I'm finding this conversation incredibly frustrating. I'm sorry, I just am.
I am not the Federal or State Government and I didn't make the rules. I'm just relaying to you what those rules are. If you want to know what makes it illegal to bring weapons, with or without a permit, into those buildings I suggest you look it up. I don't know the answer to that question, all I know is that the rules say "NO."
I'm aware of all that. However, you've also argued against the idea of allowing teachers to carry and that is what I take issue with.
In post #282, you said this:
We can't ask teachers to do what is being suggested. Lets say a teacher, who carries a weapon regularly, is caught by surprise in her classroom and freezes up when some lunatic starts killing children. Do we now vilify the teacher for not using her/his firearm to save the kids? Do we sentence the teacher to jail time for not performing her/his duty? What about the guilt that such a teacher might carry around until he/she can't take it anymore and eats a bullet.
Teachers with firearms isn't the answer. Reason being that we're not talking about trained security who are taught how to respond to an emergency of such magnitude. We're talking about teachers, aka amateurs or enthusiasts who practice target shooting maybe but are not trained by any governing body about proper firearm use and handling in a school environment.
Accidents happen and the possibility of one of the children getting a hold of the weapon from an amateur/enthusiast is a very real problem. Lets say that does happen, without clearly spelled out rules and training do we just say "Well, accidents will happen." Or do we go and blame the teacher and run this amateur/enthusiast on the fast track to a prison cell. Or do we just fire him/her and let the families of the victims sue the pants off of this teacher/amateur/enthusiast?
Then in post #285, you said this:
Guys, I am not against having armed personnel in schools. I'm against just "anyone" who buys a gun to be able to carry it in a school and say that they are protecting children.
Yes, it is a huge difference between the bus stop and school grounds. The difference is that school grounds are government property (unless they are private schools) and that means that LOTS of things must be taken into consideration.
In post # 291, you said this:
Can you honestly tell me that you'd be fine with a teacher who never carried a gun in his/her life, heading out on their own, getting a concealed carry permit and bringing their gun to school?
So, it seems pretty clear to me that you're not only pointing out that many places prohibit carry in government buildings, including schools, but you apparently agree with such prohibitions. What I've been trying to get out of you is
why you agree with these prohibitions. Why is it OK for a teacher who has a CCL to carry their gun in Toys 'R Us, but not in a school? What is the difference between those two situations other than the ownership of the building?
Wayne is a BS artist and gives simplistic sound bytes that accomplish nothing. If we are serious about having every school in the United States protected by armed security of any type (barring Police) a FEDERAL LAW has to be passed or individual counties, States and Commonwealths can simply say "NO" to guns in the school thus leaving the kiddies unprotected in a good portion of the public schools in the United States.
I don't know why I'm having such difficulties expressing the simple facts of this.
If we want Waynes World to be a reality the ONLY way to do it is through Federal Law. Such a Federal Law does not exist so if we decided that we want Waynes vision we have to draft the law, get it in front of Congress, Get it passed by Congress. From there the law goes to the Senate. The Senate has to either pass the new bill, alter it and send it back for a second vote (With Changes) to the Congress, or ignore it all together.
If the law passes the Senate it gets sent to the President who can either sign it into law or veto it. At this point it's usually the end of a bill if it doesn't get signed into law by the President.
Lets say that the Congress and the Senate REALLY love this bill. They can overrule the Presidential veto by a three quarter vote in favor of the vetoed bill, at which point the President is out of the equation and the bill becomes a law. The liklyhood of that happening is about as likely as the History channel finally finding definite proof that Bigfoot exists.
Pardon any perceived snarkyness, I've had a long day and this is basic civics class type of stuff.
I understand perfectly well how the Federal Government functions. However, it is not true that what LaPierre proposed would require an act of the Feds. State and local governments are perfectly capable of doing this themselves. Things like traffic laws are fairly uniform across the country, but they are state rather than federal laws, so it's been done before. In a more directly related vein, it was not all that long ago that states which allowed CC in any form were in the minority, but now only IL bans it outright. That was done
entirely at the state level with no involvement whatsoever of the federal government. Insofar as the feds are concerned, the states can pass any law they like so long as it does not attempt to override federal authority or violate a part of the Constitution that has been incorporated via the 14th Amendment, neither of which would be the case with armed school security or CC for teachers.
Every state legislature could take up the issue tomorrow and get this done if they really wanted to and it would require zero action by the feds. Now, I concede that the chances of all the states doing this is pretty unlikely because the more anti-gun states simply don't want to, but the chances of the feds doing it, particularly in a timely manner, are pretty slim as well. LaPierre proposed something that could reasonably be expected to help prevent another Newtown, it is hardly his fault if the politicians, be they state or federal, won't try it.
This is, however, beside my original point. I ask again,
why do you think that schools are more dangerous places for carry and other crowded places?