Dalton High School just became the poster child for why arming teachers to protect students from would-be school shooters is a bad idea.
No, not a bad idea - a terrible idea.
Dalton's popular 53-year-old social studies teacher Jesse Randal Davidson barricaded himself in his classroom with a gun Wednesday morning and fired a shot out the window - not toward anyone.
Davidson, a 14-year teaching veteran, had a history of depression and apparent mental illness. Authorities say he brought a .38 revolver to school in his computer bag, taught his first-period class, then at the end of a two-hour planning period, closed the door to his next wave of students.
This undated photo provided by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office shows Jesse Randal Davidson. Social studies teacher Davidson barricaded himself inside a classroom at Dalton High School in Dalton, Ga., Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, and fired a handgun, sending students running outside or hunkering down in darkened gym locker rooms, authorities said. (Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office via AP)The principal came to the door and turned his key, but as he tried to open the door, Davidson slammed it shut again and yelled just before firing the gun. The school was placed on lockdown. Students, who knew only that someone had a gun and had used it, slammed desks in front of doors and sought hiding places.
Police officers negotiated with Davidson for about a half hour before he gave himself up. Police charged the teacher with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and disrupting a public school.
Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host, later Wednesday suggested the incident might have been "faked."
"What if the teacher is a radical leftist and does this to give the [media] a news story that they can then point to: 'See, we can't arm teachers.' I wouldn't be surprised," Limbaugh said.
Really, Rush? We know Limbaugh won't understand this, but fact is stranger than fiction, and most Americans already know without any examples - faked or real - that teachers need to teach, not become conscripted armed security guards.
President Trump suggested arming teachers in the wake of the Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14 that killed 17 students and teachers. But Parkland survivors have started a movement that likely will have far more impact.
On Wednesday afternoon, Dalton students joined them.
"my favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out The back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe," tweeted one Dalton student.
"What happened at Dalton High School today was very REAL. My classmates were shoved into dark classrooms not knowing if they're were going to make it out alive and were literally posting their goodbyes on social media. Don't you DARE make this into a conspiracy theory," tweeted another.
"shots were fired at dalton high school today. by a teacher. if you still believe teachers should be armed, you truly do not care about students' well being," yet another tweeted.
A fourth wrote: "So are we still going to give teachers guns? I'm on the bus evacuating Dalton high school."
Still another tweeted: "I'm a Dalton High School student and after the mass shooting in Florida happened I didn't think it was a bad idea to arm teachers. I thought it would make kids feel secure and protected. My mind has been changed today."
While the Dalton tweets rolled, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond revealed that he and schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson have been discussing the possibility of arming teachers in county schools - an option cheaper than school resource officers.
Teachers critical of the plan indicated the money would be better spent on student opportunities, counselors, psychologists and social services in schools. Hamilton County's 79 schools and about 45,000 students now share just 96 counselors and 41 psychologists.
School resource officers known as SROs - the euphemism for police and deputies assigned to patrol at schools - aren't the answer either.
There is no one answer. But two really fine starts are stricter gun laws and more comprehensive mental health systems.
A recent ProPublica/Axios look at the Parkland school shooting and recent gun legislation found that America's pessimism about gun violence empowers the pro-gun crowd - especially the National Rifle Association.
Of the more than 360 access-related gun bills proposed by Congress since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012, only one has become law, and all it did was make it legal for federal law enforcement officials to carry federally issued firearms during their furloughs.
That's why we need to listen to these brave, determined and youthful voices. We need to let their clear-eyed outrage help us shake off our fatalistic view that nothing will change on gun access in this country.
ProPublica points to a speech by Parkland student Emma Gonzalez that has gone viral on the internet: "Maybe the adults have gotten used to saying 'it is what it is' - but if us students have learned anything, it's that if you don't study, you will fail. And in this case if you actively do nothing, people continually end up dead. So it's time to start doing something."
She's right. And we have a lot of work to do.
Arming teachers should not be an item on the to-do list.