Ammo for the Teacher
"A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms,
shall not be infringed."
being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms,
shall not be infringed."
"WELL REGULATED".
What part of that don't they get?
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Let's just get it out in the open: while requiring the teachers of our children to carry a weapon may be a hysterically funny thing to even visualize (no argument there) it is also an appallingly bad idea. If you had told me on the day I started this site that in less than twelve years I would be writing about such things, I probably would have felt your forehead. Show me a president that is taking seriously the idea of turning our nation's schools into armed camps and I'll show you a president who has lost his fucking mind. Of course I have known this unsettling fact about Donald Trump for over three decades. Many of you had to find out the hard way. Life can be funny that way, you know?
I've talked to several educators about this latest insanity making its way through our national political dialogue and almost all of them are defiantly opposed to this idea (One was trying not to think about it at all). One of them, a friend named Tarin Quattrini Hackbarth, put it this way:
"I couldn't imagine teaching English while wearing a gun holstered to my hip and a bullet proof vest under my 'professional' clothes. Plus, keep the attention of a room full of special education students that are high school age while getting them prepared to pass the state regents exam. That sounds exactly what I signed up for."
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I am reminded of my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Anabelle Peavey. When I had her in the 1963-64 school year, She seemed so elderly to me, although she probably wasn't much older than I am now - which is disturbing enough. She taught us to sew, a talent that has been quite useful to me down through the years. She also taught us little ones that sticks and stones might break our bones but words would never hurt us - advice that has proven handy to me over half a century later when I read the comments section on this blog. A couple of years ago, while attending the burial services of a friend at a cemetery not far from me, I happened upon her grave. As I stood in front of where her mortal remains rested silent and still in the earth below my feet, a lot of vivid memories came rushing back. Although she could be stern when infractions were committed (and I committed more than my share) Mrs. Peavey was, on the whole, a soft-spoken, cheerful and gentle influence on her little charges. I tell you these things for only one reason: I cannot - for the very life of me - imagine the old gal packing heat. I'm sorry, but the mind refuses to go there.
And let's not forget that not all teachers are sane by anyone's definition. I am convinced that my teacher in the eighth grade would have offed me had she had the means and opportunity. It might not take a mass shooting incident to cause the death of one mischievous kid. And it doesn't take a degree in sociology to conclude that a disproportionate percentage of kids killed in a fit of Teacher's rage would very likely be of the minority variety. No, arming Miss Crabtree is a perfectly nutty idea. Stymie is toast if that happens.
What could go wrong? Plenty.
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The AK 15 |
Forgive me for sounding like a broken record, but this is the way it's going to be from now on. It is the desire of our rulers to keep us in panic-stricken-fear of one another. They cannot hire an army of brown-shirt/enforcers to instill that fear - that would be too obvious. Just let the people do their brown-shirting for them. And what better way to do that than the easy accessibility of dangerous weapons capable of killing a room full of men, women and children in a matter of minutes - and do it quite efficiently, too!
I imagine that in less than five years, the bullet proof vest will be all-the-fashion rage. Won't that be something? Get used to this.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
SUGGESTED READING:
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by You-Know-Who
Not to change the topic, but today would have been the seventy-fifth birthday of George Harrison. Here is a little piece I wrote in tribute to this great and good man on November 29, 2011, the tenth anniversary of his passing:
https://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2011/11/within-george-without-george.html
Seventy-five years. My sweet Lord!