http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/11/earlyshow/contributors/tracysmith/main572727.shtml
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(CBS) Utah recently passed a law allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons at schools. Backers say it could make schools safer, but opponents say they couldn't be more wrong. CBS News Correspondent Tracy Smith reports.
The image of the Columbine High School massacre is still lingers in our consciousness: A school under attacked by murderous student gunmen. But in some communities, a scenario like Columbine could have a very different ending.
Natalie Aposhian is a teacher. But if armed intruders threaten her class, there's a good chance that they'll fail.
Aposhian says, “If it came to protecting myself and protecting my kids, it would stop in my classroom. It wouldn’t be going from class to class to class and randomly shooting children.â€
Sue Dickey, another teacher, asks then: “What would the mode be, everybody?â€
Dickey shares Aposhian’s concerns about classroom safety, but she says that more guns on campus won't necessarily add up to more security.
“Before, I never worried about a gun in school - even a colleague with a gun - but now with the likelihood of guns being here, there could be more accidents. There's more opportunity for accidents to happen. So no, I don't feel safer,†Dickey says.
Don't expect to see teachers cruising the halls with pistol belts: in Utah, guns must be carried concealed at all times. And to Aposhian, that's really the point.
Aposhian says, “It's called concealed for a reason. So whether I have it or not, that's up to what you think. I'm not going to tell you.â€
Supporters of this law say it's a deterrent because a kid might not want to bring a gun to school if he thinks the teachers are packing.
But Dickey notes, “There would be kids who want to get in a shootout. There are police-assisted suicides, why not teacher-assisted suicides?â€
In some teachers' minds, the real question is not about carrying a gun; it's about being ready to use it.
Dickey says, “I would like to defend my students, but I could not bring myself to shoot another perso,n especially a student.†Even if that person was threatening her students? “I don't think I could. I really don't think I could,†she says.
Face with the same situation, Aposhia says, “I think it would be really hard. You probably would have that personal connection with that child; you also have a personal connection with the other kids who are in that classroom as well. I think if push came to shove, if you have to protect those other kids, you probably would. As hard as that might be, you probably would.â€
Dickey notes, “I understand some people are concerned about their safety and the safety of their students. But I'm in the field of teaching children to solve problems, and I don't want to solve problems with a gun.â€
The Utah Supreme Court recently upheld a ban on guns at universities, so gun-control advocates are hoping they can use that ruling to overturn this law.
© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
------------------------------------
(CBS) Utah recently passed a law allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons at schools. Backers say it could make schools safer, but opponents say they couldn't be more wrong. CBS News Correspondent Tracy Smith reports.
The image of the Columbine High School massacre is still lingers in our consciousness: A school under attacked by murderous student gunmen. But in some communities, a scenario like Columbine could have a very different ending.
Natalie Aposhian is a teacher. But if armed intruders threaten her class, there's a good chance that they'll fail.
Aposhian says, “If it came to protecting myself and protecting my kids, it would stop in my classroom. It wouldn’t be going from class to class to class and randomly shooting children.â€
Sue Dickey, another teacher, asks then: “What would the mode be, everybody?â€
Dickey shares Aposhian’s concerns about classroom safety, but she says that more guns on campus won't necessarily add up to more security.
“Before, I never worried about a gun in school - even a colleague with a gun - but now with the likelihood of guns being here, there could be more accidents. There's more opportunity for accidents to happen. So no, I don't feel safer,†Dickey says.
Don't expect to see teachers cruising the halls with pistol belts: in Utah, guns must be carried concealed at all times. And to Aposhian, that's really the point.
Aposhian says, “It's called concealed for a reason. So whether I have it or not, that's up to what you think. I'm not going to tell you.â€
Supporters of this law say it's a deterrent because a kid might not want to bring a gun to school if he thinks the teachers are packing.
But Dickey notes, “There would be kids who want to get in a shootout. There are police-assisted suicides, why not teacher-assisted suicides?â€
In some teachers' minds, the real question is not about carrying a gun; it's about being ready to use it.
Dickey says, “I would like to defend my students, but I could not bring myself to shoot another perso,n especially a student.†Even if that person was threatening her students? “I don't think I could. I really don't think I could,†she says.
Face with the same situation, Aposhia says, “I think it would be really hard. You probably would have that personal connection with that child; you also have a personal connection with the other kids who are in that classroom as well. I think if push came to shove, if you have to protect those other kids, you probably would. As hard as that might be, you probably would.â€
Dickey notes, “I understand some people are concerned about their safety and the safety of their students. But I'm in the field of teaching children to solve problems, and I don't want to solve problems with a gun.â€
The Utah Supreme Court recently upheld a ban on guns at universities, so gun-control advocates are hoping they can use that ruling to overturn this law.
© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.