I arrive late to a packed board meeting of the Arid School District in your community and have to join others pressed against the wall and already listening to speakers address the five popularly-elected trustees of the school board who sit behind a long desk on the dais. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cGuns are inherently offensive, not defensive,\u201d says a citizen. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe can\u2019t have teachers running around with guns,\u201d says another.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s outrageous that the most important school board meeting in history is held at two p.m. when parents, students, and teachers can\u2019t attend,\u201d a man says. \u201cI urge you to postpone this vote.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe best weapons you can use to prevent a school attack is eyes and eyes,\u201d adds a woman.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLet\u2019s remember the slaughter at Columbine High School,\u201d says a passionate man. \u201cPolice didn\u2019t get there for more than half an hour. At Virginia Tech it took eleven minutes for help to arrive, and they didn\u2019t stop the guy, he took himself out. Same at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Our high schools only have one police officer each, and if there\u2019s trouble at another school they all have to rush there, leaving their schools without armed security.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe continues to talk beyond the three-minute limit enforced when anti-gun advocates spoke, and they and their supporters shout, \u201cTime, time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tA lady next says, \u201cI\u2019ve been a teacher almost thirty years and have never felt afraid until this gun issue was brought up.\u201d <\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis whole thing is dangerous,\u201d says a male teacher. \u201cOne of my colleagues stepped outside the classroom to make a phone call, and her students thought it would be funny to lock her out. They couldn\u2019t open the door without her keys, which she keeps in her purse. If she had a concealed weapons permit, that\u2019s where her gun would\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tTwo more school gun advocates hail the merits of academic armament, one praising Donald Trump as well as a board member celebrated by some as a saint of martial preparedness. They go on a little long, prompting the protest, \u201cTime, time.\u201d <\/p>\n
\t\u201cIf it\u2019s true that this improves security, then why isn\u2019t every teacher mandated to carry a concealed weapon in the classroom?\u201d asks a teacher. <\/p>\n
\tNo one responds to her inquiry.<\/p>\n
\tA lady walks forward and says, \u201cWe need more training and clear rules and a framework like they have in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou\u2019re rushing this through, without examining the details, so the martial saint can vote before he leaves the school board,\u201d says a man. \u201cThis isn\u2019t in the interest of the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe forty thousand students in this district will walk into classrooms not knowing if teachers are armed,\u201d says a citizen.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cTen years ago the school board was trying to ban The Bluest Eye, by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and now they want to okay guns on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tCitizen speaking ends with this, \u201cAsk parents and students. I believe you want to do the right thing, but please ask those you say you want to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tNow the five august trustees prepare to speak.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI believe this is a step toward making our campuses safer,\u201d says the first. \u201cI\u2019ve heard input from both sides. This policy will deter those who want to shoot people in classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tNumber two says, \u201cMy vote is \u2018No\u2019 but I fear this might pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe all value student safety, but we radically disagree how to pursue that,\u201d says the third. \u201cIf I as a trustee didn\u2019t know about this meeting today, how many of our thousands of parents didn\u2019t know? We need to examine liability issues. We don\u2019t know what can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThis is like a tight baseball game. Guns trail one to two but the mighty martial saint is now at bat, proclaiming, \u201cI provide the best foil for the media since I\u2019m the picture of the Republican, right-wing, bible-carrying nut job. My father was a police officer who died in the line of duty. I just want to vote my conscience \u2013 yes. I’m not worried about my legacy. I\u2019ll sleep like a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIt\u2019s the bottom of the ninth, game tied at two, and the fifth trustee digs in at the plate. \u201cThis is the most discussed and transparent issue we\u2019ve dealt with since I\u2019ve been on the board. We need to send a message that criminals won\u2019t be entering a gun-free zone. The intelligent thing to do is give teachers the means of defending the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe three gun proponents stand, reach into their jackets, retrieve pistols, and fire victory shots into the ceiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I arrive late to a packed board meeting of the Arid School District in your community and have to join others pressed against the wall and already listening to speakers address the five popularly-elected trustees of the school board who sit behind a long desk on the dais. \u201cGuns are inherently offensive, not defensive,\u201d says…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,26,195,513,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n