Out Shout 'Em

The recent terrible, tragic massacre at the elementary school continues to dominate the news and public discourse. I see this as a healthy sign that maybe - just maybe - tangible steps will begin to be taken to curb and ultimately stop this kind of senseless killing that seems to be on the rise in our country.  The good news is this is a goal everyone wants. The challenge comes in reaching a consensus as to what strategies should be identified and followed to move us toward that desired end. On one end, there are those who feel more people should be armed. On the other, others advocate the opposite.

One suggested strategy is that school prinipals and teachers should be armed. The thinking here is that if an armed gunman enters a school and opens fire, then the teachers and principal will step outside their classrooms and officer and kill the intruder. End of bad guy. Order restored. Let's get on with the rest of the day. Unfortunately, real life is not always that clear-cut. There are too many unknowns and variables in the behavior of a mad man or well-meaning, yet amateur enforcers to guarantee that innocent children and adult still won't be killed. In fact, there is even a chance more innocents would die in such a scenario.

Instead of packing heat, suppose the bad guy walked up and down the hallsways with a bullhorn screaming obscenities? Would the answer be for the principals and teachers to be given portable microphones so they could stop the disruptiing intruder by out shouting him or her? In such a  scenario, it seems to me as if there would be an awful lot of shouting before anything close to normality was restored. The same is true with arming teachers and principals, only instead of shouting there would be shooting and killing. Is that what any of us really want? I urge all of us to continue this dialogue on what is a critical issue that speaks to the well being of our society.