{"id":42598,"date":"2018-02-23T10:04:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T18:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=42598"},"modified":"2018-02-23T10:04:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T18:04:46","slug":"arming-teachers-will-make-us-school-shootings-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/arming-teachers-will-make-us-school-shootings-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"Arming teachers will only make US school shootings worse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nOn February 14, in Parkland, Florida, 17 teachers and students were shot dead at their school by an estranged student armed with a high-powered, military-style rifle. Mass shootings at places of learning in the US are, sadly,\u00a0not uncommon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On this occasion, however, the backlash against the political establishment has been\u00a0more fearsome than usual<\/a>. Significantly, the target is the gun culture of the country itself.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding, US President Donald Trump has come up with a plan to tackle the crisis. He wants to arm and train thousands of teachers to carry firearms in schools.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s examine the evidence for the efficacy of such an idea.<\/p>\n

The Trump plan is not a new one. Many US state legislatures have modified their\u00a0gun control laws or softened regulations<\/a>, now allowing holders of \u201cconcealed carry\u201d permits to take their firearms into\u00a0a wide range of public places<\/a>\u00a0including bars, churches, and government buildings.<\/p>\n

Some state laws allow schools to permit teaching staff to carry weapons on campus. In June 2015, Texan lawmakers passed a bill giving not only faculty members but even students at public and private universities in that state a right to apply for a permit to carry concealed handguns into classrooms, dormitories and other buildings.<\/p>\n

It should be mentioned also that Donald Trump is a\u00a0strong supporter of the National Rifle Association<\/a>, the powerful US-based lobby group committed to the idea that a citizen has a right to bear arms. The thinking of this group is that the \u201cgood guy\u201d with the gun will deter, kill or maim the \u201cbad guy\u201d (the would-be shooter) before he can unleash his lethal mayhem.<\/p>\n

Is there any evidence that the Trump approach is workable? No, not a skerrick.<\/p>\n

The evidence continues to mount against guns as a form of urban crime prevention strategy, and for the proposition that a greater proliferation of guns actually increases the likelihood of urban violence.<\/p>\n

Researchers in 2010 found<\/a>\u00a0that gun availability positively influenced the rates of several violent crimes in a sample of cities across 39 countries.\u00a0Further research<\/a>\u00a0reviewed data for 27 developed countries and concluded that the number of guns per capita per country was a strong and independent predictor of firearm-related deaths.<\/p>\n

Significantly,\u00a0van Kesteren concludes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In high-gun countries, the risks of escalation to more serious and lethal violence are higher. On balance, considerably more serious crimes of violence are committed in such countries. For this reason, the strict gun-reduction policies of many governments seem to be a sensible means to advance the common good.<\/em><\/p>\n

I do not know of one serious crime prevention advocate in the developed world who would suggest that children are safer in a school because of firearms in their teachers\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

Leaving aside the possibility of theft of a gun, its misuse or an accident, it would be fanciful to suggest that teachers could be trained to make split-second determinations of who is a \u201cbad guy\u201d and who is a \u201cgood guy\u201d. Even the most highly specialised armed forces units get that wrong sometimes.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget the\u00a0cost of the plan<\/a>. Trump needs to multiply the price of the weapons plus the costs of training by the number of teachers who volunteer to take on this task in the 100,000 educational institutions in the US today.<\/p>\n

The evidence<\/a>\u00a0that countries with higher levels of gun ownership have higher gun homicide, gun suicide and gun injury rates is convincing. The US gun ownership rate (guns per 100 people) is more than five times the Australian rate. Its\u00a0gun homicide rate<\/a>\u00a0is more than ten times the Australian rate.<\/p>\n

Of all US homicides, 60% are committed by firearms. The\u00a0equivalent figure in Australia<\/a>\u00a0(2010\u201312) is 14%.<\/p>\n

The only ways to stop or reduce the likelihood of a school shooting is, first, to take seriously the role of the state in enacting laws to make firearm ownership an earned privilege and not a right, and second, to remove from public hands altogether,\u00a0as Australia has done<\/a>, automatic, semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns. They are simply not needed in any 21st-century urban setting.<\/p>\n

Are either of these things about to happen in the US? Not in my lifetime, nor in my children\u2019s lifetimes.<\/p>\n

Estimates in 2009<\/a>\u00a0were that there were more than 300 million guns in private hands in the US. This figure would be significantly higher today, although one of the problems is that\u00a0it is not known<\/a>\u00a0exactly how many people own how many guns.<\/p>\n

They are not going to disappear in the foreseeable future. And if the deaths of 20 children between six and seven years old, as well as six staff members, at Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012 cannot re-direct the political wind, then nothing will \u2013 not even the cries of pain outside of the White House from families from Florida\u2019s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.<\/p>\n

Will more mass shootings occur in US schools and on college campuses in the years to come? Most certainly, with or without the implementation of Trump\u2019s latest suggestion. Indeed, the situation is likely to get worse.<\/p>\n

Unless something radically changes some time soon, Americans just have to live with the inevitable.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Rick Sarre is an Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at the University of South Australia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On February 14, in Parkland, Florida, 17 teachers and students were shot dead at their school by an estranged student armed with a high-powered, military-style rifle. Mass shootings at places of learning in the US are, sadly,\u00a0not uncommon. On this occasion, however, the backlash against the political establishment has been\u00a0more fearsome than usual. Significantly, the […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":42599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[185055],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-42598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-arming-teachers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nArming teachers will only make US school shootings worse - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/arming-teachers-will-make-us-school-shootings-worse\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arming teachers will only make US school shootings worse - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On February 14, in Parkland, Florida, 17 teachers and students were shot dead at their school by an estranged student armed with a high-powered, military-style rifle. Mass shootings at places of learning in the US are, sadly,\u00a0not uncommon. On this occasion, however, the backlash against the political establishment has been\u00a0more fearsome than usual. 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