In the history of bad ideas, this one ranks pretty high.
[O]ne South Carolina lawmaker is taking the NRA’s “more guns will keep schools safe” argument even further, with a new bill that would teach teenagers how to shoot.
Sen. Lee Bright (R), the sponsor of the legislation, argues that “the more guns we have the safer we are.” “[H]ad there been someone in Newtown with a weapon, had it been a teacher, they could have stopped it early,” Bright explained. His bill would allow schools to offer gun training at an off-site location
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Bright says he got the idea after hearing from older constituents who “remembered the days” when students could join a rifle team or learn about shooting during a school day. “We’ve got football, we’ve got basketball, and we’ve got baseball,” says Bright. “I think if they had a hunting team, it would be a great idea.”
Ah, yes, the good old days. Days when we did not have over 300 million guns in circulation including assault rifles with high-capacity magazines.
Do we really want to train possibly-unstable, sometimes-rebellious teenagers how to shoot?
Can we trust teenagers not to open fire in the midst of a melee? Can we trust teenagers not to shoot each other after engaging in a heated argument, or when a relationship turns sour?
And who would pay for this? Can we spare money to offer a shooting class, but not to properly educate students in math and science? Can we not afford to hire enough teachers to reduce class sizes, but spare enough to hire someone to teach kids how to shoot guns? Who will take responsibility when a student accidentally shoots himself in school?