The stupidity of arming teachers.
I come from a large family with lots of cousins and in-laws who are in law enforcement, both currently and retired, and/or members of the military both active duty and retired. We have had these discussions many times, and no one I know who has been a trained law enforcement officer or member of the military with firearm training, thinks arming school teachers is a good idea. FTR, my husband and I are both former active duty military, and my husband is former law enforcement as well.
The big difference I notice is that my family members, cousins, friends, etc who are law enforcement, current or past, consider themselves always on duty, even in a social setting, because they are always carrying. Because of their law enforcement training, even in a social setting they are always watching what is going on in their surroundings; what people are doing, what looks suspicious, what seems out of the ordinary, etc. They can't help themselves, and they can't stop even if they tried to force themselves. They do this when we go to the movies, to amusement parks, the beach, the store, a sporting event, everywhere. What once was part of their training, becomes a way of life, on duty or off.
You can't replicate this sixth sense by taking a teacher and sending him or her out to the gun range to qualify, and then put them back in a classroom, performing their normal duties, as the first line of defense. Members of law enforcement perform their regular duties under a sense of "controlled" chaos, that few members of other occupations can identify with. Every traffic stop, every suspicious observation, alerts the senses to be ready for anything and creates an adrenoline rush, as part of that controlled chaos. Now imagine a teacher with a classroom full of kids, who probably has kids of their own, at home. She's teaching her Math class, and they hear what sounds like gunshots in the hallway outside. If it happened this week, I assure you every child in that classroom will start screaming and crying and her first thought would be to try and get them calmed down while reminding herself to try and not panic. That "controlled" chaos that she never learned, gone. She'd be lucky if she could remember where she left her gun, and what to do next. Is there a closet to hide in? Can she fit all her students in that closet? Should she lock the classroom door? Can she lock the classroom door? Should they make a run for it? As I said before, I don't know anyone who thinks armed teachers is d a good idea. If you're going to arm anyone, than hire trained law enforcement professionals and place them at the entrances so that the gunman hopefully, never breaches the perimeter.
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