Ex-Police Chief Proposes Arming Teachers to Protect Schools
Former police chief proposes allowing qualified teachers to carry firearms for school security, citing recent school shooting incidents in Thailand where armed staff could have stopped attackers.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Rewat Glinkasorn, the former commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, has proposed allowing qualified and responsible teachers to carry firearms to protect students at schools, citing examples from the United States. Speaking about a school shooting incident where a student brought multiple guns and ammunition into a school, killing five teachers before taking his own life, Rewat acknowledged the Prime Minister's push for strict gun control but offered a different perspective.
"The Prime Minister emphasizes controlling firearms and banning civilians from carrying weapons," Rewat said. "I understand his intention, but I see it differently. We've already had shootings at two schools, and in one incident, an attacker opened fire killing and injuring many. The teachers, numbering 100 to 200 at that school, all complied with the Prime Minister's order, but no one could stop the attacker."
Rewat suggested allowing well-behaved teachers with clean records to obtain permits to carry firearms—one or two per school—to serve as unpaid security guards. He argued that without armed resistance, a single attacker with a gun can wreak havoc unopposed.
"If teachers had been authorized to carry weapons and heard gunshots, they could have intervened," he said. "This is how it works in the United States. When an armed criminal uses an M16 or AR15, even police can't arrive in time, but a responsible citizen with a firearm can stop the threat. The incident becomes less severe."
Rewat contrasted the school shooting with an incident at a kindergarten in Nong Bua Lamphu, where a police officer opened fire, killing over 30 children. He argued that if responsible teachers had firearms at the Nonthaburi school, they would have felt obligated to intervene and protect students, potentially preventing the attacker from continuing his rampage.
"A 15-year-old with a single automatic 9mm weapon caused eight to nine deaths and 15 injuries," Rewat noted. "Had there been armed resistance, he might have fled instead of continuing to shoot, since he was just a teenager with limited firearm training and only one gun firing standard rounds."
