Letter: Maybe we should arm children

Wayne LaPierre, speaking for the NRA, has called for a gun-bearing policeman in every school. He is on to a great idea, but he set his sights too low. Why not just contract with the NRA to teach all our school children how to shoot?

Imagine! Schools with literally hundreds of armed defenders, each quickly schooled through NRA-preferred video games in the art of quickly brandishing your weapon and firing at bad people. Sound ridiculous? Not really.

These same students are out on weekends bringing down wild beasts and during the week they are honing their skills on “Call of Duty” or “Halo 3” video games. Know what? Sexual predators would soon disappear, and poorly performing teachers? Well. ...

Gary Lee

insurance executive

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by DMJ - 30/12/2012

It's funny how any solution to gun violence the NRA offers includes more guns, eh?

2) Comment by Chucky - 28/12/2012

Spudaroonski - more guns in the correct hands will help, are you one to own up and protect ? Or one to be protected ? goes for everyone ,

3) Comment by InPVille - 28/12/2012

@HerbF: Drat It!!! Thanks for the correction.

4) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

Noel , thank you for your opinion .

5) Comment by Spudaroonski - 28/12/2012

Every citizen should be able to own as many guns as they like. Of course the guns have to be single shot muzzle load muskets. You know, like the founding fathers intended. This way we wouldn't have to hear the whining from the worshippers of the 2nd amendment. The only part of the constitution they care about and they couldn't cry about their precious rights being infringed upon. What a ridiculous argument they offer to curb gun violence. More guns will cut down on gun violence. Brilliant.

6) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

And nimby, I'm the last one to avoid answering a serious question. Nonsensical ones don't deserve answers.

7) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

Noel , had an intruder enter my home one night . it was a kid from down the street I watched grow up . talked him out of a situation and sent him home . he's now in Angola for armed robbery and murder . if I'd reacted differently could I have changed the future ? we'll never know ....

8) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

OK @nimby, I'll play your game, for a second. I'd give the punk the money. Now answer me, what in the heck does this have to do with anything?

9) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

usual response , avoid answering the question . facts : we cannot identify the bad guys , young Mr. Lanza had no record . the police cannot get the bad guys off the streets , and cannot keep them off due to a failed judicial system . to avoid , ignore is not an answer . I'm not trying to be a smart a** , I'd just like your honest opinion .

10) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

@nimby, I was reminded by a friend that while in the military I did, in fact, face three guys with automatic pistols pointed at my head while on a mountain outside of Bogota, Columbia. I was not armed. Had I been, I would not be alive today. I did, in fact, talk my way out of it. But of course, that has nothing at all to do with the points I made in the postings below, as you should well know.

11) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

@nimby. What is with you guys? Are you all incapable of reading and comprehending? Context people... grow up!

12) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

Noel , your advice on what to do when confronted by a punk willing to take your life for 20 dollars . should I ask him for his thoughts ?

13) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

Attila, please try to read the posts before commenting on them. And I have never called for banning any weapon. Please read. Think. Comprehend, them comment. Thanks.

14) Comment by Attila - 28/12/2012

@BigMIke: Perhaps Noel meant that one of the alternatives to meeting force with force is to just turn tail and run...that may work...but then you take a chance on getting shot in the back.

15) Comment by Attila - 28/12/2012

So Noel, what you are saying is that we should ban a certain weapon because in 2009=10 there were 25 murders of school children in school? If that is true then the odds of getting hit multiple times by lightning is greater than a child being murdered at school...and for that reason some people want to ban so called assault weapons? Seems like (pardon the pun) a case of overkill to me.

16) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

when the intent is taking as many lives as possible then committing suicide there is no rationale , no reasoning ...

17) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

@BigMike: the result of your "When faced with force, the ONLY acceptable response is EQUAL OR GREATER force" is absolute annihilation and death for millions. Have you not any other response to force? We are supposed to be capable of thinking. Please go read the Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. You might learn something.

18) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 28/12/2012

@BigMike: I said in my post that schools are the safest places for school-age children. You are asking a question based not on logic or debating, but on emotions. As was pointed out by another, using my data from the Department of Justice. In 2009- 2010, there were 25 murders of school age children, and 52,000,000 millions students in school. Pretty good odds, wouldn't you say? As I have pointed out time and time again, we should not have knee-jerk OR tear-jerk reactions, but a reasoned, logical approach to these issues.I like the response of one of the parents of a child killed in this tragedy. He said he prayed for the family of the shooter. This is a man I would like to meet. We all need to stand back and actually think, not just "feel" about this issue. As for the debate, yes, the facts are on my side.

19) Comment by HerbF - 28/12/2012

InPVille: The video was shot on Dec 15. It is inaccurate. The assault weapon and two handguns were in the school and, with the exception of the shooter, all deaths were by the assault weapon.

20) Comment by InPVille - 28/12/2012

With all the talk about taking action against assault weapons, it now turns out the "assault weapon" was left in the car by the Newtown shooter. Four handguns were used. http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50208495#50208495

21) Comment by nimby? - 28/12/2012

strict gun laws did not prevent this , but a mother could have .

22) Comment by Chucky - 28/12/2012

Over the years I get the impression that most posters are good people some takers and some users but not killers so I would not mind for a second any one of you with a gun in a crowed. I think I would be safer, most of you can ID the bad person from the innocent .

23) Comment by HerbF - 28/12/2012

I think the time has come for some form of gun control. Assault weapons and large magazines would be a logical place to start. I have guns, grew up with guns, and have been against gun control my whole life. And, I don't like "ma ma laws", such as seat belts or mandatory helmets for motorcycles. But, for my opinion, and for my one vote, it's time.

24) Comment by BigMike - 28/12/2012

Noel- Are you telling me that you could win a debate about school safety with a parent who lost a child at a school shooting?? Nothing you could say would convince that parent of anything other than the fact that their child is dead. Now, would you be prepared to make that same argument if YOUR child was killed? When faced with force, the ONLY acceptable response is EQUAL OR GREATER force!

25) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 27/12/2012

I never argued for any rights to be taken away. In fact. 'Y assertions (backed up with lots of data, could support a variety of viewpoints. I argue against knee-jerk reactions!

26) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 27/12/2012

@attila: I haven't "convinced" myself of anything, but if you are capable of reading the reports I cited and the DOJ report in the link you will see that schools ARE the safest places for school age children. As for as your notion that I have undermined any arguments concerning gun rights, sir, you must have imagined this, since I did no such thing. Try to read for understanding.

27) Comment by Whatnow - 27/12/2012

Proposal on gun control just in. ( http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons )

28) Comment by phil - 27/12/2012

maybe_sparrow.: I think the writer has used sarcasm to make a point. I think I get the point.

29) Comment by phil - 27/12/2012

Arming kids is not a reasonable idea. However, arming teachers in schools might not be a bad idea. Not that I really like the idea, but there are so many guns in the population now, it will be almost impossible to get all of those guns out of the hands of criminals and idiots. There could be one 12 gauge shot gun with buck shot located in a secure place inside each school, and have some teachers who will volunteer to take a gun safety course and to use a gun if needed. I think just the idea of having to possibly face a shotgun would make some idiots think twice about doing something to school kids.

30) Comment by maybe_sparrow - 27/12/2012

Can anyone tell whether this letter is intended as satire? Sometimes it's difficult to figure out with this paper.

31) Comment by Old Man Kensey - 27/12/2012

Why is it so hard for some to compregend the difference between'taken ma guns away' and regulation of guns. They are not the same thing.

32) Comment by Whatnow - 27/12/2012

Someone needs to tell the criminals that assault weapons aren't allowed when they take them away from the good guys.

33) Comment by Whatnow - 27/12/2012

Attila, bingo. Thanks!

34) Comment by Attila - 27/12/2012

Mr. Hammatt, since you have convinced yourself that schools are the safest place for kids to be you have, inf effect, destroyed your own reasons for supporting that my constitutional rights be infringed upon. Since schools are so safe we really have no reason to attempt to ban weapons that the wimps of the world see as a threat. Are you people so paranoid that you would take a persons liberty in exchange for a proposition that has no guarantee of stopping the very crimes that you say are committed in numbers so small as to convince you that there is no need for armed security at schools? The truth of the matter is gun control advocates are not concerned with the control of guns as to the control of the people.....and as far as reporting the people that one feels are mentally unstable; the ACLU is licking their chops just waiting to jump on that.

35) Comment by teacherguy - 27/12/2012

@BigMike...defending the arming of children is lunacy (from an immature and idiotic teacher's view point)... to answer your question...no, I did not report the broken knuckles (usually about 2-3 similar incidents per year...they are not always "boys" as you assumed in your reply), not because of my lack of concern but because the students themselves take their broken bodies to the office and report what they did and why they did it. My point is, most students below the age of 21 years of age struggle to make wise choices in most facets of life....and considering that MOST school shootings can be attributed to on-site bullying...now the plan is to allow arms to be carried legally by students on campuses? Defending that is lunacy...

36) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 27/12/2012

@BigMike: I'm afraid they would lose the debate. When you include, as the data do, not only their time at school but also the trip to and from school and ALL school related activities, you still get less than 2% of all murders of school age children. Yet given all of those categories, they spend a fifth of their time yet less than 2% of the murders of school age children take place during that 20% of the time. Ask hospitals when their pediatric emergency room doctors are busiest. I can assure you it is NOT during school time. Now, do children fight and get hurt at school? Yes, they always have. Any teacher will tell you that kids in some of the roughest schools fight at school, knowing they will be suspended or expelled, and will tell the teachers, in a moment of honesty, why they fight at school! (Hint, they are less likely to face a gun, knife, or death at school fighting than they would on the street.) When I talk about schools being the safest places for school age students, I am talking about the subject at hand. The murder rates of children. See my comments on yesterday's letter to the editor about armed guards at school. http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/4732558-123/letters- armed-guards-needed-at.

37) Comment by BigMike - 27/12/2012

@InPVille: As always, your intelligence & logic are a breath of fresh air. But, as I'm sure you noticed, very little attention is being given to the mental health aspect of this situation. Notice that our "leaders" haven't appointed a "blue ribbon panel" to examine the mental health aspect. I would say that way more than 50% of these types of incidents involve mental deficiencies. Lets face it, anyone capable of doing something like this is a half a bubble off.

38) Comment by InPVille - 27/12/2012

@BigMike: I've can't think of a case where a child being placed in foster care because the child was the victim of neglect or physical abuse at the hands of teachers while at school. Perhaps from the students. At any case, I'd have to believe it would be far rarer than such incidents at home. When you take that into consideration, Mr. Hammatt probably has a point. Mental Health issues have been cited as being involved in roughly 50% of most multiple victim shootings.

39) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 27/12/2012

phil, arming a teacher would not have prevented the shooting. this "idiot" was on a suicide mission. knowing a teacher was armed would have changed nothing. I believe Noel already stated that there was an armed guard at Columbine...

40) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 27/12/2012

"Someone needs to tell the criminals that assault weapons aren't allowed when they take them away from the good guys." Maybe we should have better regulations so we will know how the criminals acquired those assault weapons from " the good guys". All guns were once legal, so how id they magically become illegal? Figuring this out may go a long way in keeping the guns out of the criminals' hands. Of course all you hear is "i wanna take your guns" which isn't the case...

41) Comment by BigMike - 27/12/2012

So schools are the safest places, huh? Well, friend, I know some that would debate that with you (and win). Teacherguy - So you had a student that broke his hand on a wall. Did you report that? Sounds like some misguided anger to me. Hope he doesn't have access to a weapon. Considering the maturity & idiocy of your comment, I'd bet you get the first one. Mr. Lee - Do you not trust a cop with a gun to protect innocent children? And if you don't, then why would you trust one to protect you? Why is there no uproar about the armed men who guard the schools in DC? Why are government officials children more important than yours or mine? Just another example of the elitest mentality that our officials have.....

42) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 27/12/2012

Old Man Kensey: Considering the posters who continue to bleat about the guvment taking their guns away, are you really surprised that their comprehension skills are lacking? And Atilla, where in the constitution does it state that you can carry your gun anywhere you please? Or show me the provision stating that gun purchases can not be regulated... the fact that you would call others paranoid and wimps is hilarious...

43) Comment by Bighug - 27/12/2012

Why not also do away with the teachers and just let the kids teach themselves? Wayne LaPierre made a good suggestion. I suppose safe schools would make it more difficult to sell insurance to worried parents than to leave schools unguarded and unsafe.

44) Comment by Being_Stupid - 27/12/2012

Arming teachers with non-lethal weapons like tasers is a better idea than arming them with guns. However if the teacher is properly trained and has obtained a concealed weapons permit on their own initiative, then I would be okay with allowing them to carry a gun too.

45) Comment by Being_Stupid - 27/12/2012

Anyone over the age of 18 should be allowed to carry a gun on campus (especially college campuses like LSU) once they have obtained the proper training and concealed weapons permit and have a clean criminal record. All Teachers should be given Non-Lethal Tasers for further defense. Magnetic Locking Doors should be installed that can be locked and unlocked from inside of classrooms where possible.

46) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 26/12/2012

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/iscs11.pdf provides a bit of perspective for those who fail to recognize that schools are the safest places for school age children, in spite of tragedies such as Sandy Hook and Columbine. What we need to focus on as a community, a state, and a nation, is ensuring that we don't ignore mental health issues. We have cut mental health funding to the bones, and will miss many opportunities to stop some of these horrendous attacks.

47) Comment by teacherguy - 26/12/2012

What a practical idea? Considering the legal drinking age is 21...this idea shouldn't cause any unrealistic problems! I'd feel safer knowing that my students who are dumb enough to break their hand punching a brick wall are now armed...