On Friday, the governor of South Dakota, Dennis Daugaard signed house bill number 1087 into law requiring that the school board either provide security for schools throughout the state or arm employees of the school system with guns.
What. The. Heck. Is. Wrong. With South Dakota legislators?
An article by Sara Gates for the Huffington Post talks a bit more about the subject.
"Teachers are now allowed to bring guns into the classroom in South Dakota." states the article.
Just pause for a few seconds and think about it, process it and try to reason that sentence: "Teachers... bring guns...[to] classroom."
Two things should come to anyone's mind.
1) Is it for educational purposes? Are the students going to learn how guns work, how to clean them, or how to fire them?
2) Are you out of your mind? Kids with a murder weapon in each class they attend?
One thing is for sure, homework will never be handed in late ever again in South Dakota.
The apparent reasoning behind this bill is to make school safer for everyone as representative Betty Olson (R-Prairie City) states that she "believes arming school personnel could have mitigated the Newtown massacre."
While it may be true that the best defence is a good offence, as we've all come to know fighting fire with fire is not the way to resolve any issue.
How would having armed employees present change the outcome of the Newtown massacre? Would the shooter not be able to shoot his gun because other people have guns? I believe that if anything, a person that has already made up their mind to go perform such an atrocious act is not going to care about who does or does not have a gun nearby. He will either still achieve his task or target the armed employee first then continue with his task. Congratulations, one more innocent life ended, all for ill equipping an individual with a weapon.
In order for any such bill to truly have any benefit, employees will have to have working guns with them at all times. With already restricted school budgets, who is going to pay for the guns, their maintenance or the required training for their effective use?
Even if in an ideal situation the money is found, all the selected employees are well trained and reliable guns are issued, how are the weapons going to be controlled within the school? It would be far more accessible for a student to take his teacher's weapon from his holder, run with it and have enough time to shoot the kid that has been bullying him just before the teacher is able to retrieve the weapon.
Is the gun going to be locked in special safes in each classroom? That would defeat the purpose of having guns in school in the first place. While the person with the key to the safe is found and he retrieves the weapon, the shooter would have committed murder multiple times already.
While I do understand that the people of South Dakota are still emotionally affected by the event that happened in Newtown, I believe that they should not let bias govern their legislation. I also hope that other states open their eyes and stop trying to pass a similar bill like Kansas is attempting to do.
Weapons and kids don't mix.
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