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The stupidity of gun free zones.

The stupidity of gun free zones.

On Monday, May 20, Dan was teaching gym and carrying his handgun in an inside-the-waistband hip holster. So, there was zero chance that his gun would fall out of his holster or hurt his students and a 100 percent chance that Daniel could defend his students if a gunman breached the school. Daniel is highly competent with firearms; he practices at the range monthly and also takes yearly classes to advance his firearm skills.

Another teacher observed what must have been the silhouette of Daniel’s handgun beneath his clothes while he was actively teaching his students. This teacher-observer panicked and told the principal that Daniel had a gun. Without investigating, the principal immediately called the police. Despite the fact that Daniel is a concealed-carry permit holder with a spotless record, the police arrested him for carrying in a “gun free zone.”

A few police officers tried to remove Daniel’s gun from his holster and were unable so Daniel had to tell them how. Which, again, speaks to how secure Daniel’s gun was at his side. To reiterate, there was no chance that his gun would endanger children; there was a very large chance that Daniel could use his gun to save their lives. The Wichita Police Department is a 12-minute drive and seven miles away from White Elementary. In the event of a mass attack, hundreds of defenseless children and teachers could be killed before the cops would arrive.

The man stands to go to jail, for doing nothing more than being prepared to defend the lives of the children he teaches.

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On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
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6 comments

  • Pzatchok

    I tend to agree with the Police on this one.

    I have my CCW but I follow the wishes of private property owners and the local laws.

    He knew he couldn’t have a firearm in the school no matter what. And he still brought it in. Most states let you keep it secured in the car in some way while you go in to the school. Some don’t but its your job to find out, just like with any other law.

    I do want teachers to have the ability to CCW in their schools but until the school district passes that law then you just have to go along with their rules.

    But their are some schools you NEVER want to take a firearm into. More and more high school kids have no respect for authority and just physically attack their own teachers. I do not want to give those hoodlums the chance to steal a firearm from their teachers. They have the will and ability to just club you down from behind and will gang up on you to get it done. Letting them know a gun might even be in the room is just inviting trouble. Some of these kids today are just thugs.

    Heck when my parents went to school students and teachers left their hunting firearms hanging in the back windows of their trucks unlocked and knew no one would bother with them.
    When I went to school all the larger high schools in the area had target shooting teams.
    Not today. You can’t even chew a cookie to look like a gun let alone talk about them in class.

  • JGL

    I agree with you about getting the permission to carry on a particular property, you are just looking for legal trouble if you don’t.

    On the issue of “gun free zones”, that to me is a naive attempt at keeping children safe, more of an attempt at feel good PR. We all know that the only people who follow such laws are law abiding people, and we all know that gun free zones only create a shooting gallery for those nuts, psychopaths and terrorists who are not particularly concerned with the law.

    I have posed the question to people I talk to related to recent events: Would you choose to have some qualified and properly trained person (how ever that is to be determined) to have a well concealed gun in a school or class room where your child went to school where someone meant harm to them or not ?

    The answers are interesting. I think we try to create a “safe” model but that model really does not reflect reality it reflect our emotions related to the issue.

  • Pzatchok

    I agree gun free zones are just advertizements directed at the insane.

    Sort of like leaving cookies on the table and telling your 6 year old not to have one.
    It would be better to not even advertise that you have cookies. Why tempt the kids?

    But now that the cat is out of the bag so to say and the nut cases are just looking for those gun free zone signs we now have to make a just as visible sign that those areas do have protection. Deadly protection. Armed protection.
    Maybe not armed teachers but at least armed cops. Not rent a cops, real cops. They could be the rookies but they will at least be the real guys.
    Our local schools have officers stationed at each school. Two at the high school because of its size. We also have cameras in every hall and intercoms in each class room. Most doors are locked to keep people out. No metal detectors because it was just deemed a waste of money and time.

    But the cops work. No real fights or other trouble. Then again the students tend to respect their teachers enough to not physically attack them on a weekly basis.

  • Why do you want to make things complicated? My point for linking this story was that it illustrated quite clearly the utter stupidity and failure of “gun-free zones”. And when something is stupid and a failure, the best thing to do is get rid of it, not add layers to the stupidity.

    Adding cops to the zone is expensive. It seems to me that the qualified teacher with a concealed carry permit from the linked story would have been a fine and very efficient solution.

  • JGL

    I agree, K.I.S.S. is the way to go, have someone in the school trained and qualified but not even specifically known, but its known that they exist. That’s called deterrence. One person, five people who knows, but it is known that resistance exists. Pzat is just making what is supposed to be a reasonable compromise and is what will probably be closer to the solution that a bureaucracy will look towards to solve the problem. So much for bureaucracy.

    The people who commit heinous crimes such as the ones we are discussing in general do not want to be shot (they don’t like it, they find it offensive and I hear it hurts).

  • Pzatchok

    Didn’t mean to make it sound complicated but well that’s they way I think. Sorry.

    If the school board does allow a teacher to CCW in the school you can bet that some bean counter will demand the teacher be covered by some type of insurance.
    The insurance company will demand the teacher be trained to the highest standard the state normally uses for someone employed as a security guard. In Ohio that is a 24 hour class plus range time. The same training cops get for their firearms training.
    As soon as some teacher pulls their gun out inside the school some parent will go stupid and threaten to take the school to court. for threatening their sweat hoodlum.

    In the end with all the possible trouble and expense that the union will demand the district pay for so the teacher doesn’t have to cover the insurance costs its just easier and cheaper to hire a real cop and let the department handle everything.

    I know how good typical cops shoot vs. a dedicated and trained CCW holder. I trust the caring CCW holder more than the cop to hit their target. But that is not what the typical citizen cares about.

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