On Monday afternoon, in the aftermath of the school shooting in Nashville, CNN was promoting precisely the opposite of what would likely provide better protection for schools as law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe argued against arming school teachers.
Even though teachers would be able to respond immediately more quickly than police could arrive, McCabe oddly argued that the failure of Nashville police to stop the six murders was somehow evidence that armed teachers could not have fared better.
CNN host Alex Marquardt brought up the subject shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern: "We can expect to hear again an argument for training teachers, arming teachers, for more guns in schools. What do you say to that?"
After arguing that Nashville police had done a superb job in its rapid response, he then added:
...all the indications are that this was an ideal law enforcement response, and still you have seven people dead. The sad fact is, you will never be faster than the shooter. You are always behind the shooter. The best you can do is to limit the damage.
He then jumped to the illogical conclusion that armed teachers could not have improved matters:
And the idea that, "Okay, let's flood the zone with civilians carrying firearms" -- civilians who aren't trained to the level of law enforcement, who are no more prepared than your average (inaudible) agents (audio gap) the idea that (audio gap) have a violent person walk through the door one day, it's just -- it's fiction to think that that's going to change this situation.
A couple of hours later, CNN host Boris Sanchez cued up Democratic State Representative Bob Freeman to complain that the state's Republican governor, Bill Lee, has relaxed gun laws instead of tightening them. Sanchez posed:
...something that popped out at me, reportedly, Governor Bill Lee last year -- in June of 2022, following the massacre in Uvalde -- signed an executive order to harden schools -- to actually try to prevent the very thing that we are witnessing today. And yet that executive order included no new gun restrictions. Was that a mistake?
Freeman claimed that Tennesseans "don't have the courage" to impose more gun control as he responded:
I think it's clearly a mistake. You know, we continue to act as if there isn't a solution or we don't know what to do. And the answer is -- is -- is before us. Other countries have had meaningful impact on gun violence, and there's a playbook that we should follow. And folks in Tennessee just don't have the courage and the backbone to do it.
By contrast, on Tuesday's The Steve Malzberg Show, right-leaning crime researcher John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center recalled that thousands of schools in some states have allowed teachers to have guns, and have had a much better record of deterring mass shootings than have gun free zones. He also pointed out that, unfortunately, Tennessee still does not employ the tactic of arming teachers as a deterrent.
We have 20 states -- unfortunately not including Tennessee -- where teachers and staff are allowed to carry guns. ... The thing is, we have decades of experience now, and all the school shootings where anybody has been killed or wounded -- every single attack since 2000 -- has occurred in schools where guns were banned.
Dr. Lott also recalled that it has been well-documented that mass shooters sometimes openly admit to targeting gun-free zones so that potential victims will be defenseless.
CNN's latest failure to inform viewers about the effectiveness of guns in preventing attacks on schools was sponsored in part by ClearChoice. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom
March 27, 2023
1:49 p.m. Eastern
ALEX MARQUARDT: We can expect to hear again an argument for training teachers, arming teachers, for more guns in schools. What do you say to that?
ANDREW McCABE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, I think first we need to look at what happened here, Alex. There are -- there are many indications that this was an incredibly professional, well-trained response. They got there in minutes. It was a large tactical team -- five-member team that entered the building. They had medical support services integrated in that team from the fire department who are trained and equipped to do so.
You know, there's obviously a lot more we'd like to know, but, at this point, all the indications are that this was an ideal law enforcement response, and still you have seven people dead. The sad fact is, you will never be faster than the shooter. You are always behind the shooter. The best you can do is to limit the damage.
And the idea that, "Okay, let's flood the zone with civilians carrying firearms" -- civilians who aren't trained to the level of law enforcement, who are no more prepared than your average (inaudible) agents (audio gap) the idea that (audio gap) have a violent person walk through the door one day, it's just -- it's fiction to think that that's going to change this situation. (audio gap)
The way we need to start thinking is about prevention. How is it that these troubled, violent people are able to become so heavily armed and walk into schools? It's just -- until we start thinking about the problem through the lens of prevention, we're always going to be behind the issue and cleaning up the mess.
MARQUARDT: An ideal law enforcement response, you say, that resulted still in the deaths of six people, including three young people. So, in your mind, Andrew, there is no law enforcement response to this? This is a political and a legislative question?
(...)
3:08 p.m. Eastern
STATE REPRESENTATIVE BOB FREEMAN (D-TN): All across our city tonight, at dinner, we're going to have some tough conversations with our kids. And to echo what (State) Senator Campbell said -- try to make them understand why we continue to have these things when we have opportunities to stop it and elected officials don't have the courage to do it.
BORIS SANCHEZ: Representative Freeman, on that question, something that popped out at me, reportedly, Governor Bill Lee last year -- in June of 2022, following the massacre in Uvalde -- signed an executive order to harden schools -- to actually try to prevent the very thing that we are witnessing today. And yet that executive order included no new gun restrictions. Was that a mistake?
FREEMAN: I think it's clearly a mistake. You know, we continue to act as if there isn't a solution or we don't know what to do. And the answer is -- is -- is before us. Other countries have had meaningful impact on gun violence, and there's a playbook that we should follow. And folks in Tennessee just don't have the courage and the backbone to do it.
