Oregon State Rep. Dennis Richardson: Teachers With Guns Could Have Stopped Connecticut Shooting

In the wake of last week's horrifying tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Oregon state (R) Rep. Dennis Richardson, of Central Point, sent out an email to three of our local superintendents saying that teachers should be allowed to carry guns on campus, and that armed teachers could have prevented the incident in Connecticut. Is Dennis right or wrong? Here is the email obtained by Gawker

{Gawker obtained the email from a source on Monday  and reprinted it in its entirety. }

From: "Rep Richardson"

Subject: RE: Preventable Tragedy in Connecticut
Date: December 14, 2012 2:53:06 PM PST
To: [redacted]

[redacted]:

The Sandy Hook shootings are another heart breaking failure of school personnel to ensure the protection of innocent children and adults. Sadly, most of the deaths could have been prevented.

If I had been a teacher or the principal at the Sandy Hook Elementary School and if the school district did not preclude me from having access to a firearm, either by concealed carry or locked in my desk, most of the murdered children would still be alive, and the gunman would still be dead, and not by suicide.

When will our school officials open their eyes to the reality that law enforcement officers, in such instances as these, can respond only after the unfettered killings have occurred, and that our children's safety depends on having a number of well-trained school employees on every campus who are prepared to defend our children and save their lives?

Dennis Richardson

Further reading: Mail Tribune

Further reading: Oregon Herald