Should We Arm Our Teachers? – Why is This Happening #4

The news and social media outlets are ablaze with President Donald Trump’s newest proposal to mitigate the spate of school shootings the US has experienced. He proposes that teachers receive a bonus (I think the value would be $1,000US) to cover training to carry in the classroom. Some of those words are my paraphrase. There are many detractors and supporters on both sides, but the primary difficulty is that we keep using the wrong words and ideas to describe the issue.

I can’t speak for all gun owners or carriers. I can’t speak for all teachers. Technically, I am not a teacher even though I do hold a Masters in Education. That is because the sector is woefully underpaid for a craftsman of my experience to maintain a living being a teacher. I haven’t spent enough time in a classroom to be called a teacher, but that doesn’t mean I am ignorant of what they go through either.

My classroom time is limited to the year I spent substituting in my district after completing my education. Because of the favorable arrangement with my day job at the time, I was able to spend about 1 to 2 days every two weeks in a class, as well as a couple of weeks for some substitute jobs.

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Full Disclosure, at least some — Why is this Happening #3

Before I begin getting into my ideas about gun control, mass shootings, the alleged assault rifle question (and on and on and on), it is probably best to start with the why I think like I do, why I act like I do, which “side” am I on type of questions. Please feel free to refer back to this post when your Spock eyebrow goes up because of something I said. It will likely make better sense if you start here.

What is there about what I do or what I know that gives me any authority on the subjects of gun control or school shootings? That is a fair question and a good one, even if I asked it of myself. If you are going to listen to anyone on the debate, you should first find out what they know about the subject matter. Simply because you own a gun doesn’t make you an expert on gun control. Simply because you’ve survived a school or mass shooting doesn’t instantly make you an expert on gun control. Being an elected official doesn’t automatically make you an expert on gun control.

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For the Love of the Protest – Why is this Happening #2

I had planned to place this blog in a different order on a different day, but with the news that the Florida State Legislature voted against an assault weapon ban during the activism and protest of surviving Stoneman Douglas students, it is warranted.

First, before anyone gets started, I am not going to criticize the students for their protests nor their advocacy of gun control. Neither will I say that what they are doing is wrong or out of line just because they are young. They are Americans, first and foremost. They have endured a tragedy many of us will, hopefully, never endure. The apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to not let anyone “despise” Timothy’s youth. So, on the contrary, I applaud what they are doing.

It does not matter that they protest against guns or advocate for more gun control. If you or I have grown so cynical in this world that you cannot see the expression of freedom in their eyes and voices, then we might as well find a cave and become hermits. The act of protest is foundational in our nation and its Constitution. We are a nation born in protest and rebellion against a government that sought our subjugation instead of seeing us as equal citizens. Many young men and young women have shed blood over this very fact from 1776 until today. Remember that.

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