That's right, last week in Yuma, Arizona, Sen. Don Shooter walked past the front desk at EOC Charter School and burst into the classroom to confront his grandchild's teacher:
John Morales, executive director of the nonprofit Yuma Private Industry Council that sponsors the school, said Shooter allegedly got past a registrar at the school’s entrance and made his way into a classroom, where he confronted a teacher as she was teaching.
Morales also said Shooter's actions were "a little unnerving." Gee, ya
think? Sen. Shooter may think he's a big deal, being chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and all, someone who can throw his weight around at the legislature, but most people in Yuma probably wouldn't know him from the guy who runs the hardware store. So here he goes, barging past the front desk and into a teacher's classroom. Keep reading below the fold to find out what might have happened if that teacher had been armed.
Understandably, educators nationwide are a little jumpy in this post-Newtown environment, and we're hearing that some of them are taking firearms training. Utah permits teachers to carry concealed weapons in the classroom, and you won't be surprised to learn that last week the Arizona Senate approved SB 1325, a bill that will allow school personnel to pack heat. We've also got Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse of armed volunteers patrolling school campuses in Maricopa County. What if Yuma had a similar program?
Sen. Shooter, a "Don't tread on me" tea party goober, whose re-election website features pictures of him with Glenn Beck and Oliver North, lives up to his name on gun laws. The NRA's ideal stooge, Shooter's Senate profile page highlights his support for the Second Amendment—not education or healthcare. Not surprisingly, Shooter voted for the bill that allows teachers to carry weapons. Conceivably, that vote could've ended his life or caused student injuries, had the law been in place last week when he pushed his way passed security and into the classroom. Existing law, which SB 1325 amends by allowing firearms in the classroom, states that these actions are crimes:
A. A person commits interference with or disruption of an educational institution by doing any of the following:
1. Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly interfering with or disrupting the normal operations of an educational institution ...
Sen. Shooter did all of that. Neither he, the police or the school are saying why he acted like a jackass. It's rumored he went to the school to complain about bullying directed at his grandchild. Well, that's certainly a good way to do it—storm into a classroom and bully the teacher!
Regardless of why he went there, clearly this pompous ass thinks he's above the law. Why he was not arrested is beyond me. He's just fortunate the bill he voted for to arm teachers was not yet in effect.
UPDATE
[Teacher Danielle] Munoz told the officer later that she felt threatened and feared for her own safety and the safety of her student, and would like to press charges.
UPDATE 2: I'm never sure why comments are hidden, but yesterday when the diary was posted, one of the first comments took me to task for being "dishonest." The comment received 31 donuts but 9 people also recommended it. My response received 81 rec's, and then there followed a very long thread with dozens of comments. I thought it was a healthy dialog, the kind you often see in gun-related diaries, and I don't know why it was removed. So, for those who can read hidden comments ... just sayin'.