Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Following Wayne LaPierre's performance art ("the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun") in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut I have noticed a resurgence in commentary and letters to the editor citing that great American thinker, Archie Bunker, from the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. Here is an example from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bunker mentality:
In light of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy, there have been letters advocating the arming of school personnel.
How
many teachers would agree that this should be part of their work
responsibilities? Of those who agree, how much more will these folks
want to be paid to become "more valuable" employees with additional
training and combat readiness? Armed guards/security personnel? How does
that add value to the mission of education? School systems are already
cash-strapped.
Once school personnel are "packing," what
safeguards will ensure that one of them doesn't "flip out" and use
authorized weapons to begin his or her own rampage?
Most
important: Should our schools become armed camps? Friends, we already
are the laughingstock of the world. Americans are perceived as being
gun-crazed cowboys, ready to flip the violence switch at a moment's
notice.
Introducing guns in schools is a reasonable strategy? This
reminds me of an episode of the 1970s sitcom "All in The Family" with
Archie Bunker as the protagonist. In the early '70s, when airline
security was not what it is today, there were a lot of airplane
hijackings. Archie's solution: arm every passenger as they get on the
plane! That way a guy would have to be crazy to attempt a hijacking.
Archie's
logic, both funny and sad, is not far from proposals to arm school
personnel. More sad than funny because there are those among us who
believe that weapons in schools is a reasonable response.