Teacher accidentally brings loaded gun to school (*cough* IDIOT *cough*)

[seeker_two]

Two teachers looked inside the bag, saw the gun and took it to the principal's office.

And when will the two teachers be charged w/ attempted theft?

"He had no bad intentions with it, there was no hidden agenda. He made a mistake," Gally said Monday, describing Sarkis as well respected in the community.
But Lee noted yesterday his primary interest was the safety of students and staff and it would defy reason and logic not to consistently enforce district policies.

Goes to show you---Zero Tolerance = Zero Rights + Zero Brains. And, if Zero Tolerance is so good, why DO we need high-dollar administrators anyway? With the absence of fair judgement for each case, a monkey & two teacher's aids would be enough to manage a school...:banghead:

 

[JohnRov]

This case was tossed out by the judge earlier today.

Added link to story:
http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/20030313shalerp5.asp

 

[tetchaje1]

Mastrogiacomo said:
I'm not suggesting that teachers don't have a right to bear arms, but keep them at home, not in your lunch box. I'm saying that I wouldn't want some John Silber elitist snob teaching my kids, much less bringing handguns into the schools.

By the same argument, why do you need a gun when you go to the bank, or to the ballet, or out to dinner with your kids? I think that teachers have every right as anyone else to carry a gun -- even moreso with the battlegrounds that some of our schools have become -- but that they should have a CC permit and always have the gun concealed on their person. A lot fewer people would have died at Columbine if one or more of the teachers were packing...

 

[KP95DAO]

Mastrogiacomo posted:
"What if another student had found it first and used it on another classmate."

What ever happened to that old fashioned idea of not messing with something that isn't yours? What if the teacher brought a steak knife and someone misused it? Oh yeah, I forgot, that would probably be classified a prohibited weapon also.

We should not be responsible for the criminal behavior of others.

 

[mrt]

us country hicks don't blink an eye when we see g-u-n-s...like most city slickers...
It used to be no big deal to bring a gun to school...heck my boss had a show and tell with his SG at school.

 

[hondo68]

Mastrogiacomo: What if another student had found it (pistol) first and used it on another classmate?

What if a student found a BOOK and used it on another classmate? Maybe we should ban books at school? Would you feel any better if this imaginary "evil student" beat his victim to death with a baseball bat or book?

"A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." - Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

 

[Al Norris]

JohnRov, I'm glad to see that the judge dismissed the charges. Now if the guy can get his job back!

Who is this Mastrogiacomo dude? Is he one of the resident liberals here? No offense meant if you aren't, it's just that your little tirade sure sounded way left!

These kinds of things just prove to me that common sense, isn't. If we were allowed to carry, some teachers would, others wouldn't. Kinda like society in real life!

A few of us grew up with guns literally laying around all over the house. We got our first rifles almost before we could walk. Kinda about the same time we got baseball mits - Ya just never knew when a ball game would start up...right in the middle of hunting rabbits sometimes!

And before someone says it, no. I grew up in Long Beach, Calif. It was a different world 40-50 years ago.

 

[Pward]

Two teachers looked inside the bag, saw the gun and took it to the principal's office.

Why were they going through someone's backback to begin with??

 

[tetchaje1]

Why were they going through someone's backback to begin with??

I was thinking the same thing myself.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be working in some place where I knew my coworkers were going to be rifling through my stuff...

 

[JohnRov]

According to the story, he left the bag on another teacher's desk and she opened it to see whose it was.

 

[Goet]

I'm in a school every day and carry 100% of the time. I would consider it negligent to NOT have one with me. What if something did happen and I wasn't prepared?

That being said, I went through someone's purse the other day. It had been sitting in the lounge for several hours unattended. I popped open the wallet inside and within a minute had it stuffed in that teacher's mail slot.



Had I seen a firearm inside the purse, I probably would have only silently compared it to the one in my pocket.


Course, I'm biased towards MY P32.

 

[Yohan]

I agree whole heartedly with Mastrogiacomo. What ever happend to the responsibility that comes with owning a gun? What if a student had stolen the gun? Before you bring up the "oh- students shouldn't go through the bag" argument- you have to realize that it happens, as is life. The teacher should have been punished for being stupid enough to leave a gun inside a duffel bag. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: (getting dizzy from the head banging)

 

[Goet]

I'm less of a '"oh- students shouldn't go through the bag" argument' and more of a "what has happened to our society that we need to fear kids and guns in the same room?"




So, do you think it would fly in school if I showed up to class open carrying my .45?

 

[Wayne D]

I didn’t see anything in the article to indicate that the gun was loaded or that there was any ammo in the backpack with it. And I am fairly sure that if the gun was loaded the media would have made a big deal out of the fact. The fact that they don’t mention it at all indicates that it was probably unloaded and no ammo was with it. And that just makes the whole thing seem that much more stupid.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

Christ almighty...why does everyone assume, this "dude" is a man? Sorry if my "liberal" point of view pisses people off, and you think teachers have a right to blow anyone away if they feel "threatened." Sorry if kids are kids and will look into other people's bags -- by the way books haven't killed anyone yet but a few Greek tragedies damn near killed me. The bottom line is no one has the right to bring a weapon into a school and sorry if that pisses you off too. Schools should be more wise to security and I don't care about their arguements about money -- they have it and just like the government, they like to lie about it but they have it. There's plenty of teachers I would have loved to blown away -- students included for the torment they put me through as a kid -- but my misery in school isn't an excuse for bringing a weapon in class. Teachers, many of whom aren't much brighter than people that post here, or those that pump gas, wait on tables, work at a gym, work at CVS, whatever -- are not some high and mighty few that should be allowed to bring whatever they want to class, whenever they feel like it. Students can't. What makes teachers so special? You want to bring a gun to work people? Open your own firing range. Incidently, in case you're wondering, no I don't bring a gun to the theatre: Tango, Ballet or even to Chinatown at night-- but then I guess this "dude" likes to live dangerously. After all, I'm a Bostonion.

 

[Climb14er]

Unfortunately, there's one word that describes

the teacher...and I feel bad for him.

MORON.

 

[cordex]

Mastrogiacomo,

Sorry if my "liberal" point of view pisses people off

Nothing to do with liberalism. Just statism.

and you think teachers have a right to blow anyone away if they feel "threatened."

Teachers have no greater right to "blow anyone away if they feel 'threatened'" than you or I do. No one has claimed otherwise. Strawman argument.

The bottom line is no one has the right to bring a weapon into a school and sorry if that pisses you off too.

So ... what is a weapon? Does a pocketknife count? How about sports equipment? I know quite a few deadly devices in shop class ... do they count? Or are you just concerned with firearms?

Schools should be more wise to security and I don't care about their arguements about money -- they have it and just like the government, they like to lie about it but they have it.

Sorry, but you are absolutely wrong. Maybe your school had plenty of money, but I know for a fact that my highschool did not (despite being in an upper-middle class area).

There's plenty of teachers I would have loved to blown away -- students included for the torment they put me through as a kid -- but my misery in school isn't an excuse for bringing a weapon in class.

And here is the true base of your fear.
You feel that you - or the great unwashed masses - would not have been, or are not currently capable of being responsible with a firearm in certain locations, thus and therefore there should be a law against it. You echo the cry of statists everywhere.
Bringing a weapon into a class (as a teacher or a student, though I'm rather certain this article referred to a teacher) is an absolutely morally neutral event. No one is harmed by it. How that weapon is used is a completely different manner.

Teachers, many of whom aren't much brighter than people that post here, or those that pump gas, wait on tables, work at a gym, work at CVS, whatever -- are not some high and mighty few that should be allowed to bring whatever they want to class, whenever they feel like it.

Er ... I was with you right up to the "high and mighty few" bit. The difference is I don't believe you have to be a part of a "high and mighty few" to be allowed to carry a firearm. But that's jut me.
By the way, what makes the cop who barely passed high school and can barely remember which end of his gun the bullet comes out of part of your "high and mighty few"?

You want to bring a gun to work people? Open your own firing range.

I'd love to open a firing range, but right now I work in technology. Flying bullets and server racks don't mix well (or rather, they mix too well). Still bring a couple guns to work. So does my boss, so I think it's okay.

Incidently, in case you're wondering, no I don't bring a gun to the theatre: Tango, Ballet or even to Chinatown at night-- but then I guess this "dude" likes to live dangerously.

That is your choice and I respect it.
Can you have the same respect for my choice?

 

[seeker_two]

Christ almighty...why does everyone assume, this "dude" is a man?

Gally said teacher ANTHONY SARKIS...

This would be my first clue...

 

[Quartus]

That, and the comment from JohnRov who said, "my fiancee works there and we know him". Details, details.

forgot it was there, and covered it with books before taking it to school.

Hmmmmmm. That doesn't sound like the other teacher found the gun when she "just opened" the bag. There was some rummaging going on. Probably looking for ID.

 

[tetchaje1]

The bottom line is no one has the right to bring a weapon into a school and sorry if that pisses you off too.

I have carried my gun to school every single day for 14 months now (since I got my permit) and I haven't blown anybody away -- even when I got a 28 out of 80 on one of my assignments.

Maybe the rest of us just have more self control than you think we do...

Perhaps more respect is needed on your part for me exercising my right of self-defense even when at school.

 

[Mastrogiacomo]

@tetch-

If you bring your guns to school, you obviously don't live in Massachusetts. I can't bring mine to school -- as a teacher -- because it's a weapon, just like poket knives, certain nail files, or anything else the school feels is dangerous. Although, I could say screw that and take it with me in my luch box BUT if I get caught... as a teacher -- there goes the job, and as a student -- time to find a new school. When I went to night school, I wasn't allowed to bring a gun without permission from the school. If you're from a state that doesn't require permission from anyone to carry a weapon, power to you, but I have to abide by the law if I'm going to keep my gun and permit.

If I had a job, I wouldn't be able to carry concealed without my employer's permission unless, there's nothing in the contact that says I can't. Yet, given that my permit doesn't allowed for concealed carry -- who cares? Lastly, if anyone thinks schools don't have money -- check what the president of a college makes -- or what school heads earn. No pathetic teacher pay there. By the way, I'm assuming this teacher is proud of himself for taking a gun to school? No one seems to think he did the wrong thing -- why not carry them in hospitals as well? Just follow the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. With all that goes on in the city of Boston, I think emergency doctors should be allowed to pack an Uzi.

 

[Kcustom45]

why not carry them in hospitals as well?

I have carried into a hospital before.

If you don't want to carry a gun with you to certain places that's fine, but as long as its legal you have to respect my choice to do so.

 

[tetchaje1]

If you bring your guns to school, you obviously don't live in Massachusetts.

Mastrogiacomo,
You never mentioned this caveat when you stated this:

The bottom line is no one has the right to bring a weapon into a school and sorry if that pisses you off too.

Nobody here is suggesting that anybody do anything that violates state law. There is a principle that people are talking about here (for those who feel that teachers should be able to defend themselves on school grounds, but who live in states that prohibit school carry), and then there are people, like myself, who live in states where carry on school grounds is legal.

If the law says you can't carry there, then don't carry. Otherwise, don't say that I "don't have the right to bring a weapon into a school" if it is perfectly legal and prudent for me to do so.

Oh, and I am sure that it will chap you to know that I have carried my gun into many hospitals, sporting events, state buildings, etc... (all legal in Utah...)

 

[cordex]

Lastly, if anyone thinks schools don't have money -- check what the president of a college makes -- or what school heads earn. No pathetic teacher pay there.

Sorry, I was under the impression we were discussing public primary schools. My mistake.

By the way, I'm assuming this teacher is proud of himself for taking a gun to school?

Did you read the original post?
For your reading pleasure:

Gally said Sarkis has been cooperative and is "very upset" about the incident.

"Very upset" doesn't imply to me "proud of himself".

No one seems to think he did the wrong thing -- why not carry them in hospitals as well?

Sure. I've been known to carry into hospitals before. Why not?

 

[Quartus]

The bottom line is no one has the right to bring a weapon into a school

Yes we do. And that right is recognized in the 2nd Amendment. (Not GRANTED - recognized.)


It's true that there are many laws against it, but it is the laws which are invalid, not the right.

Yes, and hospitals, too.


Why on earth should places of healing and learning be declared free fire zones for any crackpot with a gun? Why would you NOT want honest, capable citizens to have the means of resisting mass murderers in those particular places?