Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Hartford School Board Member Advocates Arming Willing Teachers

Turning a soft target into a hard target is an excellent deterrent.

For board member Bill Savage, that could mean arming teachers.

“If we had administrators, teachers who were comfortable, welltrained and competent, I don’t see any problem with them having access to firearms,” he said.

And comfortable, competent and willing are all necessary traits for any teacher or administrator before they even think about picking up a weapon, Savage added.

“I can’t imagine what any of you guys and the teachers must have felt the next day after Sandy Hook,” he said to the administration of each of the district’s three schools, who were sitting in the audience. “You’re a sitting duck.”

(3) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2156 hrs
Firearms + Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. We ought to give them something better than a binder to defend their kids with.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 27, 2013 at 0009 hrs


  2. Why use a middle man for our kids defense ?

    Give them the guns .

    I thought the WB school board was wacky at one time. This guy makes My friend Dave Weigand look like Thomas Jefferson.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 27, 2013 at 1030 hrs


  3. I must be missing something here.  Mr. Savage mimicked an idea that has been put forward many times and it is a good one.  The specificity of

    comfortable, well trained and competent

    only make it more so.

    From a fiscal standpoint, denying access to a licensed CWP holder makes the School District liable in the event of an incident.  Say an ex-spouse decides to do harm and it is on school grounds; the District (read:taxpayer) is liable.  Possibly there could be “no gun” insurance but again the taxpayer is on the hook.

    From a practical standpoint, we have to admit that violence like we saw at Sandy Hook, Aurora or Tuscon were all committed by persons mentally ill.  Our current treatment method of ‘stabilize and release’ does not help the prognosis.  So some form of protection on school grounds would seem prudent.

    At Hartford Union, they have a full time Officer.  I don’t know the exact costs but for an uniformed officer, benefits, special pension (Fire and Police get different pension terms than other government employees) car, radio, vacation pay, etc., the costs are in the $125K to $140K range.  If Hartford School District were to follow Mr. Savage’s idea, that saves taxpayers money because the staff would be doing the same service for free.  Even if taxpayers pick up the cost of training, it is still a bargain.

    Consider that choosing between a school banning weapons, with one Officer or potentially a school full of a

    comfortable, well trained and competent

    armed staff, the latter would not be the preferable choice.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 27, 2013 at 1431 hrs


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