Teacher Under Fire For Classroom Rifle Lesson

[Kadie]

May 25, 2006 7:58 am US/Pacific

Teacher Under Fire For Classroom Rifle Lesson

(AP) MILL VALLEY, Calif. A high school physics teacher at Mill Valley's Tamalpais High School could be in trouble with the law over an experiment involving a gun.

David Lapp has been taking his Korean War-era M-1 Carbine into his classroom since 1992, firing into a block and asking students to gauge the bullet speed.

Lapp has the principal's permission to conduct the experiment, but he could be facing criminal charges after a complaint from a parent.

Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian says firing a gun inside a classroom could be considered what he termed "reckless discharge."

more...
http://cbs13.com/topstories/local_story_145110036.html

[central scrutinizer]

1. We shot rifles as part of PE when I was in high school

Boys shot rifles, girls did archery. How times have changed.

[maveric]

10. You shot guns in high school??

If my HS allowed rifles there would have been numerous shootings.
SCARY thought!

[SmokingJacket]

2. A video would have served the same purpose.

And aren't there laws about guns on school property?

[ComerPerro]

3. That's what I am wondering

[Shipwack]

8. video = nap time

I commend the teacher for trying to bring "real world" demonstrations to the classroom.

Sure, a rifle can be a dangerous tool, if used improperly, but so can 3/4 the items in a shop class.

For what it's worth, I'm not a gun owner, and don't ever intend to be one (just not my thing...)

[tatertop]

4. This is crazy

have we all gone bat shit crazy because of
bush's phony terror scam?

[One_Life_To_Give]

5. Whats the problem?

Handled properly this can be a good educational experiment for students.

[Common Sense Party]

16. And handled improperly, can serve as hilarious lessons.

Such as this:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0411061foot1.html

It's only funny because the guy wasn't seriously hurt, and thankfully didn't injure any of the kids in the class.

[newswolf56]

6. As viciously fanatical as the rabid right: that's how anti-gunners are,

and this complaint illustrates it perfectly. Moreover, Marin County District Attorney Berberian (a Democrat and a known anti-gun zealot whose zealotry includes efforts to eliminate the right to self-defense) is clearly using this incident for his own grandstanding.

Consequences?

The teacher's life is ruined: he's facing a minimum of five years of anal rape in prison, his firearms are confiscated, his right to own firearms (and therefore his right to self defense) is abolished forever; U.S. public schools -- already the worst in the industrial world -- just got that much dumber; and the Republican Party just gained who-knows-how-many-more voters among legal firearms owners.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Well, shoot.

At least it wasn't the Shoot the Falling Monkey experiment.

[progressivebydesign]

9. Sorry gun fans, but you can't fire a fucking rifle in a classroom.

For god's sake... are you so blinded by NRA hype that you can't see that? It's not a safe location, the kids are not outfitted with proper safety gear. It's one thing to fire rifles, as someone posted they did in school for PE, when you are in a safe environment with protections in place.

You can be sure that I'd be the first parent on the phone to the school to complain about this. Guns do not belong in school... you DO NOT discharge a weapon inside a classroom. The teacher is just pretty damn clueless. I don't that he needs to go to jail, but he needs to be disciplined at the school district level for this huge lack of common sense. A loaded rifle at school... what a moron.

[MadHound]

12. Glad you weren't in my school back in the day

You would have taken all the fun out of chemistry class, where we learned such interesting things as how to make plastic explosives and other things that go BOOM in the night:evilgrin:

[solinvictus]

13. Umm..

the story really gives no insight into the mechanics of the experiment, so I reserve my judgement on the issue. All the story says is a parent complained and there may be charges; that's it.

[MadHound]

11. If this is done properly and safely, I have no problem

However the article doesn't provide that sort of detail. What I do glean from the article is that it seems as though this teacher didn't dot all the I's and cross the T's. Didn't get letter from superintendant, etc.

But as far as an experiment goes, I think that this is great real world problem.

[Xenotime]

14. HA! So much for the "Gun Free Zone" ha ha ha ha....

It's a good thing somebody spoke up. All the more reason for gun control.

[LeftyMom]

15. Jesus Christ, what an idiot

You don't take a gun to school and fire it in the classroom! It's just a stupid idea! Anybody dumb enough to do that in Marin Fucking County!!!!!! and not expect trouble really should be pumping gas for a living rather than tending kids because that shows a real lack of common sense.

[Common Sense Party]

17. I'm no gun control fanatic, but I'd have to agree with you.

Inside the building? That's dumb.

This is even dumber: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0411061foot1.html

The science teacher should have arranged a field trip to a shooting range.