Bill Dedman Quotes

I've talked with a lot of teachers, classroom teachers after the Sandy Hook situation, and they say, look, we need to be looking at mental health.

Gun control is not the answer. The best and most effective path forward, I believe, is one that safeguards our schools from becoming 'soft targets.'

The Protect America's Schools Act is not the only answer, but it is a positive step forward in preventing tragedies.

There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger.

Evil walks among us, and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids.

It is a sad reality that active shooter drills are a standard way of life for kids as young as pre-school.

If - heaven forbid - a shooter did come into my class, I wouldn't want to have to worry about getting caught in a crossfire.

I'm wary when legislators say the solution to school shootings is mental health care, because it suggests that people who are mentally ill are violent, and that's just not true.

I don't buy that there's nothing we can do to stop criminals and the mentally ill from killing if they want to.

How can our hearts not break? How can we hold our tears? How can we bear the pain of losing those loving children and their guardians, who were slain in Newtown, Conn.? Why can't we face the reality of our times and restrict deranged people from having these destructive powers?

How many more school shootings do we need before we start talking about this as a social problem, and not merely a random collection of isolated incidents?

I made 'Bowling for Columbine' in the hope the school shootings would stop and that we would address the issue of how easy it is to get a gun in the United States, and tragically, those school shootings continue.

We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?

For it not to be safe for kids in school, it's tragic.

No one should have to go to school with a bulletproof backpack or be afraid to go to synagogue or church or a restaurant.

I believe what I call common sense gun reform. Plus, a revolution in mental health, making sure that if people are having a nervous breakdown, or are suicidal, or homicidal, they get the care they need when they need it. I think the vast majority of the American people can support and agenda composed of those features.

Politicians pass laws for gun-free school zones. They issue press releases bragging about them. They post signs advertising them, and in doing so, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk.

Every American has the right to feel safe in their schools, in their churches, in their movie theaters, and in their nightclubs.

I think the fact that we allow guns in our country is the main problem with school shootings.

This kind of horror has become all too familiar to us. As parents, Cindy and I offer our prayers to the memory of the slain children and ask that God ease the pain of Littleton's suffering families, ... The students of Columbine High School and children everywhere have a basic right to learn in an environment free of fear and violence. We must redouble our efforts to see that this is a reality.

I personally would prefer to send my child to a school where the teachers are armed … and prepared.

It shouldn't be just the rich and the powerful that send their children to schools where there is armed security. Parents shouldn't be holding their breath because there's no security in schools they're sending their children to.

We have to face the fact that meaningful gun control has to be a part of homeland security.

We've had an assault rifle ban in our country, and that did not accomplish the objectives. We had Columbine during the time that that ban was in place.

Many schools desperately need caring professionals like guidance counselors and social workers to ensure students' emotional, social and educational needs are met. But proposals to arm teachers are irresponsible and dangerous. The role of educators is to teach and nurture our children, not to be armed guards.