Letter: Giving teachers guns compounds problem

Friday, Dec. 15, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Archie Bunker's solution to prevent airplane hijackings was to give each passenger a gun as they boarded the plane. Not bad. It could work. Maybe.

One of our state senators, Bob "Archie Bunker" Beers, has come up with a similar solution to students bringing guns to school. He recommends that teachers have guns. Well, hopefully it wouldn't include any teacher who might take advantage of students by threatening them in any way for which teachers have been tried and convicted in the past.

Teachers are no different than other people who oversee employees in any company. Should a company supervisor or manager have a gun? Who's a better shot, a 17-year-old student who plays video games or a teacher who marks tests?

If a teacher doesn't do well in the training for handling a gun, does he get fired? In my opinion, the teacher should know better than to carry a gun in the first place. It is a bad example to set for the students. And they should not require a gun to control their classrooms. Should all parents have guns?

The police patrols that protect the school should be adequate as a deterrent, in addition to some screening on entry to the school. And parents and teachers as well as other administrative personnel in schools must be alert to report suspicious activity.

Sam Chinkes, Las Vegas