The Fort Hood shooting took place on November 5, 2009, at the most populous U.S. military installation in the world. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman, an army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 29 others.
The armed guards, base police, base security systems, and trained servicemen were unable to prevent this massacre and I can't believe that any rational thinking human being would believe that police on campus, armed teachers, and security systems can or will prevent the next rampage of a mentally ill person with access to guns that assaults people at a school; or a mall; or a theater; or any other place where people gather.
Mentally ill people need treatment and when necessary residential care and treatment centers to keep them from harming themselves or others. Unfortunately, services for the mentally ill are always among the first places deficit hawks look to make budget cuts. Consequently, people in need of care and treatment are denied the requisite treatment, care, and support systems necessary to address their individual needs and the needs of society. The untreated and unsupervised mentally ill are allowed to move about in our communities until they are arrested for criminal behavior, convicted, and sentenced to the jail, the institution of last resort.
Until then, the mentally ill and the people that they come in contact with are at ever increasing risk of violent acting out that can inflict injuries and fatalities on themselves and others.
We can and should do better but that should not include arming teachers or others at our schools.