Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Saturday March 03 2018, @07:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the mental-issues dept.

The Los Angeles Times reports

After their teacher fires a gun at school, Georgia students use opportunity to challenge Trump's proposal

Jesse Randall Davidson wasn't a stranger, some mysterious threat from the outside. He was a bearded, bespectacled, 53-year-old social studies teacher and the play-by-play announcer for the football games at Dalton High School in northwest Georgia.

But when the teacher brought a gun to school, barricaded himself in his classroom [February 28], and fired a single shot, students quickly recognized that this wasn't just a sad local incident.

Amid national outrage over school shootings--and suggestions by President Trump that schools would be safer if some teachers packed guns--it was a political event.

"my favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot", a 16-year-old student named Chondi Chastain tweeted at the National Rifle Assn., earning more than 17,000 retweets. "We had to run out The back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe."

[...] When students came to his door at room 413 during third period--a time his classroom is normally empty--it was locked, and Davidson wouldn't let them in, police said later.

"My brother, who was one door down from the teacher, said he was yelling at his students to 'get the [expletive] out of here'", junior Henry Hansen, 17, wrote in a private message on Twitter.

The principal, Steve Bartoo, tried to unlock the door with a key, but Davidson "slammed the door before I could open it and said, 'Don't come in here, I have a gun'", Bartoo said at a televised news conference.

Bartoo put the school into lockdown mode, and soon after, Davidson "apparently fired a shot from a handgun through an exterior window of the classroom", Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier said at a separate news conference. "It did not appear that it was aimed at anybody."

[...] Dalton police, the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office, the Georgia State Patrol, and federal law enforcement agencies all responded to the emergency. "More or less everybody with a badge in the area came running", Frazier said.

After about half an hour, Davidson surrendered and was taken into custody

[...] The Dalton students immediately turned to social media to take issue with Trump's calls to arm teachers.

Heavy.com adds

Records show Davidson has been charged with aggravated assault with a gun, terroristic threats and acts, carrying a weapon in a school safety zone without a license, reckless conduct, disrupting public school, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He is being held without bail at the Whitfield County Jail.

[...] Davidson has a history of bizarre medical episodes both at school and outside of school, The Chattanoogan reports.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Troll) by jmorris on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:09AM (28 children)

    by jmorris (4844) on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:09AM (#646965)

    I know you are trying for sarcasm but there is a photo circulating around the right side of the web of a groups of young school children on a field trip and a pretty young teacher herding them. Perfectly normal scene other than the scary black rifle she has across her back. Guess where?

    Israel. They had shooty PLO types get the idea schools were nice soft targets. They armed the teachers and there were two subsequent attempts, both ended with teachers quickly dispatching the terrorists. After that, no attempts. Think about it. Terrorists won't try schools if the teachers are armed. Think some attention seeking punk wanting to try his hand at a new "high score" will? Do you actually care more about children or keeping the issue?
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   0  
       Flamebait=1, Troll=2, Insightful=1, Interesting=1, Informative=1, Total=6
    Extra 'Troll' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 5, Disagree) by FakeBeldin on Saturday March 03 2018, @11:00AM (20 children)

    by FakeBeldin (3360) on Saturday March 03 2018, @11:00AM (#646989) Journal

    So you think that when it comes to the risk of gun violence in schools, terrorism acts by a nearby harshly oppressed population are a good model for the United States?

    There's no simple solution to the problems in the Middle East, but if you're claiming that the US is turning into the Middle East and thus guns are necessary at schools... I'd suggest you to give "stop turning into the Middle East" a try first. Who knows, you might even like it.

    • (Score: 5, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 03 2018, @11:59AM (13 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Saturday March 03 2018, @11:59AM (#647010) Homepage Journal

      We protect our politicians, who pretty much everyone hates, with armed security. Do we like our children less than we like our politicians?

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Saturday March 03 2018, @12:38PM (1 child)

        by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 03 2018, @12:38PM (#647025) Journal

        This is, how shall I put it, a killer argument.

        --
        Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @02:36PM (9 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @02:36PM (#647056)

        We protect our politicians, who pretty much everyone hates, with armed security.

        Yeah, why would those people, who everyone in a nation of gun owners hates, need armed security? It'll always be a mystery.

        So, do we give the teachers guns as they propose in the TFS, or just replace teachers with security guards? Apparently, hiring a trained security guard to protect the school is out of the question.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:08PM (4 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:08PM (#647100) Journal

          Apparently, hiring a trained security guard to protect the school is out of the question.

          Several teachers would be involved no matter what happens. While a security guard may end up outside by his car waiting [washingtonpost.com] for the shooting to stop.

          • (Score: 3, Touché) by bzipitidoo on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:54PM (3 children)

            by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:54PM (#647134) Journal

            Clearly alcohol is less dangerous than guns. Therefore, if guns are allowed in schools, alcohol should also be allowed. It's for our safety, because then we can keep everyone too drunk to shoot straight.

            Also, let's bring hardcore porn into schools. Make love, not war, right? Have the kids all come to the auditorium a few times per year and watch some porn stars do live performances. Sex education is important!

            We also need more gambling. Give classes on poker in which kids bet with real money, preferably their own. Keep them too broke to afford assault rifles and bullets.

            Extreme sports is another. Taking the kids on a hunting trip is okay, but, how shall I say it? Passe. We need water skiing with jump ramps so they can learn to do triple flips. And we need rock climbing. Without safety ropes. I mean, come on, ropes are a crutch, like training wheels on a bicycle. Keep it real! We could add guns to the mix, like water ski with BB guns, or paintball guns, so the students can try for a target during their triple flips.

            Also, the kids all ought to visit slaughterhouses. Or, bring the slaughterhouse to the school. Have them set up in the school cafeteria and do a demonstration just before lunch, you know? See chickens turned into chicken nuggets, cows turned into hamburger and steak, and pigs turned into hams. Then serve it up fresh. Yeah, it's not pretty, but it's real.

            I haven't even mentioned religion, because that's a real can of worms, bringing that into school.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:21PM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:21PM (#647142) Journal
              That was such a convincing argument. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
            • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @06:44PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @06:44PM (#647176)
            • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 06 2018, @02:20PM

              by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 06 2018, @02:20PM (#648497) Journal

              So? where's the punchline?

              --
              Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:11PM (1 child)

          by Sulla (5173) on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:11PM (#647103) Journal

          Politicians needing armed security tells me the 2nd amendment is working.

          --
          Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
          • (Score: 2) by dry on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:26PM

            by dry (223) on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:26PM (#647143) Journal

            The 2nd was as much about not having a standing army as your founding fathers had experience with how standing armies lead to tyranny.

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday March 03 2018, @06:47PM

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Saturday March 03 2018, @06:47PM (#647180) Homepage Journal

          Highly trained is not necessary for a security guard. We send people off to war with only a few months worth. Security guards, guns being as simple to operate as they are, really only need to know not to touch their gun unless they mean to use it and never to point it at anything they don't intend to make dead. Even knowing how to clean them properly is optional as rarely as they'll be fired.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:11AM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:11AM (#647352) Journal

          Neither. We don't "give the teachers guns". Instead, we remove the obstacles that prevent teachers from carrying. Then, we incentivize teachers carrying. Then, we require reasonable qualifications, to be sure that not just ANY teacher is carrying. For instance, Suzy Shrinking Violet has decided that she might possibly help to defend her students in an emergency - but she has never owned, or even touched a firearm in her life. Suzy requires some training, before she can be permitted to carry, wouldn't you say? Note, that I haven't precluded Suzy from becoming qualified - I have only pointed out that she needs training.

          Other teachers might be disqualified - like the asshole in the article.

      • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Saturday March 03 2018, @07:55PM

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Saturday March 03 2018, @07:55PM (#647235)

        I hate kids... but I hate polititicans a lot more.

        --
        "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
    • (Score: 5, Informative) by tonyPick on Saturday March 03 2018, @03:19PM (2 children)

      by tonyPick (1237) on Saturday March 03 2018, @03:19PM (#647080) Homepage Journal

      Also, minor point, but the image referenced by GP is here, and that's almost certainly not a teacher either.

      https://www.snopes.com/is-armed-teacher-students-israel/ [snopes.com]

      This image does show a woman with a gun at her hip watching over or looking over a group of children. However, this photograph was not taken in a classroom, and the pictured woman is most likely a security guard, not a teacher.

      Which quotes Israel Today: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23572/Default.aspx [israeltoday.co.il]

      There is a picture going around the Internet that I have seen about a dozen times today that claims that Israeli teachers are packing heat. Well, are they? The answer is “NO.”
      ...
      In the picture, the students are on an outing. While it appears that the teacher is holding a rifle, I have never seen such a thing in ten years of living here. Rest assured however, they are under armed protection. In most cases it is an armed guard or a soldier that will accompany a class, not the teacher. And my guess is that the woman with the gun is a security guard, not a teacher.

      Secondly, they are not armed in the classroom.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:34PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:34PM (#647278)

        Snopes knows you will make assumptions about soldiers and teachers based on American culture. These assumptions are wrong.

        See how quickly you can figure it out:

        All classes in Israel are taught by soldiers. The school janitor is a soldier. The school bus drivers are soldiers. The school administration is all soldiers. School cafeteria workers are soldiers. School nurses are soldiers.

        Still wondering why? They are adult Israeli citizens. They all serve in the military because Israel requires it. Both men and women are mandated to serve in the military.

        Even if somehow Snopes is lucky enough to be correct in speculating that "the pictured woman is most likely a security guard", that doesn't change the fact that every teacher is trained to operate a full-auto military rifle. Every sweet little 1st-grade teacher has been trained to machine-gun the enemy to death.

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:16AM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:16AM (#647355) Journal

          You overstate your case, by some margin. Not EVERYONE is a soldier, in Israel. Just as any other society, there are some who are unfit for service. So - maybe the janitor isn't a soldier. Or, maybe it's the principal. Suffice to say, in any given school, with a staff greater than 20, there are probably one or two adults who are not soldiers.

          But, universal conscrition is a wonderful thing. ALMOST everyone is qualified to step up, and defend the children! Here, in the US? Maybe one in fifty has the qualifications, and maybe that person also has the balls to do what is necessary.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:58PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @04:58PM (#647136)

      So you think that when it comes to the risk of gun violence in schools, terrorism acts by a nearby harshly oppressed population are a good model for the United States?

      Sure. It's almost smart, if not prescient: if you are planning to oppress large sections of your own population, now is the time to start preparing for such scenarios.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @09:39PM (#647280)

      I'd suggest you to give "stop turning into the Middle East" a try first. Who knows, you might even like it.

      People who support guns tend to be people who support a Muslim ban. Can we have your support for that? We want to control Muslims at least as well as China does.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:06AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:06AM (#647349) Journal

      Fake argument, which should be unworthy of notice.

      Violence is violence, by and large. You meet violence with either submission, or greater, overwhelming violence. Those who submit are likely to die. Those who fight have some chance of surviving. That is the choice. Submit or fight.

      Israel fights. You advocate submission. In this instance, I'll side with the Israelis.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:26PM (6 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Saturday March 03 2018, @05:26PM (#647144) Homepage Journal

    So true! These shooters are TERRORISTS. And one thing we know about terrorists, they're VERY COWARDLY. For them to go into a classroom like the one in that picture, and the teacher, maybe, is armed and very gun-adept, very bad situation for the terrorist. It's like suicide. They're not going to do it, they'll find a softer target. Where they can go in, shoot, and leave. Without putting themselves in danger. Because terrorists have families like we do. They have to make a living like we do. They care about their health like we do. And getting shot, maybe getting killed, is very frightening to them!

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @10:57PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 03 2018, @10:57PM (#647319)

      They will find a softer target. Morning route at one of the last stops before the school. Board bus with ar15.

      Hardening schools might just shift where it is done. Sadly.

      • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:30AM

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:30AM (#647364) Homepage Journal

        So true, that is so true.

        Let me tell you, Ariana Grande, great American singer. And she gave a concert in #Manchester [twitter.com], in England. Where they hardened the stadium, the arena, where she was singing. England, they have big problems with the terrorists.. Because their government is VERY WEAK & INEFFECTIVE. And a Radical Islamic terrorist, an ISIS terrorist, came with a bomb, he set off a bomb. He didn't go in the hardened area, but it was still a big problem. Because he set it off where people were waiting outside. So many people killed & injured, and a lot were children. #NeverForget [twitter.com]

        9-11, we hardened all the airplanes after that one, right? And put in the security check at our airports. But Los Angeles, so much "carnage" going on there. Big problems with terrorists. And a couple of times, the terrorists didn't even try to get on a plane. They went into the terminal, they started shooting in the terminal. And killed a few people. Including one of our brave TSA agents. They didn't bring bombs, thank God. It could have been so much worse. It was just guns -- that's why you don't hear about it -- it still wasn't great. Bush, Obama, terrible presidents, they did nothing. But what could they do? The planes, the airports are hardened. But guys come to the edge of where it's hardened, they start shooting, maybe they're bringing bombs, what can you do?

        The White House in Washington, I wasn't there today. I was at my Southern White House, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. As I wrote in my Journal. But as everybody knows we have a fence around the White House in Washington. A tall, beautiful fence. Which served my predecessors very well, it's serving me very well. And today we had a guy, not a bad guy, maybe sick -- there's something about the White House that really attracts the crazies. A harmless guy, maybe just a loser. But he came up by the fence and he shot himself in the head. And left a terrible mess. My White House is hardened, he didn't make a mess in there. That would have been so much worse -- you don't know how hard @FLOTUS [twitter.com] and I have been working on sprucing it up. After years of neglect. A lot of work, a lot of expense fixing it up. The carpets, the drapes, everything. So blood spatters are the last thing we need right now. I mean, who wants that, right?

        I don't have all the answers, But I'm going to get them. I'm LISTENING to our amazing students & parents -- the very brave survivors. LISTENING to our terrific NRA, who work so hard on Gun Rights. And NEGOTIATING with our folks in Congress. On both sides. And believe me, we're going to do the right thing. We're going to PROTECT THE CHILDREN. And maybe we'll have to harden our whole Country. We can start at the Border. More than ever wee need to BUILD THE WALL!

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:20AM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 04 2018, @12:20AM (#647360) Journal

      You lose. To qualify as a terrorist, one has to have some political agenda, or make a political statement. Most of these shooters are just fucking nuts. They aren't doing it for God, or for country, or for the party, or any other recognizable cause. They don't seek to control the civilian population with the threat of violence. It's just murder and mayhem.

      While an Islamic terrorist is worthy of contempt, that terrorist floats slightly higher in the cesspool than the average school shooter.

      • (Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday March 04 2018, @03:11AM

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday March 04 2018, @03:11AM (#647453) Homepage Journal

        You don't hear that too much, where our politicians just start shooting. We send in our military, our military guys do a lot of shooting, it's not the same. Dan White, big politician in San Francisco, a Supervisor. And he shot the mayor, he shot another Supervisor. He killed them so Dianne Feinstein could become Mayor. And now she's one of our best Dem Senators.

        But the guys who go shooting in schools, not politicians. I don't think we have politicians doing that. So maybe let's not call it terrorism. We don't have to call it terrorism. I mean, it's very political. Because when we have these shootings -- the bigger ones -- the Gun Control folks lose their minds. Our Dem politicians get a little scared, because that's their base. But usually, our politicians say, "this is no big deal, we'll talk about it later." But if they ever talk about it -- as we're doing now -- the Gun Rights folks lose their minds. And our Republican politicians get a little scared, because that's their base. Not me, I'm not afraid of our great Second Amendment people. So, it's not politicians shooting, but there's a lot of politics to it.

        The 9-11 attacks, the World Trade Center. People don't know this, nobody ever claimed responsibility. Osama bin Laden -- or whoever did it, maybe it was him, maybe it was our Deep State elites, we don't know -- never said, "have a war on Iraq, have a war on Afghanistan, put soldiers in the airports, wiretapp everybody." They didn't have to say it. And maybe if they said it, we would have done something else, right? If they did the statement, maybe it wouldn't matter. Because Baby Bush had something to prove to Daddy Bush. He wanted to do what Daddy had the common sense to NOT do. And we lost Saddam Hussein. Not a great guy, Iraq was 100% better with him. And the world was 100% better. Not a good guy but he was good at killing terrorists.

        The school shootings, we don't have to call them terrorism, we can just call it shooting. Unless radical Islamists do it. San Bernardino. The thing is, these shooters are always VERY COWARDLY. They have lives to live, just like you. Just like me. Maybe they're not the biggest winners, maybe they're losers. They still have something to lose. Their family -- I always say, we need to go after the families -- their job, their health, their money. Sex. The things we all live for. They don't want to get locked up. They don't want to get shot. And especially they don't want to get killed.

        So we harden the schools, we have maybe 20% of our teachers with the concealed carry. Maybe more than 20%, I mean, it was at least that many at the school I went to, the military boarding school. So many had been great and brave soldiers in our military. Very gun-adept teachers who were discharged from the Marines, the Army, the Air Force. Maybe Navy, I don't know about those Navy guys..........I'm just giving you a hard time, I'm very proud of our Navy -- but they need to be more careful with our ships. We do extreme vetting, the good & very gun-adept teachers get guns. The bad or crazy teachers, the teachers who aren't gun-adept, no guns. A shooter -- I'm not saying TERRORIST -- comes into a classroom, he doesn't know if it's a good teacher with a gun or a sick/bad/not-adept teacher without a gun. 80% of the time, no gun. But 20%, the teacher has a gun. Or a couple of guns, right? It's concealed so you never know. And maybe, probably, the shooter gets shot. Unless he shoots first and he's very gun-adept. But maybe he's nervous. You tweeted something very smart, you tweeted "HE IS HYPED UP ON ADRENALINE" and many drugs. Our Good Teachers with Guns won't be hyped up, or strung out, on drugs. Because we'll do the vetting. And they won't be hyped up on Adrenaline because they'll have military training. You get that training, it gives you nerves of steel. For life. I went to military boarding school, it was very difficult. But it did a lot for me, it made me who I am. A guy who, when there's a crisis, I'm always calm. I do the right thing, very calmly. With my emotions ALWAYS, ALWAYS under control.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @07:56PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @07:56PM (#647704)

        Crazy bastard does crazy shit - and it may be politically motivated. Let us remember that "crazy" doesn't preclude intelligence, politics, religion, or much of anything else.

        - Runaway1956 [soylentnews.org]

        To qualify as a terrorist, one has to have some political agenda, or make a political statement.

        - Runaway1956

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @09:01PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 04 2018, @09:01PM (#647723) Journal

          Very good, AC - now, do you understand that a school shooter MAY BE politically motivated, or he may just be batshit crazy? Most school shooters seem to belong in the latter group, because they never make any kind of political statement.