Armed teachers would not have element of surprise

'If you had a teacher with, who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly,” President Donald Trump said recently.

Here's why that statement is patently absurd. If a shooter bursts into a classroom and starts shooting, there's no way the teacher can make him stop. She can't say, 'Please hold your fire while I get my gun out of my desk drawer.”

The only way she can be assured that she will fire the first shot is if she teaches all day long with her gun drawn and positions herself so that at all times she can see the entrance into her classroom. And, if it becomes apparent that there is a shooter in the building, she's no going to leave her students unprotected by roaming the halls to find and shoot him.

The fly in the ointment of Trump's remedy is the element of surprise. School shooters do not announce their intentions to school officials and teachers beforehand. Just recently a former soldier, who had been an excellent marksman/sniper while serving, was shot to death in the back of a cab. He was carrying a concealed weapon, but was overcome by the element of surprise.

Furthermore, military weapons belong on a battlefield and not in our homes and schools. The shoot-'em-up Old West, where firearms reigned supreme, died for a good reason. Think about it.

Lawrence Rettig

South Amana