Yep. School is back in session full force. And so are the stories of idiocy that pour out of them.
Kid Fires Gun At School Shouldn’t Be Suspended Without A Hearing
For the second time in slightly more than a year, a federal judge has ruled that the Todd County School District, superintendent and school board members have violated a student’s constitutional rights by suspending him without a proper hearing.
[…]
In this case, Ernest Doe, then 14, admitted to being one of four students who drove past Todd County Middle School late on Oct. 14, 2005, and to firing a .22-caliber rifle near the school from a moving vehicle.
Principal Gave Student A ‘Wedgie’
The principal of Park High School returned to school Tuesday after a six-day suspension for giving a student a “wedgie.” The Livingston School District Board held a special meeting Monday and approved Superintendent Hannibal Anderson’s recommendation that Principal Eric Messerli be allowed to return to work.
[…]
“I’ve made mistakes in my life, but none have had the impact that this one has had,” he said.
White House Conference On School Violence Doesn’t Want To Discuss Guns
At a hastily arranged White House Conference on School Safety on Oct. 10, panelists covered topics ranging from metal detectors and school bullies to the value of religious beliefs and good communication between parents and schools.
But the word “gun” was not mentioned until a plucky teenager pointed out to a panel moderated by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that the common factor was easy access to high-powered firearms. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush attended separate parts of the conference but avoided mention of guns.
“The Bush administration is in complete denial regarding the catalytic role that guns play in school violence,” said Kristen Rand of the Violence Policy Center, which like other gun control advocates was not invited to the conference.
“How is it even possible to have a discussion about preventing school shootings without talking about guns?”
What’s to talk about?
Seriously. I don’t get it.
Anyone remember fire drills? They dont do those anymore. Now days they do “crazed school shooter” drills, where they practice being locked in their rooms and quiet. I kid you not.
My kids recently did a DHS drill due to a nuke plant that is located about 10 miles away…they evacuated the school. Brilliant!
Now they are even training kids to fight back…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15253321/
LOL Greg.
Its funny how everyone always says education is an important topic to them. Then when this kind of stupidity happens and test scores are so sorry states can’t even meet their own low points, people don’t care cause “They said they were spending billions on education”
Too bad more than half of it goes to corrupt people.
F for America
Guns aren’t the problem….
KIDS with guns are the problem….
Most states won’t sell a kid under 18 a gun at all, and won’t sell a handgun until they’re 21. Anybody who sells or gives a teenager a gun has broken enough laws (there are exceptions – largely for hunting or target use) to spend a very long time in court. (Notice I didn’t say “jail”…. It’s not PC to do that….)
If guns kill people then spoons make Rosie O’Donnell fat….
We’d much rather punish kids who draw pictures of guns anyway….
Regards,
Stu.
Stu, the difference is that a drive by throwing a spoon won’t kill someone sitting by the window in the school library. The combination of guns AND people kill people.
You don’t need to sell a kid a gun if the kid has easy access to guns at home, or via friends, or family.
Thats the problem. Right to bear arms is fine, but there must be a responsibility contained within it too. Personally I think that anyone who’s guns are used in a shooting (school or otherwise) should be charged with being an accessory to the crime – you’d soon find more secure gun storage then…
Greg, would accessory to a crime apply even if a gun closet in a home is locked? How much security should a gun owner provide to absolve themselves of responsibility?
#9, Jim, I would suggest that a locked gun closet would suffice as being reasonable.
There is more to this story then the headline might suggest. It sounds like there is some racial discrimination going on here.
The lawyer also represented another plaintiff who was also denied an education. The School Board had unilaterally expelled her as well. The same Judge had ruled against the School Board for essential the same reasons less then a month before this came up in a different case.
As I understand, there is quite a lot of racial discrimination against Native Americans in this area. The Judge is leveling the playing field.
Thieves have been known to take the whole storage cabinet. Children have watched where the key to the cabinet has been hidden. Guns in the home can’t be protected effectively. Too many sad endings for my liking for the sake of freedom. I recently heard a good solution for gun control. Have community central storage locations where you keep your guns locked up in lockers similar to a safty deposit box system. You have a key, they have a key. If you want to go hunting you bring your key and sufficient ID, a sign out and sign back in system.
JimR,
Were would the money come from to pay for the storage? It would be taken from the schools and more classes would get cut… The kids can still find the key and the teenagers working at the community gun storage place wouldn’t think twice to give there friend there dads gun to go “shoot a squirrel”…
-Shane
>You have a key, they have a key. If you want to go hunting you bring your >key and sufficient ID, a sign out and sign back in system.
Criminals support this plan. Any government leader that wants to make himself dictator also loves it.
#13 Instead of a gun owner forking out $600 for a proper gun locker, he would pay $50 / year for storage in a safe facility.
AB CD, we’re talking about the USA, not some 3rd world country.
But the word “gun” was not mentioned until a plucky teenager pointed out to a panel moderated by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that the common factor was easy access to high-powered firearms. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush attended separate parts of the conference but avoided mention of guns.
This is politics. It’s about rhetoric. Frankly, we the unwashed don’t really understand the delicate nature of debate and statesmanship… The sad thing is, our leaders don’t know either.
Seriously, we all know that a kid who shoots at school doesn’t need a hearing before being suspended. He needs to be arrested, on the spot, and sent to jail to await trial. These issues are bullshit issues.
But it’s telling that the above passage mentions the lack of mentioning about guns and mentions who failed to mention it and who did make mention, if you’ll permit me to mention that. The right wing needs the gun lobby as one of their many special interests.
And if you think the NRA is a reasoned group of concerned citizens then you might also think Fox news likes to promote Democrats. Statistically, gun violence in schools is not the issue we think it is… but it is an issue and it is a real public concern, and it must be addressed and our Republican leaders showcase their multitude of failings when they behave as described above.
“Criminals support this plan. Any government leader that wants to make himself dictator also loves it.”
Bush is well on his way toward doing that in a country full of guns.
#12, as far as liability is concerned, if you make a reasonable effort to prevent accidental use of the gun, you have done your bit. You are very correct when you say that they are still not impregnable and either the whole locker may be stolen or just the lock picked.
A community storage would work very well for those in Canada. In the US though, long guns are not the problem. Handguns and assault weapons are.
More people are killed or injured from “legal” handguns every year then are criminals that they were bought to defend against. The whole idea of having a handgun around the house for self defense is self defeating. It presumes that children will never be present. It presumes that the gun will be kept loaded. It presumes that the gun will be kept in a convenient, quick and easy to reach location. It presumes that the homeowner is home and has a chance to retrieve the gun before any “criminal” can overpower the homeowner. It also presumes that the homeowner knows how to use the gun and is calm enough to use it. And that is a lot of presumptions.
I don’t have a problem with long guns. Geeze, please, someone, it’s deer season around these parts. Deer are a problem and a nuisance. But handguns and assault weapons have no place in a civilian home.