Note
Based on events that happened on April 13, I add a bit to the end of this article.
OK, admit it. If you are a guy, at some point in your life you strapped on a toy six-shooter and played cowboy from the "Old West". You pretended to shoot up cattle rustlers and bank robbers. We learned about all of this stuff from that new-fangled device called a "television"! I remember sitting on the floor in front of the "boob-tube" for hours watching these new heroes:
Wild West on TV
Here were some of the role-models of the 50s:
Roy Rogers
Gene_Autry
The Lone Ranger and Tonto
There were many others, and the movies were full of these stories. My father used to read western paperbacks constantly, and I remember boxes full of these books in our utility room.
Those days are long gone
The Wild West is gone, and cowboys no longer wear their six-shooters strapped to their leg. Entire generations of kids grew up thinking that Texas was full of such folks, living a life of running cattle, drinking in the saloon, getting into fist-fights that always ended up with someone blowing through a window in the saloon, and riding off into the sunset on their trusty horse.
Well, I went through the horse phase years ago, and that part was fun, but I never got into cattle. I do remember sitting by a camp fire at Rush Creek Land and Cattle Company in Lisco, Nebraska on the night before a 100 mile endurance horse race across the 150,000 acres of the ranch when Tom Wells, who owned the place, spotted a lone cow away from the herd. As he leaped up on his horse (he was in his late 70s at the time) he said to us this:
What can you say about humans when they leap onto the world's second dumbest animal to chase after the world's first dumbest animal?
We all had a good laugh at that one.
But not forgotten
Apparently, the Texas Legislature has not forgotten those good old days, and is doing something to bring them back. This is just plain crazy stuff, folks!
Yesterday, in the paper, I saw a headline that the Legislature has passed an early vote on allowing students and staff to carry concealed handguns on campus. I suppose this is in response to all those shootings that happen at schools across the country, but I am not thinking this is a good answer. If this bill passes, it means every student will be able to "pack heat" when they come into my classroom at school. I am not sure I like that idea. No, I am very sure I DO NOT LIKE THAT IDEA!
Most students are nice enough folks, but every once in a while you always run into someone whose head is not screwed on quite right. Imagine such a student getting a bad test back, and deciding to do something about it. I shudder to even think about it. The solution is obvious. Teachers will need to strap on those holsters, wear them publicly so everyone knows who is in charge of the classroom, and make sure they are quick-draw artists. If anyone, student or otherwise enters my classroom with a gun drawn, I will need to take action, just like in those old TV shows!
I guess I need to go pick up something and start training. Maybe I will even wear my Stetson to class with my new attire!
Or else, I might resort to James Garner's tactic in "Support Your Local Sheriff":
Postscript
On April 13, there was a shooting at a Community College in North Carolina, that ended up with one student dead. This event was a hot topic at school today, and opinions are certainly mixed on what it all means. I suspect some of our political "leaders" will use this as justification for pushing this bill through, while others will see it as another example of why guns in school is a bad idea. One things is sure. No mater what the law says, some folks will carry guns wherever they like and use them whenever they feel the need. Hopefully, only someone who is off balanced will do such a thing, but it sure looks like more and more of those off balanced folks are around.
One comment I have heard more than once since all of this guns in school debate started is that many teachers will retire before they will enter a room full of students carrying concealed handguns. Personally, I do not want guns in my classroom. We have better things to be focused on. But if this law passes, I am asking a friend to start tooling up my holster. I will also be campaigning for unconcealed handguns to be strapped to the leg of every teacher.
"Go ahead, make my day!" to quote a famous movie line.
Comments
There are no comments yet.