M8 Irish M8
Post your initial answers by Wednesday at 11:30 PM. Then be sure to reply to a classmate by Saturday at 11:30 PM.
Be sure to backup your argument with facts, references and sound reasoning.
Read Case Study 8.4 “Have Gun, Will Travel….to Work’
Answer the following questions in your post: Questions 2, 3 and 4 at the end of the Case. For question 4, since it is being debated at the state and federal levels, answer it in relation to schools and teachers. Question 4 could be as follows:
- In your view do employees have either a moral or a legal right to park cars with guns in them in the company parking lot? If so, what about the property rights and safety concerns of employers? If employees don’t have this right, would it be good policy for companies to allow them to stow their cars anyway? Do companies have good grounds for being concerned about weapons in their parking lots?
Provided there are no regulations against doing so, employees do have a legal right to park their cars in company parking lots with their guns in them. If there is a restriction against doing so then the right is up to the private property owner. If an employer says no guns on property, then the employee must abide by the policy or face discipline and/or terminated for just cause. Morally I am of the opinion that a firearm should be under lock and key so if the vehicle is locked I don’t perceive this to be a problem. As far as property owners, they have the right to ask that employees not have firearms on their property especially with concern for the safety of others. If employees didn’t have this right it would not be good practice to allow employees to stow firearms in their cars anyway. If a company has a policy, they need to adhere to the policy or change the rule. Companies do have cause for concern for weapons in their parking lots; if the wrong person knows that employees have firearms in their vehicles at certain places of business, and that criminal decides to break into the vehicle to steal those firearms, the business is now partially on the hook for what happens with that firearm, since the firearm was stolen from private property. If the business did not provide adequate security, then they may be held liable in court for any bad deeds that occur.
- Do you agree with the NRA that if companies ban guns from their parking lots, this restriction would take “a wrecking ball to the Second Amendment’ or nullify the right of people to have weapons for self defense? Explain why or why not. In your view, have gun advocates been guilty of politicizing the issue? Do you think state legislatures are right to get involved, or should the matter be left up to companies and employees to settle?
I do not agree with the NRA that if companies ban guns from their parking lots they are somehow nullifying the second amendment. If an employer owns private property and does not want firearms on their property this their legal right to limit themselves from the exposure of having firearms on their property. The second amendment gives us the right “to keep and bear arms’ but it does not give us the right to carry a firearm wherever we want. I believe that gun advocates are guilty of sensationalizing and politicizing the issue of gun control. This is evidenced by a recent article in the New York times that displays how gun control laws are ar hot topic in this year’s midterm elections. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/politics/parkland-gun-control-politics-midterms.html Politicians are trying to distance themselves from their previous views and association with the NRA to gain votes for re-election. This is a direct assault on morality, they are merely doing and saying whatever it takes to get re-elected and not holding to the ethical code. Dishonest representation is what the electorate across the country is facing. I don’t think state legislators should get involved in the process of gun control because this is a business and private property issue. Employers should have this issue handled on their own and do not need to get the government involved.
- A school could choose, if it wished, to allow teachers to bring guns not only into the parking lot but also into the school itself. Are there ever circumstances in which doing so might be reasonable? Or would the presence of guns automatically violate the rights of students or other teachers to be guaranteed a safe learning environment? Feel free to comment on other aspects of having controlled guns in schools.
Teachers bringing guns to school has been an idea thrown out there since the Columbine shooting and after every other school shooting in the country. I work at a high school in Fairbanks and, personally, I think the idea is beyond ridiculous. I own firearms and I wouldn’t have a morale issue with ending someone’s life in the defense of myself or my family, however; I sure as hell wouldn’t bring a firearm to school. I would be terrified of the possibility of a student getting ahold of the gun, thus creating more of an issue. Thankfully our school board refused the vote that Fairbanks Assemblyman Lance Roberts presented to allow teachers to carry at school.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/politics/parkland-gun-control-politics-midterms.html
I believe having guns in school would be more dangerous because it would make the kids more fearful and may put ideas in their heads that they may otherwise not think of. Earlier this school year the high school I work at had a note delivered to the front office warning of a gun attack. The next day, with FPD on site with their own AR-15’s in tow, the kids were more freaked out about the cops than anything else.
School is supposed to be a safe place and adding more guns to a crowded high school just seems backwards to me. I do however believe that schools need to bring back the school resource officers – police officer in schools – which allows students and police to form a bond that is positive rather than assuming the police are the bad guys all the time – which is exactly how teeenagers act these days. I have had several conversations with coworkers at school and not one person said they are in favor of bringing guns to school. A safe learning environment happens when parents, teacher and students take a part in the community that is a school, we don’t need guns at school we need human connections.
This one is just funny:
https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/more-fairbanks-students-stage-walkout-over-gun-violence/article_0ac499c6-32fa-11e8-9547-371329d63e48.html