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Arming teachers would be beyond madness

Arming teachers would be beyond madness

With regard to the PG's Jan. 13 The Next Page titled, "Grasping for Answers," Lawrence E. Likar, a retired FBI agent, states: "Police officers, who have consistent firearms training and are used to stressful situations, have a poor record for accuracy in armed encounters. That's because of the extreme stress of such encounters. To successfully handle such an encounter in a location with many frightened people would require exceptional skill and pre-incident awareness of the threat -- or a great deal of luck."

The National Rifle Association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, has a point about beefing up security in our schools. However, I draw the line about arming teachers, which is beyond madness. Over the years I've heard many stress-related stories from teachers about incorrigible kids, obstinate parents who claim their child could do no wrong and administrators not willing to stand up to these parents. But none of those situations could possibly compare to the stress level of confronting an armed lunatic intent on killing everyone in his path regardless of whether the teacher was armed.

Advocates of this mindset are no doubt the ones who are first in line belly-aching about how overpaid our teachers have become.

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LEE KLINGENBERG
Greensburg


First Published: January 29, 2013, 5:00 a.m.

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