I thought the Republicans considered all teachers incompetent and greedy and union thugish. Aren't they a little worried about arming them?

And here in the land of no-taxes-ever-for-anything, how exactly will this be paid for? Does Governor Of-course-I-never-spent-time-in-the-military-HELLO-my-daddy's-rich! understand that the training is not a one time thing? Is someone telling him that the training necessary to respond effectively in an urban tactical situation is months long and must be repeated/renewed monthly(at a minimum)? Has anyone thought about the insurance implications of having a firearm in reach of 12 to 40 inquisitive little minds? Am I the only one who sees nothing but problems with this approach?

I hate to interject anything resembling reality into this discourse, but if someone is going on a suicide mission, how is the idea of ending up dead supposed to dissuade him?

I have a feeling this is but a small introduction to the kind of crazy we're gonna see from Nashville in the coming legislative sessions. I'm going to start lying about where I'm from, that's my temporary solution.

"if someone is going on a suicide mission, how is the idea of ending up dead supposed to dissuade him?"

It won't but why let him kill numerous others?

Given the way I was in elementary/Junior/High school, armed teachers would probably not be a good idea. If they were then, I'm sure I'd have been shot.
Oh and I agree with CAFKIA.

Hey, I think it would be great if state and local government collaborated to fund an armed and trained school resource officer in every school, statewide.

But to suggest that a teacher assigned to a classroom of kids should pull double-duty is asinine on waaay too many levels.

Leave it to Nicely...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. — whose 2008 re-election campaign collected $9,900 from the NRA — partially blamed "violent video games and movies" rather than guns for Friday's massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school.

(link...)

I'm really sick of these cowards like Sen. Nicely. When are they going to introduce a bill allowing guns at their work in Legislative Plaza? It isn't fair that Ramsey and the TN GOP have a safe gun-free zone while they put our children and teachers at risk with insane ideas.

Thank you, Sandy!

Will there ever be a return to sanity in Tennessee's government? Is that too much to ask for?

A similar bill was just vetoed in Michigan because there was no opt-out provision for schools.

Tennessee was featured on national liberal talk radio this afternoon because of this. And a Tennessee preacher who said the Newtown murders were because of schools teaching evolution and homosexuality.

How low can we go? I'm afraid we're about to find out.

sometimes teachers shoot first

What a strange title. Sounds like someone you would go to for pencils and paper. Why aren't they called security officer?

I think they are called resource officers because one reason they are there is that they can be a resource for kids who might be on the edge with drugs or know some one in a gang. The idea is that if they are in the school, they will get to know the students and be a resource to them and the kids might reach out to them before the get in trouble.

Forgive me for posting this link on two concurrent threads (the other being Eric's post about Harwell's "good sense" proposals for the upcoming session), but...

In today's Times-Free Press, Tennessee House Speaker Harwell doesn’t favor arming classroom teachers.