My blood has been boiling since Thursday, February 22nd, 2018 when a National Rifle Association spokesperson sunk to the bottom of the barrel following the Wednesday, February 14th tragic murders of fourteen teenage students and three faculty members from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. With the use of despicably foul language, Dana Loesch became the picture of sleaze when - at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland - she viciously attacked America's major television networks and cable news channels. Loesch uttered the following vulgar and vile verbiage. "Many in legacy media love mass shootings. I'm not saying you love the tragedy, but you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold." Loesch's reprehensible remarks echoed a Wednesday, February 21st NRA video and tweet. "The mainstream media love mass shootings. I'm going to say it again; the mainstream media love mass shootings... and you, the #MSM, just put out the casting call for the next mass shooter."
Such hateful words nauseates me. Loesch is a disgrace to the human race...as are the persons who green-lighted the NRA video and the corresponding tweet.
In the wake of the Parkland massacre, Donald Trump has completely gone off the deep end by proposing to arm school teachers with concealed handguns. At the CPAC event on Friday, February 23rd, Trump insisted that the Florida gunman would have been stopped by an armed teacher who "would have shot the hell out of him."
At two so-called "listening sessions" at The White House - on February 21st and February 22nd - Trump announced that he wants teachers who are "very adept" at using firearms to have guns strapped to their bodies while on school grounds. Trump says it's a message to any "sicko." "You come in to our schools and you're dead." Trump thinks "attacks would end" if teachers had guns. Well let me tell you, Donald...you're nuts! Such a recommendation is beyond illogical. It's asinine! Or in a plain and simple word...it's stupid. And teachers throughout the United States will not go along with such lunacy.
Trump thinks career military veterans who retired from the armed forces are now teachers...and they are experienced with guns. Trump told the audience at CPAC... "People that were in the Marines for twenty years and retired. People in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard...people that are adept...adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach." The National Center for Education Statistics says there are 3.2-million full-time public school teachers who are employed throughout the United States. I don't know where Trump gets his figures from, but how many twenty-year military veterans does he think are teaching. It's got to be a small percentage since the vast majority of teachers begin their education careers immediately after they graduate college, generally at about age 22. Very few people - in the grand scheme of things - start teaching in their late 30s or 40s.
Sam Zeif is a survivor of the Parkland shootings. On February 21st, Brian Williams interviewed the 18-year old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior on the MSNBC broadcast, The 11th Hour. Sam told Brian that it's "absurd to feel the need to arm those innocent people with the choice of not knowing if they're going to have to kill a kid that day. Granted, it would be protection, but, I mean, come on...a shoot-out in our class? This is not the Wild West."
I expressed a similar sentiment in a column I wrote four years ago on May 28th, 2014. "Cowboys of the so-called Wild West wore guns on their person and lived in a era that was directly out of an episode of Gunsmoke." It's moronic to think that an old-time western shoot-out is going to be the solution to today's gun epidemic.
Adding more guns instead of subtracting them is not the answer. A sick-minded sociopath with an assault weapon...or an arsenal of assault weapons...which are loaded with magazines that are jam-packed with multiple rounds of ammunition...is not going to be stopped by a teacher with a single handgun. Such a concept is insane.
Teachers are not hired to act like police officers. It's not their responsibility to shoot a gun and take the life of another person. I don't care how "trained or qualified" - to use Donald Trump's words - a teacher might end up being...to expect someone whose job is to teach children that 2 + 2 = 4 and that "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 14-hundred-92"...but to now ask that person to prepare himself...or herself...that someday they might have to pull the trigger of a pistol and shoot a kid...or an adult...to death...well, that's completely off the wall. And I assure you that not too many teachers will volunteer to be part of such a reckless program.
Trump can say all day long that a teacher who holsters a firearm would be paid a "bonus," but if that teacher is murdered by a depraved, mentally unbalanced, homicidal degenerate - or someone who is purely unconscionably evil - who has blasted his way into a school... then no amount of bonus money in the world is going to mean a damn thing.
A reader responded to my editorial from February 18th and wrote..."All it takes is one good shot" by a teacher...to kill the maniacal monster who has assaulted his school. Such a statement is totally preposterous and no teacher's union in America will support it.
I am personally close to someone who has been an educator for about thirty-five years. This individual has been a school teacher and a principal. I spoke with him this week and he wants no guns anywhere near his school. He also shared with me that if his school district ever required him - or any of his teachers - to carry a gun on school premises...he'd quit. Donald Trump's plan is so far-fetched that I guarantee it will be tossed into the trash before it ever sees the light of day.
My recommendations for a new gun control law have been expressed in many columns over the last six years, but they're worth mentioning again today. In no particular order, my list is below.
1 - A new law must be permanent. Not temporary. No expiration date.
2 - A new law must ban AR-15 and all other assault weapons, as well as banning bump fire stocks.
3 - A new law must include an extended waiting period when a person wants to purchase a gun of any kind. I suggest at least ninety days.
4 - A new law must include an intense universal background check for anyone wanting to purchase a gun.
5 - A new law must limit the amount of firearms an individual can purchase.
6 - There is no logical purpose for anyone outside of the military or law enforcement agencies to own guns with magazines that store multiple rounds of ammunition. A new law must outlaw such magazines so that civilians cannot purchase them.
7 - A new law must require the issuance of a special permit to all gun owners.
8 - A new law must require all gun owners to be fingerprinted.
9 - A new law must require anyone who wants to purchase a firearm to have a valid state or federal identification card, such as a driver's license, passport, state I.D. or current military I.D.
10 - A new law must change the HIPAA law so that doctors, social workers, school counselors...and anybody else for that matter...will not find themselves in jail or in a civil lawsuit if they report to the police that a patient, student or other individual has threatened physical violence on another person by using a gun or other weapon.
11 - A new law must include a federal monitoring system that includes a database of all the names of any Americans who have been diagnosed with mental illness by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other medical professional so that all municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies have access to it. This monitoring system will also keep tabs on the amount of firearms a person owns.
12 - A new law must require that all guns be registered, similar to motor vehicles.
Over the last week or so, I have been so impressed with the youth of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I'm proud of these young people. They speak with such articulation...such eloquence...and such class. Yet they continue to mourn and grieve the heartwrenching deaths of their classmates and friends. I genuinely admire and respect these high school students. And let's remember...they are students. Although some of them are 18 years of age or a tad older...most are younger...and all are relatively new to this Earth. As Sam Zeif told Brian Williams..."We are doing adult things. But we are kids still." And I believe they will continue to do adult things. This younger generation is not going to put up with Donald Trump's lip service. Unless he and the Republican-controlled Congress pass a commonsense gun control law that halts the sale of AR-15 and other assault weapons...as well as including many, if not all, of the recommendations that I and others have suggested...then today's teenagers will not stop their crusade until they succeed. Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, Chris Grady, spoke to reporters outside the state capitol in Tallahassee on Tuesday, February 20th. The 19-year old senior issued an ultimatum to national and Florida politicians. "If you're not with us, you're against us...and you're against saving the lives of innocent children. And we're going to be voting you out." These students have a tremendous drive that is being fueled by their passion...their peaceful anger...and their tears. These are intelligent and creative youngsters with wisdom far beyond their years. It's incredibly inspirational to watch them...and it just may take these "kids"...to do what adults have never been able to do.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
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publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy
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I don’t wish to comment on the NRA, I am not a member and don’t care what they say. I think we need first to fix our mental health system and setup a better way for background checks. You said you don’t believe that there are that many former military that have become teachers, it is estimated that there are many that did serve, one program “Troops to Teachers” has placed over 20,000 former military as teachers, that’s just one program of many. Some estimates are as high as 200,000 teachers have served in the military. You said that no teacher’s union would support arming some teachers, the question is would teachers support it? 9 States permit teachers to carry, in Ohio the Sheriff of BUTLER COUNTY offered concealed carry training for local teachers and thought he would get 15-25 that would want to do it; he had to stop taking applicants at 300, that’s one county in Ohio. The Sheriff in Gwinnett County Georgia is doing the same. You don’t believe that Aaron Feis the coach killed in Florida would have wanted to have a gun, I bet he would have. We do need to change HIPAA we need to protect first reporters, better safe than sorry. You need to read “Printz v. United States” the US Supreme Court ruled much of these things are the duty of the State not the Federal government. You never will get rid of 300,000,000+ legal guns or the millions of illegal guns, we need to make sure the mentally ill do not have access to a gun while not infringing on everyone else’s constitutional rights. We need to fix a broken system that allowed dozens of warnings to go unanswered, the failure by the FBI, the State, County and local police, the school administration, the family he was living with, they all failed the students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It is time to not point fingers but to solve some problems, we need to allow trained teachers or school employees the right to defend themselves. You need to stop the name calling and either help or get out of the way!
ReplyDeleteObviously you didn't read my column carefully. I did not say that I "don't believe that there are that many former military that have become teachers." What I said was..."The National Center for Education Statistics says there are 3.2-million full-time public school teachers who are employed throughout the United States. I don't know where Trump gets his figures from, but how many twenty-year military veterans does he think are teaching. It's got to be a small percentage since the vast majority of teachers begin their education careers immediately after they graduate college, generally at about age 22. Very few people - in the grand scheme of things - start teaching in their late 30s or 40s." So again, there are not going to be a great many "twenty-year military veterans" who are teachers. I am sure there are veterans who served for two, maybe four, maybe even six years - starting out at age 18, straight out of high school - who went to college during their service or immediately after, and then began to teach. But not too many who began teaching in their late 30s or early 40s.
DeleteTeachers' unions - and most teachers - are not going to support teachers carrying guns in schools. It just ain't gonna happen. And Donald Trump and any Republican that thinks it will are dreaming.
I can't speak for Aaron Feis and neither can you. Let's let this true American hero rest in peace without trying to figure out his politics.
I'm always amazed by you Republicans who want the states to try to rule over the federal government. Uncle Sam needs to rule the roost and Congress needs to pass a federal gun control law that will stop the shootings and killings in the United States.
I discuss in my recommendations how we can make sure that the mentally ill don't have access to a gun. Did you not read?
And yes, there were a whole hell of a lot of people who were at fault with regards to the Parkland shooter - people who did not do something beforehand when there were clear signals that he was a danger to society and the cops who did not enter the school when they should have done so to try to stop him.
The only fingers that need pointing at are the Republicans in Congress who have refused to pass a commonsense gun control law and Republican governors and legislatures in certain states that don't want to have proper gun control laws...even though kids...and adults...are being murdered.
You're that same reader who continues to read my columns but insists that I am "name calling." Where did I name-call in the above editorial? If you agree with the NRA witch (I'll be kind and use a "w" instead of a "b") then you're just as bad as she is. And if that's name-calling in your book...so be it.
GBD
I don’t know about you but 200+ thousand former military is a good start for arming teachers. Nine states already allow teachers to carry and there has been very good support for it from the teachers. It just was on the news that the Pike County Kentucky School Board just voted with teacher support to allow teachers in their district to conceal carry in their schools. I didn’t try and figure out Aaron Feis’s politics, I said I bet he would have wanted a gun; any sane person being shot at would want the chance to defend himself. The US Supreme Court in the past has already ruled that some of the things the left wants done is un-Constitutional, the Federal government can’t order the states to do certain things. The Court ruled the states can’t be mandated to report criminal records to a federal data base among other things. One of the ideas behind the US Constitution was that it limited the power of the Federal Government in many cases in favor of the States, read the 10th Amendment. You may have discussed in how we can make sure that the mentally ill don't have access to a gun, but your bigger premise is to stop everyone from getting certain guns if not all guns. I don’t believe that any state allows you to purchase a gun from any store or Federally licensed gun dealer without showing valid ID, yes there are a small amount of states that allow private guns sales that don’t require background checks or ID. You seem to forget that when the assault rifle ban came up for renewal 15 Democrats in the US Senate voted against it, so don’t blame the Republicans. As for the name calling, you don’t think calling the President of the United States “nuts” isn’t name calling. As I said before I don’t care what the NRA said, they don’t speak for me or many of the gun owners I know.
DeleteDid you merely pull a number like 200-thousand out of your...? I doubt there are 200-thousand military veterans with 20 years of service in the armed forces who are now teachers. Remember, that's what Donald Trump had said when he spoke at CPAC. "People that were in the Marines for twenty years and retired. People in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard...people that are adept...adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach."
DeleteA poll by Pew Research Center shows that more than half of the adults in the United States (55 percent) are against allowing teachers and other school faculty to carry guns in schools where students in kindergarten through 12th grade are there to learn. Furthermore, 36 percent of those American adults said they would STRONGLY oppose such a proposal.
If teachers were armed and a gunman entered a school, there's no way that a police officer...who arrives to stop the gunman from killing innocent children and teachers...would know if the teacher with the gun was the guy trying to kill the kids or if it's the killer himself. The police officer could end up shooting the wrong person with a gun. The whole concept of arming teachers is absolute lunacy and will never be permitted to go in to affect anywhere in our country.
As for the U.S. Supreme Court...I believe when push comes to shove, the Justices are smart enough to know that they need to do whatever is necessary, but safe, in order to save the lives of people. There will be a federal database, just wait and see. And I also believe the High Court will side with Uncle Sam for a federal gun control law ruling over any state law.
You obviously haven't done much research and don't know the facts, but in Florida, anyone 18-years of age or older can buy a handgun...a rifle...even an AR-15 assault weapon...with nothing more than an expired driver's license. Don't say it can't happen. There's proof of it happening just a couple of weeks ago when a 20-year old bought such a weapon and his driver's license wasn't even valid.
And without a federal gun control law, someone can buy a gun in one state and drive to another if that's where he wants to commit murder. It's disgraceful and it must be stopped.
No...calling Donald Trump "nuts" is NOT name-calling. He is nuts. He's more than nuts. I was being kind by just using that word.
As for the National Rifle Association...they might not speak for YOU...but they sure as hell speak for most gun owners. The NRA bills itself as a nearly 150-year-old voice of the "gun-loving grassroots - the deer hunters, sport shooters, and self-defense-minded 2nd Amendment devotees" who would kindly like the government to keep its hands off their Glocks and AR-15s. But the NRA also has deep financial ties to the firearms industry. And with 5-million members...the NRA is speaking for a whole hell of a lot of people.
GBD
No I didn’t pull that number out of my…, it came from the Veterans Administration. Once again you twist words; I never said there were 200 thousand veterans with 20 years’ of service that are teachers. The President did say Marines with 20 year of service, he was giving examples "People that were in the Marines for twenty years and retired. People in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard...people that are adept...adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach." See the period after the word “retired” in the first sentence and the word “people “in the second sentence. As for your statement “The whole concept of arming teachers is absolute lunacy and will never be permitted to go in to affect anywhere in our country” from a 2013 NBC News investigation found: 18 states allow teacher in certain conditions to carry. Texas has 172 school districts that allow teachers to conceal carry and it is estimated that on any given day 10-12% of teachers in those schools are carrying. So you believe the US Supreme Court should disregard the Constitution, the law of the land, the highest court should break the law, very nice. The Supreme Court is not there to do what you call necessary it is there to follow the Constitution. Florida LAW requires you to be 21 and have valid ID to purchase a handgun from a store or dealer, was the one you wrote about from a store or dealer if so the store should lose its license. The USA is 50 states with their own executive, legislative and judicial branches; they know their states better than people in Washington, that’s why we have States Rights! It is name calling. The NRA has 5 million members and the country has over 30 million gun owners so they represent less than 1 in 6, less than 17%, a minority of gun owners.
DeleteI don't mean to be disrespectful - especially to someone I do not know - but can you not read? I didn't twist your words. You said..."I don’t know about you but 200+ thousand former military is a good start for arming teachers." I interpreted that to mean that you were commenting on Donald Trump's moronic remark that "People that were in the Marines for twenty years and retired. People in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard...people that are adept...adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach." Trump clearly meant - and he repeated it elsewhere - that there are teachers who served in the military for 20 years who are now teachers. There may be some, but not too many. As for the punctuation...I placed the period since Trump spoke it...he didn't write it. Trump meant it exactly the way I and most of the country interpreted it...especially since Trump has repeated it. So you can try to spin Trump's words any way you want, but you'll lose.
DeleteThe whole concept of arming teachers IS lunacy...and I'm not the only person in America who thinks that way. Since I have not seen the 2013 NBC News report you referenced, I cannot comment on it. But that's five years ago. If what you say is correct (and I doubt it) then I don'think you'll get teachers to agree on that today.
Yes I think - as most Democrats think - the U.S. Supreme Court should INTERPRET the Constitution based on the 21st century not the 18th century. If it was up to most Democrats, the part of the Second Amendment giving citizens the right to carry guns would be abolished. Hopefully someday it will come to that, but I doubt it will in my lifetime. Perhaps not even in the next hundred years. But hopefully someday.
Again, you didn't read what I wrote. What I said was..."You obviously haven't done much research and don't know the facts, but in Florida, anyone 18-years of age or older can buy a handgun...a rifle...even an AR-15 assault weapon...with nothing more than an expired driver's license. Don't say it can't happen. There's proof of it happening just a couple of weeks ago when a 20-year old bought such a weapon and his driver's license wasn't even valid." I didn't say WHERE a person could make that purchase. As for the AR-15, THAT is allowed to be purchased in Florida at age 18, 19, and 20. That's why Governor Rick Scott wants to change that age to 21. But here's another fact for you. Federal law sets the minimum age for handgun purchases from licensed dealers at 21, while the minimum age for rifles and shotguns is 18. The federal age limits for unlicensed sales, including at gun shows, is 18 for handguns and any age for long guns.
Yes we do have 50 states, but the federal government can overrule those "states' rights" at times and with gun control...this is one of those times.
No name calling.
Just because somebody is not a member of an organization, doesn't mean that they don't agree with the organization.
If those 25-million other gun owners disagreed with the NRA, why aren't all of them speaking up against the NRA?
GBD
Maybe you can’t read, maybe you just don’t understand, the President gave examples: there are some that served 20 years there are some from the Army, Navy , he didn’t say how long they all served. You just look to try and discredit him. Check out the article yourself from NBC News: http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/14/16468754-guns-already-allowed-in-schools-with-little-restriction-in-many-states . More states have been added since 2013 there are thousands of teacher that now have the right to carry, more coming every day. People have to have the right to defend themselves. The Constitution is what it is and should be applied not rewritten or “interpreted” on the whim of the left, if you don’t like it push to amend it and if that fails live with, it is the law of the land. Where in the Constitution does it give the Federal Government the right to overrule the 10th Amendment? One of the main ideas of the US Constitution was to LIMIT the power of the Federal Government. I am not a member of the NRA, they don’t speak for me and I don’t agree with everything they say. I don’t think even the leftwing mainstream media would love what happened 2 weeks ago, but they do love the ratings! The NRA has fought for many things I agree with the 2nd Amendment for one, I believe if you can legally buy a hand gun should be able to carry it, if we can trust you to carry we shouldn’t trust you to own it. Once again you twist words, I never said the other 25 million disagreed with the NRA, I said the NRA only represents less than 1 in 6 gun owner.
DeleteYou CANNOT spin Donald Trump's words for your own liking. He said what he said...and what he said was that there are "People that were in the Marines for twenty years and retired. People in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard...people that are adept...adept with weaponry and with guns, they teach." The fact of the matter is that there are not that many teachers who have a 20-year history in the armed forces. Plain and simple. I don't need to "try and discredit" Donald Trump. He accomplishes that fact all by himself.
DeleteI realize there are some states that have laws allowing adults to carry guns in schools. It's disgraceful. Such a law will never become a federal one...and I believe the federal government should do whatever it can to force states to abolish such laws. That's just my opinion. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. Hopefully, no U.S. Supreme Court Justices will retire or God-forbid die while Trump is in office so that once a Democrat is President, he...or she...can appoint liberal Justices and be confirmed by a U.S. Senate that is controlled by the Democrats. Then perhaps, gun laws will change for the better. Look how wonderful the Supreme Court acted with regards to gay marriage. And now two men or two women can legally marry in any of our 50 states. So a federal law CAN overrule a state law.
The U.S. Constitution was written more than 200 years ago and times have changed. As such, interpretation of the Constitution is necessary...otherwise we are going to tragically witness more and more people being murdered by guns. The Constitution has had Amendments to that document and it's time another one is added to change the scope of the Second Amendment. Guns can kill people. People carrying guns can kill people. It is time to put a stop to all the killings.
Watch what happens when the Democrats regain control of both the House and the Senate following the 2018 mid-term elections and a President enters The White House on January 20th, 2021. Life in America will return to where it should be...and Republicans can learn how "great" America always was before Donald Trump and the Republican Congress.
You're just as bad as Dana Loesch of the NRA when you make a statement that the media "love(s) the ratings" after a mass murder of 14 children and 3 adults. DESPICABLE.
Not only do you need to learn how to read, but you need to learn how to write...so that what you write is properly composed. I never "twist(ed)" your words. You said..."The NRA has 5 million members and the country has over 30 million gun owners so they represent less than 1 in 6, less than 17%, a minority of gun owners." You had made that comment because you said in an earlier comment that "I don’t care what the NRA said, they don’t speak for me or many of the gun owners I know." If there are 30-million gun owners...and you seem to claim that the NRA doesn't speak for yourself and many of the gun owners you know...then I have to believe...that YOU believe...that the NRA doesn't speak for a lot of other gun owners. Therefore...why are you...and perhaps a great percentage of those 25-million other gun owners who are not members of the NRA...not coming out AGAINST the NRA?
You may or may not know this but Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods will no longer sell firearms of any kind to anyone under the age of 21. And Dick's Sporting Guns will no longer sell any "assault weapon" types of rifles in any of the stores to anyone at all. Watch and wait when big companies like Walmart and others stop selling guns altogether. It's going to happen. When? I can't tell you. But it's going to happen. The bottom line is...guns have got to go. The question is...how can America legally do it?
GBD
none of the things you suggest would have stopped the latest shooting.
ReplyDeletei can tell you don't know anything about guns by the way this is written. try learning before writing about things you don't understand.
why do you think a handgun can't stop somebody with a rifle?
I will take your brief comments apart one sentence at a time.
Delete1 - Everything that I suggest in my 12 points above will stop shootings. As for the Parkland shooting, if the shooter's name was on a list of potentially dangerous individuals because of his disciplinary troubles for many years throughout school, he would never have been able to purchase a gun.
2 - I know a hell of a lot about guns, even though I have never shot one, nor ever held one. So don't tell me that I don't understand something when I clearly do.
3 - I never said that I "think a handgun can't stop somebody with a rifle." You and the reader above - along with many of my other Republican readers - don't seem to read my editorials carefully. What I said was..."A sick-minded sociopath with an assault weapon...or an arsenal of assault weapons...which are loaded with magazines that are jam-packed with multiple rounds of ammunition...is not going to be stopped by a teacher with a single handgun. Such a concept is insane." The odds are that a raving, mentally deranged psychopath who is shooting from an AR-15 is going to likely hit everything he sprays bullets at...so therefore, it's going to be difficult for a school teacher with a handgun to stop him before numerous students and other teachers are shot to death. Is it possible for a trained police officer to stop such a killer? That's a whole different story. But by that time, numerous people...perhaps dozens or even hundreds of people...are going to be lying on the floor dead before that happens. Banning assault weapons...banning bump fire stocks...and banning magazines that are jam-packed with multiple rounds of ammunition...will be a start...along with everything else I discuss in my 12 points above. It's the only way to go. In a perfect world - which we don't live in - every gun on the planet would be placed in a rocketship and launched in to deep space. But that's never going to happen, so we must have better gun control laws. Otherwise, more and more people are going to tragically and unfortunately die.
GBD
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe following comment was posted on Gary B. Duglin's Facebook page on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 5:18 p.m. Since the reader's name appears on Facebook, it will be published here.
ReplyDelete"For once I agree with you and these students. I hope when they are eligible to vote they vote all the democrats & republicans out. This country needs a complete change over and term limits!!" - Jim Sedlack
Gary B. Duglin's comments, responding to the above reader, were originally posted on his Facebook page on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.
DeleteI believe I've made my point about the students and I'm glad you feel the same way about them. We'll see what happens come the November mid-term elections, but It's going to be quite awhile before there is a turnover of every single U.S. senator and representative. That's not going to happen anytime soon. Since I know you are a retired school teacher, I'm glad that you did not comment on Donald Trump's proposal to arm teachers. I hope that because you did not express any thoughts on that topic that you disagree with Trump and, therefore, believe - as I do - that such a notion is plain stupidity. Thank you for your response, Jim. GBD
The following comment was posted on Gary B. Duglin's Facebook page on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 5:41 p.m. Since the reader's name appears on Facebook, it will be published here.
Delete"If 'The Donald' is serious maybe he should consider posting law officers in each & every classroom and let the teaches do their job!" - Jim Sedlack
Gary B. Duglin's comments, responding to the above reader, were originally posted on his Facebook page on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 6:02 p.m.
DeleteI agree with you, Jim, that Trump needs to let the teachers teach and not be police officers. As for posting cops in each and every classroom, I don't think that's going to be supported by the vast majority of teachers, students or parents. If you read my entire column, you know that I discussed the opinions of another teacher who I spoke with last week. He doesn't even want police officers in his school, except for brief walkabouts each morning. I doubt he would want cops hanging out in each classroom all day long. I suppose it's going to be absolutely impossible for every person in our country to see eye to eye on how to stop these senseless and tragic murders. I hope to God that it doesn't take one-hundred students and teachers...or one-thousand kids and teachers...in one school...to be slaughtered by a mentally deranged sociopath with an arsenal of assault weapons...before Congress decides to do something smart. GBD