I'd be interested in knowing something about her probable competence and her attitudes.
Competence. Does she have training beyond the basic course required of all permit holders. How often does she practice, and how.
Attitudes. Does she consider herself SuperWoman sworn to protect the children of Metropolis or the children's bodyguard, or is she a normal person who wants the means to defend her own life against superior force in an environment known to be both attractive to murderers and vulnerable to them.
A third issue has been on my mind for some time but I don't know how to categorize it. There seem to be disconnects in
society's attitudes towards teachers and
those attitudes puzzle me because they seem to make no sense.
Here's the dilemma I see:
- Society allows teachers to have concealed weapons permits and to carry the means of self defense on the streets. They're treated as competent adults outside the school.
- Society considers teachers to have special competence with children and to deserve special trust with them. They're treated as both competent and especially well qualified adults inside the school.
- So no one would be especially concerned if a group of children happened to encounter a teacher on the street or in an ice cream store after school even when the teacher is carrying a legally permitted concealed handgun.
- But society suspends all trust in teachers and withdraws all confidence in their competence when the teacher and the children are on school grounds if the teacher is carrying a handgun that is otherwise legally permitted.
The teacher is the same person, the legally permitted handgun is the same, and the children are the same: off school grounds the mix is okay. On school grounds, though, the same mix creates terror.
So I wonder if the problem is the nature of schools or, possibly, the introduction of school administrations and school boards that create dangerous conditions within the schools. In other words I wonder if problems in the schools might be related to the people who create and administer school policies and create them. If that's a valid connection, school problems are greater than those related to firearms and much more serious. And, if so, those are the problems that need solution and teachers should be
encouraged to have legally permitted firearms with which to defend their lives while inside institutions that are made dangerous by other people.
I've never been able to figure out why parents trust teachers with their children behind closed doors
except when the teachers are legally armed. There must be something in the nature of schools and school policies that could turn reasonable adults into homicidal maniacs or terminally careless bozos. I don't understand.
I'd like to know Shirley Katz's thoughts on that dilemma if there's time. I'd also like to hear her responses to Henry Bowman's questions. Perhaps if she's articulate and interested you might consider having her on more than once?