces, people being shot, people running into the line of fire" — must be taken into account.
One solution that both President Obama and the National Rifle Association have agreed on is hiring school resource officers — active-duty police. Unlike teachers, they are trained to deal with using their weapons in a life-threatening crisis.
In fact, the argument for trained, armed professionals got stronger last month after a school shooting at Price Middle School in Atlanta. A student opened fire, shooting another child in the neck before he was disarmed by a school resource officer. Multiple shots were fired, but only the one child was hit before the officer — who was armed — took the gun away without further injury.
A growing trend
According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, nearly one-third of public schools in the U.S. have school resource officers, making it the fastest-growing area of law enforcement.
A couple of years ago, I walked the hallways of Butler High School in Huntsville with Officer Carl McDuffie, a school resource officer who specializes in gang intervention. McDuffie walked the hallways like the old beat cops once strolled the streets. He knew many students by name and chatted them up, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with words of warning, but always, it seemed, with a true concern for their well-being.
There is no single solution to preventing school massacres. But some strategies pose more dangers than others. Slightly more than 60% of Americans oppose arming teachers, according to one poll. That, as well as the caution voiced by Holtzclaw, should give pause to the politicians clamoring to turn our schools into the OK Corral.
David Person hosts WEUPTalk on WEUP 94.5 FM/1700 AM in Huntsville, Ala., and is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
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