All these comments about a "cowardly" armed School Resource Officer shows why.... [View all]
... teachers shouldn't be armed and/or take down armed intruders.
What happens to an official police officer who does the same thing? Nothing. His (on edit, or her) Union protects him/her, and everyone says s/he was being smart or tactical, waiting for backup in a situation where s/he was outgunned. That's how similar situations are always presented in the press.
And that's reality. The very few times a teacher or school administrator has left the scene, gone out to their vehicle, acquired and used a firearm to control an angry, confused young shooter shows how the very common tactical retreat maneuver that can be used to assess the situation before applying firepower works better more times than not than to blindly charge into a firefight with non-combatants swarming around.
The amount of times a school resource officer has been injured or killed in such events shows how dangerous these live fire situations at schools are.
So, what happens if an armed teacher freezes, and kids are killed when "s/he could/should have stopped the armed intruder", or worse, s/he actually does act and a student is hurt or killed by the teacher's bullet in the crossfire?
That teacher's career is effectively ruined. No "waiting for backup" excuses. No "understandable accident under fire" excuses.
That teacher risks a 90% chance of being sued by grieving and angry parents justifiably looking for compensation, along with all sorts of outcry from the local media - and the Teacher's Union will not protect him or her when the school administration goes looking for a scapegoat to hang the casualties on.
No one cares about "tactics" or acceptable losses when a teacher is involved. The teacher's job, first and foremost, is about teaching, not policing.
Haele
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