Another school shooting today, this time in Wisconsin. A freshman student brought two guns to school today, walked in and shot his principal. A custodian had just taken a shotgun from the boy when he pulled out a handgun and shot the principal. The student was apprehended and taken into custody. The principal is in critical condition. No students were injured, but many witnessed the aftermath of this horrific shooting.
Again, this topic of school safety has brought up the conversation with my teacher friends as to just what can be done to keep schools safe. Now, I don’t begin to even think of myself as an expert on guns, but I don’t have any, I don’t like them and I most likely won’t let my kids play at a house that I know has guns in them.
Knowing my stance on guns, you should know that I personally do believe that people do kill people; that is true. However, guns are one of the ways that people choose to injure, hurt or kill someone. It just makes me wonder if any of this senseless school violence could have been avoided if we had even better gun control laws.
I am not sure where this freshman student got his hands on a gun, but what if it was in his own house, even if it was locked away? Kids are smart; they know how to get things they aren’t supposed to. What if the gun was right there in his house? What if he got the gun from someone else, an adult who has no conscience and lets a 14-year old purchase a gun? What can we do about that?
How did a homeless man get access to a gun and take a life at a school just two days ago? Was it stolen? Was he somehow able to actually purchase one years ago? I don’t know either. All I know is that if these people were not able to get a hold of a gun so easily, perhaps we would have had two less cases of school violence.
As a teacher and as someone just plain frightened for the safety of our schools in this day and age, I ask of you all: Do you think better gun control could help make schools more safe? Do you think guns are too easily dropped into the hands of young people or anyone for that matter? I guess it just makes me wonder if guns weren’t so easily available to the two people I mention in this blog, perhaps I wouldn’t be writing anything in the education topic that has to do with bloodshed.
My question to you again is, can schools become a safer place if we had stricter gun control laws?
Related Links:
Principal Shot in Rural Wisconsin
Will Our Schools Ever Be Safe Again?