In Reply: Not So Sure About Arming Kindergarten Teachers

In reply to Move to arm teachers picks up steam in TN - The Tennessean - tennessean.com
---

I honestly don't know what to think on this one...

I'm an "evolving" liberal on concealed carry--as far back as Virginia Tech I was supporting CCW for current and former law enforcement and military students on college campuses, but I've got nagging--though non-specific--reservations about elementary and middle school teachers being armed.

What would be the legal liability for teachers and districts who had armed employees who failed to protect their students...or worse, accidentally shot one in the course of trying to protect them? Any law that allows responsible gun owners--and especially non-law enforcement civilians--to carry guns in schools has got to explicitly address that issue.

While I do lean toward concealed carry these days, I still worry that it will lead to more self-appointed "heroes" like George Zimmerman looking for trouble and injuring or killing people who wouldn't be shot but for the actions of an over-confident gun owner. While I'm all but certain such cases will be few relative to the number of gun owners out there (VERY few, probably), those few cases do still weigh on me... (I'm more of a "Castle Doctrine" guy, myself... By all means shoot anyone whose trying to get into your locked house against your wishes. But any scenario that involves you going after someone to initiate a confrontation or take aim at someone who is retreating, doesn't sit so well with me...)
---

Posted January 7 at 10:47pm