The College Fix

In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre’s carnage, a variety of high-profile professionals across America – including a sheriff, attorney general, city councilman, county prosecutor and state lawmaker – are calling for teachers or other school employees to be armed in the classroom.

Recently at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., 26 people were shot and killed, including 20 young children, by a gun-wielding, mentally instable 20-year-old man. It was the latest in a long list of fatal school shootings that have occurred over the last 15 years.

Now, while some call for stricter gun-control, others say it’s time for teachers to pack heat.

Breitbart.com reports that a Tennessee proposal “would specifically allow the state to pay for training and arming some teachers, who would then secretly possess a firearm in the classroom. The plan was introduced by a Republican in the Republican-controlled state legislature and has received some support from the Tennessee governor, Bill Haslam (R).”

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel published an article stating that the Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. “called for placing armed tactical officers or security officers ‘in every school and public place in America,’ in a commentary piece posted on a tea party website.”

Clarke also condemns calls for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass killings in Newtown, Conn., and says, “We have to resist with the ferociousness of a junk yard dog any – any – attempt by liberals to make us less free by chipping away at our constitutional freedoms.”

He berates “liberals for exploiting tragedy once again in our country and try(ing) to use tragedy as a reason to take our rights away.”

Suggestions of gun control “are the mind-set of sheep,” Clarke says.

Over in Southern California, a city councilman said if teachers want, they should be able to arm themselves. The Orange County Register reports the local politician “did not call for arming all teachers but urged the district to allow those who own guns and are trained to use them to take their firearms to school in case they’re needed to ward off an attack. As an alternative, he suggested hiring armed security.”

Meanwhile, in Ohio, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters called for school districts to consider allowing teachers and staff members to carry guns on school grounds, as reported by WCPO.com.

Underscoring this raging debate across the country, there’s already some precedent established.

The Courier-Journal in Indiana reports “a state law that makes schools gun-free zones exempts anyone who has been employed or authorized by a school ‘to act as a security guard, perform or participate in a school function, or participate in any other activity authorized by a school.’ ”

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IMAGE: Mike J. Martelli/Flickr