Here’s more proof that arming teachers as a way to solve gun violence is a terrible, no good idea. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher who agreed to gun training after 17 died in a mass shooting at his school is now facing gun charges himself. From ABC 10:
Science teacher Sean Simpson –- who was at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when 17 people were killed in a mass shooting – told deputies he accidentally left the gun in a stall at the bathroom at the Deerfield Beach Pier during a visit to the beach Sunday. While going back to retrieve it, he heard a gunshot and once back inside the bathroom, saw 69-year-old Joseph Spataro holding the gun. Simpson then snatched the gun out of Spataro's hands, deputies reported.
Simpson, 43, was arrested and charged with failing to safely store a firearm, a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 60 days in jail. He posted a $250 cash bond.
It isn’t hard to imagine this scenario happening inside the high school. It isn’t hard to imagine a child at the park getting hit with an errant bullet. The responding deputies noted as much in their report:
"There was a reasonable likelihood that the firearm could have ended up in the hands of a child or the discharge of the firearm could have wounded another person or child," deputies wrote in the arrest report.
Donald Trump encouraged the idea of arming teachers at his meeting with Simpson and other (hand-picked) survivors at a meeting to discuss gun violence.
When asked about the prospect raised by President Donald Trump of arming teachers, Simpson seemed open to the idea.
"I know there are some of us that are willing to take the training if it was offered and probably be another line of defense," he said. "But again that is a complicated subject and I'm not sure if it's the answer. I think it's easier to get these types of weapons out of the hands of people that aren't meant to do anything but kill."