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Something like this?

Arming teachers is not about having the cafeteria lady and pre-algebra teachers patrolling the playground with M4s. It’s about school districts allowing, and maybe even paying for, concealed carry permits, classes, and regular trainings. It’s also not about saying the teachers are in charge of safety, but just having an extra precaution in case of a shooter situation. It’s not a solution, but rather another roadblock to prevent a bad situation becoming worst. The problem is mental health and having 1,000 kids, who are trying to figure out who they are, all trapped in a building together 8 hours a day half the year. The fix? Easy. Everyone is homeschooled by parents who are morally pure and have the ability to teach their kids. If a child shows signs of mental health struggles, they get to meet with a good therapist to help them…Actually… nvm… that isn’t simple, finding a good therapist is nearly impossible. This plan won’t work.

I was going to say “your simple answer has a lot of complex words and sentences” xD But the overall “bigger punishment” idea is simple. Just took a minute to get there

We agree totally. You make great points as always my friend. I’m not really “against” arming teachers. I’m just not overly romantic about the idea.

I totally get it Gator. My kiddos did some public school time here in CO, and if UT is similar, I can see why one might be hesitant to apply Utah's lessons across the country. Further, I'm not saying arming teachers will suddenly make murder and violence, or even school shootings, a thing of the past. I think we can agree on two things: First, mass school shootings that make the news are so incredibly rare, that it makes sense to measure the impact of any changes to address it. Second, individual liberty is important. My overall support on letting school staff and teachers arm themselves, are based on both of those things, and especially the 2nd. The impact is minimal, meaning if someone wants to arm up on their own cost, then it costs the school nothing in insurance or policy or whatever. And from a liberty standpoint, it makes sense to let people whatever the crap they want to, unless there's a compelling reason to restrict them. And Utah's quarter century has failed to produce any of the worries we come up with. I suppose we'll see with Ohio. From the aforementioned DHS database, that state makes up 4.2% of the results - 41 times as many as Utah. Here's a question for you - how many years of results would you like to see from OH, before reconsidering any of your opinions on the matter? (Oh - and my opinion about teachers picking books: Let 'em. Get rid of the Department of Education. Be transparent with the parents, and let 'em choose.)

My gentle comeback (and you know how much I love you bro) is that Utah isn’t Connecticut or Sacramento. I’m sure it works in a sensible state like Utah. I’m worried about the things you mentioned in other states. When another shooting happens (and it will, just a matter of time, and yes, it could happen even if teachers are armed) do you think the anti gunners are just going to say “Well, teachers are already armed, so we’re not going to call for more gun control.” Also, yes, it is strange how two weeks ago some don’t trust teachers to pick books and educational tools because they might “groom” children but now teachers are trusted enough to carry a gun. That sounds very strange. Which is it? The awkward truth is that if you really thought someone was a groomer, the LAST thing you would give them was a gun. Last thing. There’s a very small chance of dying due to Covid, but I’m going to make you wear a mask. Dirty truth-the odds of school shooting are very slim too. So why force teachers to carry if having to wear a mask forces the right into temper tantrums?

I always like to remind folks that Utah has had legal concealed carry in public schools, for almost a quarter century now. I'm not sure how many schools or districts had policies either in favor or against, or no specific policy at all, but it has indeed been legal for ~23 years. I remember reading about it in the news in 1999 when I still lived in Utah. That's a long enough time to study and conclude whether it was a mistake or not. And from what I can tell, nobody can really come up with any data indicating anything bad happened. - Zero incidents of a student attacking a teacher and taking the gun and going on a spree. - Zero incidents of unbalanced teachers going on rampages. - Zero incidents of unbalanced teachers doing anything firearm related, even so much as disrupting a class. - Zero incidents of gang banger students showing up to challenge mr. Brown to a duel. The Homeland Security database on school violence contains 2055 entries, with Utah making up less than a tenth of a percent (that's 0.008) of the entries. That's 17 out of 2055. Out of those 17 entries, only one deals with an armed teacher. Looks like an elementary school teacher in Taylorsville negligently shot herself in the leg while trying to use the faculty bathroom. She resigned. Unless someone can come up with some sort of data or persuasive argument, it seems obvious to me that allowing school teachers and staff to get trained and carry concealed, is at the very, very least, a neutral thing that brings no disruption or danger. At best, it'll save lives. I read Ohio just legalized arming teachers after they have 24 hours of training. That's an awful lot more hours of training than what Utah requires.

Thanks Traveler - after much deliberation we asked the garage to go ahead with the repair. They will contact us if there are any complications. We shall just have to wait and see. But whatever happens I'd rather have my problems than those of someone in Ukraine. As Maude Royden said, "Learn to hold loosely all that is not eternal."

Just a note concerning your scientist friend. If the equipment was not his then I understand. A very important lesson I have learned is that it is seldom beneficial to "work" harder for others than they are willing to "work" for themselves. There are other options for the equipment. Your circumstance sounds to be most difficult for you. Hopefully, not too difficult. The Traveler

Thanks for the advice but I think a project of this magnitude is beyond me right now. Maybe if I had plenty of free time coming up and a second car I would give it a go, but as it is I fear I would be like the guy who started building the tower he couldn't finish. I have 2 contracts for grading school examination papers coming up which will take up most of my free time. My wife is about to go in for major surgery. We need the car running again asap and I can't risk everything on my own (questionable) automotive skills. But thanks for the advice I really appreciate it.

It's worth it to endure hard, scary, discouraging things that seem to result with little or no success. Let me say that again: It's worth it.

I sometimes wonder if anyone really knows what "prepared for a mission" really means. And given conditions today (boy have my missionaries got some stories) I wonder if we know. But I suppose they don't yet have an experience like Ammonihah.

Pretty sure that advice is more carefully worded today, something like, "Every young man should prepare to serve a full time mission."

He loves it….. second only to the Taylor Swift jukebox musical he’s crafting in his head.

Trav, your answer seems much more complex than any of the other answers I’ve seen! Lol!