Long-range pepper spray: an alternative to arming teachers
The idea of arming teachers is a hot debate. In 2014, a sixth-grade teacher with a concealed carry permit (carrying a gun) was hurt when
the gun accidentally fired and hit a porcelain toilet in the faculty restroom, proving that teachers who are already familiar with concealed carry can make mistakes.
I wonder why nobody's talking about arming teachers with long-distance pepper spray? Pepper spray would disable a gunman if a person could get close enough.
Long-range pepper spray like this kind from Mace works at a distance of 25 feet and could be used by anyone without getting close to the gunman.
It seems easier to pull the trigger on a can of long-range pepper spray than to train teachers to become skilled marksmen who can shoot accurately under an intense nerve-wracking situation without killing innocent kids. I'm not advocating for kids to risk expulsion for carrying pepper spray, but if I were in high school again, I would absolutely carry this on me and not even tell my friends.
Preventing school violence is something that must be done on multiple levels. There's prevention and intervention. Arming teachers with guns and pepper spray would be considered intervention (and technically defense), but that doesn't make it any less important...
What do you think?
These were some great responses from former posters on this topic from our previous forum:
PostError wrote:The only really big issue I would see in this case, is the fact that Sabre Red Pepper Gel has one of the longest ranges on the market at 18 feet. So if a threat is more than 20 feet away, the spray is useless.
Subsequently, any standard firearm has a range of around 5,000 feet.
As long as the threat keeps his distance, there's nothing you can do to engage them. But they can definitely engage you, including chasing you as long as they don't get within 20 feet.
Here's another option I'd like to hear some thoughts on;
- RUBBER BULLETS
- PEPPERBALL GUNS
ryochan wrote:I think pepper spray is a far better alternative to guns, especially when considering the possible consequences of poor aiming/handling. One wrong move and an innocent child could be severely injured or killed. With pepper spray, there's still a chance of people in the surrounding area being sprayed, but the effects of that are far more manageable than a gunshot wound. My worry with pepper spray is that it could get into the wrong hands and be used to inflict pain in a non-self defense situation. Besides that, I think it's a much better idea than arming teachers with guns.