There is a great debate happening in Oregon.  This teacher is going to court to get permission to take her gun to school.  The district has a policy that no guns are allowed in the schools.  She has a concealed weapons permit and has been through all the training.  She knows the risks and concerns.  The reason that she wants to carry a gun with her into her public school classroom is because of her ex-husband who abused her and has threatened to kill her.  She feels that this is the only way that she has to protect herself and her daughter.  She has a restraining order against him, but they don’t always work.  After I read the opionion by her, I was convinced.  She should be able to take her gun into her classroom.  Then I read the against column.  Then I wasn’t quite so sure.  The writer gives a list of “what ifs”, such as: What if ex comes into the classroom, does teacher pull a gun?  Does ex pull a gun?  Does ex grab a student?  Are shots fired?  Are kids trained on what to do if something happened?  etc, etc.   I wouldn’t want one of the scenarios listed to happen in T’s classroom.  That would be HORRIBLE.  But, does not having guns in any classrooms prevent all the possible scenarios?  Does it invite criminals in because they know that no one would be there to stop them?  I then read the for column.  It made several good points too like that in cases where there have been school shootings, if a teacher or administrator had a gun and used it, the predator was stopped sooner than they would have been otherwise.  It points out that the district’s anti-gun policy goes against the state and federal constitution.  

What do you think?  I’m not sure where I stand, and it will be interesting to watch it all play out.   I wish that we didn’t have to think about these things. I wish that these weren’t the problems that our kids are facing, that we are facing. 

ADDITION:

For some reason, my links aren’t taking you to the actual opinion piece.  If you want to see them, they are from the Sunday September 16 paper and are called “A LOADED QUESTION”, “BLACKBOARDS AND BULLETS”, and “ARMED TEACHERS? THINK ABOUT THE SCENARIOS.”