Georgia Wants To Bribe Teachers $10,000 To Carry Guns, Almost Definitely Get Themselves Killed
Georgia Wants To Bribe Teachers $10,000 To Carry Guns, Almost Definitely Get Themselves Killed
They want this so badly because the alternative is gun control.
On Wednesday afternoon, not too long before a far-right Elon Musk fanboy would go on a mass shooting spree in the fifth-safest city in the nation, Lewiston, Maine, a remarkably prescient Georgia lieutenant governor made an announcement.
Speaking at an elementary school in Winder, Georgia, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones proposed giving teachers $10,000 to carry guns at school as part of his plan to spend more money on “school safety precautions.” According to Glassdoor, the average teacher salary in Winder is $45K, which would make that a pretty hefty raise.
Jones did not specifically say why he thought that would make students or the teachers themselves safer, largely because there is no data that suggests it would (though there is data showing that armed guards do not make a difference). If anything, it’s likely that it would escalate tense situations and make them more dangerous, possibly giving any would-be shooter an extra firearm in the process. It’s also likely that it could wind up being used in some way by a kid who would not otherwise have access to a gun — or even by the teacher themselves. It certainly wouldn’t deter mass shooters, either, as no one embarks upon a mass shooting intending to “get away with it.”
Statistics show that a gun in the home is far, far more likely to be used to kill or injure a member of the household (whether by suicide, homicide or accident) than it is to be used in self defense. It would not be surprising if the same bore out for keeping guns at school.
I don’t think even Lt. Gov. Jones buys his own bullshit here. The fact is, the Right doesn’t want gun control and is terrified that all of these mass shootings are going to lead to it. So the only direction they have to go that is not going to lead to gun restrictions is the answer being “more guns.” It has to be that. It can’t be anything else, regardless of how ridiculous or ineffective it is. There’s just no other choice. It’s why Newt Gingrich was out there yesterday as soon as he could manage, talking about how the real answer is that more people need to do concealed carry, which is insane.
“Well, I mean, first of all, it’s horrible,” Gingrich replied. “And I think that we’re gonna have to really think through a better method of protecting people. Frankly, in states that have conceal carry and other permits, constitutional carry permits, you have a much more rapid response to these kind of people who are crazy.”
Either that or — hear me out here — we invest more in mental health care, conservatives in the media stop telling white dudes how horribly, tragically oppressed they are are all the time, and then we institute a normal amount of gun control, because as much as these people might love their guns, it is very clearly not working out well.
Arming teachers is not going to work out well, everyone having concealed carry is not going to work out well. There’s just no possible way that the answer to this problem is everyone having guns. That’s like having the answer to your health issues be “eat more cake” or the answer to your financial woes be “buy a new handbag.” Everyone being armed would be a reward for the gun nuts, who are the reason we’re in this position to begin with, while literally no other country on earth has this particular problem.
This $10,000 isn’t about keeping children safe, it is about keeping their guns safe. It’s about propaganda. They think if they can just get one armed teacher or armed person to effectively take down a shooter that the conversations about gun control would stop and everyone would stop bothering them about it.
Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom also decided to spend more money on school safety. In order to raise that money, he is doubling the tax on guns and ammunition — and instead of using it to “arm teachers,” the money will go towards improving school security measures and instituting gun violence prevention programs. You know, normal things. Things that might not stop every school shooting, but are nevertheless not objectively stupid and likely to make things more dangerous. And in the United States, that’s really the least we can ask for.
SO WEIRD that we almost certainly have more people are concealed/open carrying now that any other time in our history and yet we also have more shootings that any other time in our history.
I cannot believe they’re still trying the “an armed society is a polite society” argument
Ta, Robyn. Guns are a convenient way for hateful people to express their hatred.