Our question for Bob Beers, a man who wanted to be governor of Nevada, is why his school safety proposal stops at arming teachers? Why not also mandate bulletproof school uniforms for students? Maybe he could have all the pencil sharpeners removed to ensure students don't have access to sharp objects that could be used as weapons.
The last two things aren't much more ludicrous than Beers' proposal, which is meant to counter reports of more than a dozen guns confiscated at Clark County schools this year.
Beers announced he is planning to introduce the bill in February and we can only hope it's disposed of quickly before it wastes too much time or taxpayer money. Lawmakers will have serious business to focus on and there will be little time for publicity stunts.
The problems with arming teachers are many and obvious. The mere presence of guns in a classroom, no matter who they are held by, creates a higher likelihood for trouble. Not even police officers highly trained in the use of guns in stressful situations always react correctly. And imagine what such a proposal would do to the state's image. Would you move your family to a school district that features armed teachers?
Las Vegas may indeed have a problem with school violence, but it should be addressed within its school district. The rest of the state, including Carson City, has made great strides in preparing for the unthinkable, including instant lockdowns and training so that everyone knows what to do if a student brings a gun to school.
None of this is a guarantee that there won't be an incident like the one that happened in Pennsylvania this autumn when a gunman killed five students. Statistically speaking, however, there are hundreds of risks that parents should be more concerned about.