The growing call for arming teachers is getting louder than gunfire. Forget that the tactic would protect students as well as holding dynamite over a chemistry class Bunsen burner. What about the cost in these fiscally fraught times? Here are quick back-of-a-napkin estimates: 7.2 million teachers nationwide multiplied by $500 for the Glock G17 pistol, preferred by many in law enforcement, equals roughly $3.6 billion. Add another $250 for two training courses the first year alone. That’s $1.8 billion more. What about holsters and ammo? The SuperTuck Deluxe concealed holster is $30. Cha-ching! That $216 million gets us to $5.6 billion. Finally, $15 for 9mm Luger bullets, box of 50 per teacher, adds $108 million. Let’s round off for a grand total of $5.7 billion. That’s only teachers. What about the nearly half-million education administrators? What about fighting fire with fire by adding expensive semi-automatic rifles like the one Adam Lanza used at Sandy Hook Elementary? And so on.
That other sound you hear is the gun industry salivating.
