Trump says armed teachers could stop school gun attacks

[Surferfish]

I agree MrsChubbs.

For us Brits who are lucky to live in a mainly unarmed society the thought of arming teachers sounds utterly crazy. But imagine that you live in a society in which guns are easily available to virtually anyone. Every criminal or bad person will likely be carrying a gun and will have no qualms about using it, so you can perhaps understand why many reasonable, law abiding people might feel the need to own one to even things up. If you're a burgler/rapist/murderer whose house are you most likely to break into? The one whose family owns a gun and may shoot you or the one whose family doesn't? I think perhaps that's the thought process for many ordinary Americans.

Even though all the data and statistics shows that owning a gun puts your family at a higher risk of being killed by a gun, psychologically owning a gun may well make many Americans FEEL safer. And when it comes to making decisions gut feelings often override evidence and logic.

And its then only a small logical step to think that arming teachers is a reasonable thing to do. (Which school is the nutjob more likely to attack, the one in which teachers are armed or unarmed?... )

Unfortunately I don't see things changing for the better any time soon. If Obama tried and failed, then there is no chance while Trump is president who will just do and say whatever he thinks will most please his core Republican voters.

[Amber]

It is rather telling that even while speaking of issues around mental illness, Trump brands people 'sickos' for carrying out mass shootings. Aside from the inherently bad logic there, it is worth remembering that many millions of people struggle daily with mental health issues; being mentally ill neither makes someone a 'sicko' nor a mass murderer.

[mm23292]

It is such a ridiculous suggestion on so many levels. In far too many high profile cases over the years, both here in the UK and in the US, the mental fragility of an armed perpetrator, was largely unknown until sadly too late. How would that change, and how or by whom would that information be relayed? And what about the teachers who are armed and trained in shoot to kill? How will their mental health be determined? I'm not sure leaving my child in the care of a gun wielding educator, would make me feel remotely more relaxed! Utterly bonkers.

[mystery]

Oh and now we find out that the school had an armed guard - as do many others? I still think Trump was taking the **** with this suggestion. Like a lot of politicians, he is looking at vote catching not changing the world for the better. And this latest of his greatest ideas will no doubt be a vote catcher.

Next on his list could be walls round schools with automatic firing devices.

[mike1880]

Here's something to illustrate the convolutions of American thinking on this issue. Confused? You will be:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... rs/553961/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And from the same site, a seemingly obvious first step:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ns/553937/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What are the chances?

[cariad]

Americans will die coveting their guns because it's in their blood. It's how they conquered the territory, after all. I know a little about this issue for family reasons I do not care to explain just now. Americans are not like Europeans and especially not like Brits. They just aren't. They see their identity as intertwined with their weapons. It's a sickness - IMHO.

Without wanting to kick off a heated row, I feel I must challenge this: "It's in their blood?" What does that mean? Unless I'm misinterpreting this, you're saying that Americans are less like Brits than other Europeans? How so? And how can anyone claim to be this familiar with the psyche of a billion people (population of America + Europe)?

Perhaps Americans you know "see their identity as intertwined with their weapons" but I do not believe this is at all representative of the feelings of most Americans. I would bet that an equal or far greater number of Americans see their opposition to gun ownership as an important facet of their identity.

I do agree with you that there are some Americans who feel exactly as you describe, and that their cultish devotion to guns is very much an illness.