(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Georgia Lt. Gov. proposes $10,000 annual bonus for teachers to carry guns in schools [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-25 An immodest proposal Georgia public schools rank #31 in the country. The state’s Lt. Governor has proposed paying teachers $10,000 annually to carry a gun. This amounts to a pay increase of around 20%. Yet, I am not sure how that will address Georgia’s below-average scholastic rank. But that is what happens when you have no interest in education. And are only determined to push the gun lobby’s agenda and feather your own political nest. The punitive cost To read the link in the tweet, click HERE. When a supposed fiscal conservative wants to disguise the total expense of a policy, they simply do not mention it. They will admit the unit cost — and hope no one does the math. In 2022, there were 115,647 teachers in Georgia public schools. Should they all elect to carry a gun, it would cost the state’s taxpayers more than $1.1 billion. And that does not include the money already spent on armed guards and up-armoring school buildings. None of these expenses are a feature of school systems in other developed countries — who think that school resources should be spent on education, not Rambo fantasies. In fairness, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is not mandating teachers carry guns. Magnanimously, he will even allow local school boards to opt out of the program. However, you can be sure that fake grass-roots organizations like Moms for Liberty will target school board members who favor common sense over giveaways to the gun lobby. In addition, Jones insists that the project will not be a burden on local school districts. As he puts it in his press release : “Adhering to our principles, this legislation will maintain local decision-making and will not come with any unfunded mandates.” This guarantee of funding raises the question, where will the money come from? Georgia politicians will not raise taxes, so existing programs will have to be cut — which will necessarily involve slashing social support, nutrition, and health initiatives. In addition, Jones ran for office with a promise to eliminate the state income tax. So powerless Georgians will get further hurt. The sheer stupidity The most perfidious deceit perpetrated by the gun lobby on the unsuspecting citizen is NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s bullshit epistrophe, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” The inaction of 376 cops for over an hour at the Uvalde, TX. school massacre should have nailed the coffin shut on the idea that more guns are the answer to gun violence. The profound stupidity of the idea that armed teachers are a panacea for school shootings is exacerbated by the reality of what happens when guns are present. Studies have consistently shown that people are more likely to be shot in a home with a gun than in one without. A gun nut might try to wave that stat away by saying domestic gun violence is unlikely to happen in a school. However, children in homes with guns are far more likely to be accidentally shot than kids in gun-free homes. And there is no place where there are more kids than in a school. I imagine every gun owner believes themselves to be a responsible citizen, but self-awareness is not a robust human trait. I suspect that most people think they are at least OK drivers. Yet 42,939 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2021 — and there are more than 6 million car accidents annually. (Note: Any sarcastic suggestion by a gun zealot claiming that statistic means we should ban cars can be dismissed. In America, people need cars to get to work and run errands. But the vast majority of Americans get by without owning a gun.) Adults are imperfect. Children are inquisitive. If only a tiny fraction of a sea of guns falls into juvenile hands, the result will be an increase in death and injury. Arming teachers to prevent gun violence is something Orwell wishes he had thought of. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/25/2201628/-Georgia-Lt-Gov-proposes-10-000-annual-bonus-for-teachers-to-carry-guns-in-schools?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/