Plan B Forum

The US state of South Dakota has enacted a law allowing school districts to arm teachers and other school staff.



The law's backers say it will prevent mass school shootings like a December massacre in Connecticut that killed 26.

Amid a push by the White House to strengthen gun laws, the bill reflects a growing divide in the US over whether more or fewer guns keep people safe.

The measure does not force school districts to arm teachers and will not require teachers to carry guns.

But it allows each school district to choose if staff could be armed. It takes effect in July.

Under the Republican-sponsored bill, school staff given permission to carry firearms on campus will be known as "school sentinels". The state has given a law enforcement commission the task of establishing a training programme for the sentinels.

Several representatives of school boards, teachers and other staff spoke against the bill in legislative hearings, arguing guns would make schools more dangerous.

But sponsor Representative Scott Craig said this week had heard from a number of school officials who back it.

Mr Craig said rural districts do not have the money to hire full-time police officers.

Gob wrote:"...

What will the excuse be when the first Dakota teacher goes postal and shoots a class up?

The measure does not force school districts to arm teachers and will not require teachers to carry guns.

But it allows each school district to choose if staff could be armed. It takes effect in July.

oldr_n_wsr wrote:

The measure does not force school districts to arm teachers and will not require teachers to carry guns.

But it allows each school district to choose if staff could be armed. It takes effect in July.

It allows each district to decide for itself.
I have no problem with it with one stipulation, those carrying need to pass a gun safety course and a sanity check.

oldr_n_wsr wrote:Had even one of the school officials (principal, teacher) in Newtown been armed, there might have been far fewer children dead.
Many people carry guns around children. Many children are around guns, are brought up with guns and are taught gun safety at an early age. Carrying a gun around children does not indicate one is not sane as you are suggesting.
How many cops go into schools to teach about DARE or other programs and carry their service revolvers?

Except that he had the element of surprise and a much better gun. And if they were armed he would have known it and prepared for it.

Maine town of Byron plans mandatory gun-ownership vote


A small town in the US state of Maine is planning to hold a symbolic vote to require each household to own a gun.

Officials in Byron, population 140, say they understand the move would be unenforceable because the state does not allow municipal firearm laws.

It would join a handful of communities across the US considering similar measures in support of gun ownership.

Byron's vote comes amid a White House campaign to strengthen gun laws after a mass school shooting in December.


"My purpose was to make a statement in support of the Second Amendment," said head selectman Anne Simmons-Edmund, of the vote, which is expected to be held at the town's annual meeting on Monday.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution refers to the right of citizens "to keep and bear arms".

However, restrictions on lawful gun ownership vary by state.

Ms Simmons-Edmund, who is also a police officer in nearby Dixfield, said 90% of residents in the town already own a firearm, but the measure also reflected community concern about the remote area's rising crime rates, which she said have nearly tripled in the last year.

"We're not going to invade anybody's privacy,'' Ms Simmons-Edmunds said. "We just want to send a statement that we're not going to give up our guns."

Not all in Byron were supportive of the move.

"It gives new meaning to the term March Madness," Byron resident Philip Paquette told Reuters news agency, referring to the popular name of America's national collegiate basketball tournament.

"She is infringing on the rights of townspeople. I'm a hunter and own guns, and I have a right to. People also have a right not to own guns."

A similar proposal failed in Sabattus, Maine, where town officials voted not to send the measure to voters.

The Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Georgia, passed a similar law in 1982, and two other cities - Spring City, Utah, and Greenleaf, Idaho - have laws on the books recommending gun ownership for all households.

Nelson, Georgia is also set to vote on mandatory gun ownership on 1 April

North Dakota has banned abortion once a foetal heartbeat can be detected - as early as six weeks - in the most restrictive law of its kind in the US.

Governor Jack Dalrymple signed a second law banning abortions based on genetic abnormalities.

He approved a third law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital-admitting privileges.

Correspondents say the laws are in part an effort to close the state's only abortion clinic, in the town of Fargo.

The measures, which take effect on 1 August, make no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

Gov Dalrymple said: "Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v Wade."

In that landmark 1973 case, the US Supreme Court ruled abortion was legal until the foetus could survive outside the womb.

The governor said that the court has allowed states to adopt stricter abortion measures, and has never before considered a measure like this one - leaving the constitutionality of the bills an "open question".

Gov Dalrymple added the state should put money aside to pay for legal challenges to the laws.

Under the North Dakota bills, women would not be prosecuted for having an abortion after a foetal heartbeat could be detected, but doctors could face five years in prison and a $5,000 (£3,300) penalty.

Pro-choice advocates vowed to challenge the legislation.

Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood, said: "This sweeping package of bills will not stand up to constitutional scrutiny.

"But as a result of North Dakota's leaders' disregard for women's health, the state will endure months and years of drawn-out litigation costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars."

In addition, North Dakota's Republican-dominated legislature last week set up a voter referendum for November 2014 which seeks to amend the state constitution to define life as beginning at conception.

The amendment would grant full legal protection to embryos and foetuses and could outlaw some forms of birth control, stem-cell research and possibly in vitro fertilisation.

Earlier in March, the Republican-controlled legislature in the state of Arkansas enacted tough abortion laws, banning the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Scientists generally agree that foetuses become "viable" or able to survive outside the womb at about 22-24 weeks.

In addition, North Dakota's Republican-dominated legislature last week set up a voter referendum for November 2014 which seeks to amend the state constitution to define life as beginning at conception.

God‏@TheTweetOfGod

With all due respect, North Dakota, you're the last state that should be defining what constitutes "life".

rubato wrote:The mistake is so basic that I'm amazed at how often it is repeated.

Life cannot "begin" at conception because it occurs only when a living ova and a living sperm fuse.

Life is perpetuated or continued at conception. But it never begins there, at least so far.

yrs,
rubato

Fertilisation (also known as conception, fecundation and syngamy) is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo.

rubato wrote:The mistake is so basic that I'm amazed at how often it is repeated.

Life cannot "begin" at conception because it occurs only when a living ova and a living sperm fuse.

Life is perpetuated or continued at conception. But it never begins there, at least so far.

yrs,
rubato