Arkansas Advocate for Guns In Schools Accidentally Shoots a Teacher

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Republican Arkansas State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson is still pushing hard to arm teachers in the state’s schools, even after he accidentally shot a teacher during active shooter training.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Benton, is interested in exploring whether state law allows school districts to make decisions on school safety. If a legal avenue does not exist, he hopes the Legislature will change the law.

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hutchinson became interested in arming school personnel, he said. He was invited to attend an “active shooter” training and – using a rubber bullet-loaded pistol – he mistakenly shot a teacher who was confronting a “bad guy.”

The experience gave Hutchinson some pause, but he still supports giving schools the authority to decide how best to secure their campuses.

This kind of thing is exactly why the NRA’s idea of solving the problem of school shootings with more guns is not a good plan. What happens when teachers accidentally shoot students, or even worse what happens when there is a shooter in the building and teachers start shooting too?

There are two possible outcomes, and neither one is good. Outcome one is that since everyone including the potential shooter will know that teachers are armed, teachers will become even bigger targets. Outcome two is that school shootings could turn even bloodier as more students are killed or injured in the crossfire created by having more people with weapons on campus.

A school shooter will always have the advantage of the element of surprise over a teacher. Educators aren’t going to be standing around waiting for a potential shooter with guns loaded and drawn. Teachers are focused on their classroom, not potential shooters. Classrooms aren’t action movies, and the NRA’s fantasy that a gun conquers all could have deadly consequences.

Arming teachers is a really bad idea. If we must have armed security in our schools, the best option would be to hire former members of law enforcement or the military for these positions, but that would be more expensive than holding a few NRA sponsored and paid for training courses.

Staff members should not also be serving as security guards. Teachers are already overworked and underpaid. Putting the responsibility for school security in their hands is a terrible idea. School districts that try to provide security on the cheap could be setting themselves up for more bloodshed and even greater tragedy.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association