Colorado echo ~ safe schools are gun free

A letter to the editor published in the Colorado Reporter-Herald

Schools are not really prepared to have teachers shoot people.

At first blush, this idea of arming teachers in the classroom gets an emotional response.

Nevertheless, after considering lots of factors, allowing guns is schools is an absolutely a bad idea.

If the objective is to have the teacher kill the shooter and therefore protect his/her students, there is much to consider.

The taking of human life is an intensely traumatic experience. A significant percentage of our population does not even believe in the death penalty. I'm quite sure some teachers could be trained to kill, but some probably not.

Arming yourself is one thing. Knowing how to use your firearm and staying familiar with it is quite another. If we are to arm teachers, then advanced tactical training should be mandatory. Shooting paper targets at the range is one thing. Shooting a moving human being bent on destroying you with a semi-automatic pistol or rifle is quite another. 

That shooter will probably be wearing some type of bulletproof Kevlar body armor. Should teachers then be trained with armor piercing ammunition?

These are just some points, and I'm quite sure there are many others. This decision demands thoughtful, intelligent debate with heavy involvement by our local law enforcement community.

(MaineWriter ~ Meanwhile ~ safe schools are gun free zones !)

Bob Stone,  Loveland ~ Colorado