Accidental shootings raise questions about arming teachers

As country looks for ways to deal with mass shootings at schools, some have responded by saying more people should carry guns, including teachers. “ only way to stop a b guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” President Donald Trump told National Rifle Association convention in April. More states are allowing teachers to carry guns, he said, and “who better to protect our children than our teachers, who love m.”

But a close look at unintentional shootings by law enforcement officers, including at schools, raises doubts about wher more guns would help keep students safe.

An Associated Press investigation has found accidental shootings occur at law enforcement agencies large and small across United States every year. examination of public records and media reports documented 1,422 unintentional shootings by officers at 258 agencies since 2012.

Twenty-two occurred at schools or college campuses.

At least nine states have passed laws allowing employees to carry firearms at K-12 school grounds, according to National School Boards Association. Nineteen states allow anyone with permission from a school authority to be armed at schools, association said.

Experts say anybody carrying guns, including teachers, needs ongoing, intensive training to be able to handle ir firearms proficiently and respond appropriately in stressful settings — and many law enforcement officers don’t even get that.

“ idea that anybody can go to Joe Smith’s School of Shooting for a day or a week and become proficient at shooting a handgun in a life-and-death situation is a little bit absurd,” said Doug Tangen, firearms program manager at Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, state police acemy.

Shooting a gun requires psychomotor skills that must be practised over and over, he said.

“Most people, cops included, don’t devote that practice time to be able to shoot it responsibly or carry it responsibly,” he said.

AP’s investigation found six accidental shootings that involved officers responding to reports of active shooters.

In 2016, for example, local, state and federal officers rushed to Alpine High School in small town of Alpine, Texas, when a call came in about two shooters inside.

A half-dozen heavily armed officers and agents heed toward cafeteria and n down hallway toward classroom No. 24, thinking shooter might be inside.

Just as Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jon Dangle touched doorknob, a shot rang out, and he fell to floor. or officers grabbed him by his bulletproof vest and dragged him to safety.

No one knew where shot came from or who fired it, Dangle said.

“We thought shooter was in that classroom,” which still contained a teacher and students, he told AP. “If y ( or agents) h opened fire, more would be de.”

U.S. Marshal Douglas Mullens eventually mitted he h accidentally discharged his weapon. He was carrying a ballistic shield in one hand and fumbling with a handgun in or when it went off, according to Texas Rangers, who investigated shooting.

Dangle suffered a shattered tibia and torn muscles and nerves. He was out of work for 15 months and eventually moved his family to Oklahoma so he could get better care.

Dave Oney, a spokesman for U.S. Marshals Service, said agency “does not discuss personnel matters” when asked if Mullens faced any disciplinary action or charges.

Or accidental shootings at schools occurred while officers chased or arrested suspects, taught gun safety classes, or attended school events while off-duty, AP found. Some injured officers, teachers or students.

One happened day after mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida when a sheriff’s deputy shot himself in leg while responding to a report of a person with a gun at a school in neighbouring Coconut Creek.

Accidental shootings can occur when an officer is flush with renaline, gets startled or simply loses his balance. Ways to avoid m include following firearms safety rules and training regularly and in settings that mirror real life, experts say.

Steven Karnazes, president of Ventura, California-based vanced Tactical Training Institute, trains people in schools and churches to prepare for armed attacks. After taking clients through classroom safety sessions, Karnazes teaches firearm handling by “making things as realistic as we can.”

“If you are a person at a church or school and you want to carry a firearm, that commitment comes with a lot of responsibility,” he said. “You have to be a lifelong student and continue to train.”

Alan Gottlieb, founder of Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation, supports arming teachers as a way to prevent violence, saying gun-free school zones are a “target-rich environment for people who are crazy.”

He believes average gun owner engages in more training than police due to budget constraint and says trained school personnel could do a better job of protecting students.

Yet many educators have resisted idea that y should carry guns.

National vocacy group Teach Plus in 2018 surveyed more than 1,200 teachers about being armed at schools, and 80% said y were strongly opposed.

Also last year, National Education Association, country’s largest teachers union, asked roughly 1,000 members if y would be willing to carry a gun in school, even with training, and 82% said no.

“We reject idea that putting more guns in schools will make schools safer,” group’s president, Lily Eskelsen García, told AP. “If a highly trained law enforcement officer can accidentally fire a weapon, let’s talk about third-gre teacher with a loed pistol in her purse.”