Arming teachers is a bad idea for a multitude of reasons, even if there were few who had guns, were highly trained, and were close enough to the attacker, the statistics of armed and trained individuals actually hitting the target are not good. The chances of that armed and trained teacher hitting someone may also be unacceptable and create chaos.
From the article linked:
New York City police statistics show that simply hitting a target, let alone hitting it in a specific spot, is a difficult challenge. In 2006, in cases where police officers intentionally fired a gun at a person, they discharged 364 bullets and hit their target 103 times, for a hit rate of 28.3 percent, according to the department’s Firearms Discharge Report. The police shot and killed 13 people last year.
In 2005, officers fired 472 times in the same circumstances, hitting their mark 82 times, for a 17.4 percent hit rate. They shot and killed nine people that year.
In all shootings — including those against people, animals and in suicides and other situations — New York City officers achieved a 34 percent accuracy rate (182 out of 540), and a 43 percent accuracy rate when the target ranged from zero to six feet away. Nearly half the shots they fired last year were within that distance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/weekinreview/09baker.html
These are trained professionals, trained for these situations as a primary function of their occupation. They are hitting consistently less than 1/3 of their targets and less than half at close range. Arming teachers is treating the last possible symptom of the problem, not addressing the actual problem. It's taking a cough drop for pneumonia.
From the article linked:
New York City police statistics show that simply hitting a target, let alone hitting it in a specific spot, is a difficult challenge. In 2006, in cases where police officers intentionally fired a gun at a person, they discharged 364 bullets and hit their target 103 times, for a hit rate of 28.3 percent, according to the department’s Firearms Discharge Report. The police shot and killed 13 people last year.
In 2005, officers fired 472 times in the same circumstances, hitting their mark 82 times, for a 17.4 percent hit rate. They shot and killed nine people that year.
In all shootings — including those against people, animals and in suicides and other situations — New York City officers achieved a 34 percent accuracy rate (182 out of 540), and a 43 percent accuracy rate when the target ranged from zero to six feet away. Nearly half the shots they fired last year were within that distance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/weekinreview/09baker.html
These are trained professionals, trained for these situations as a primary function of their occupation. They are hitting consistently less than 1/3 of their targets and less than half at close range. Arming teachers is treating the last possible symptom of the problem, not addressing the actual problem. It's taking a cough drop for pneumonia.
