Teacher takes plea after gun discharges at school

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Teacher takes plea after gun discharges at school

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Sixth grade teacher Michelle Ferguson-Montgomery, left, whose gun accidentally went off in an elementary …

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah schoolteacher whose gun accidentally went off in an elementary school bathroom agreed Wednesday to pay a fine and take a firearm-safety class as part of a plea deal.

Michelle Montgomery has already paid $200 to replace a toilet that exploded when her 9 mm handgun discharged in the faculty bathroom on Sept. 11. She pleaded no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of illegal discharge of a gun. It will be dismissed if she pays a $705 court fee and commits no new crimes over the next year.

Defense attorney Douglas Hoyt declined to comment during a court appearance Wednesday.

Police say the 39-year-old teacher's gun went off after she put it on top of a toilet-paper dispenser, though she initially told police it went off after it fell out of her holster, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/10w85km). She suffered minor injuries when fragments from the toilet or a bullet struck her in the leg, police said.

Montgomery, a sixth-grade teacher, resigned after the incident. She had been at Westbrook Elementary School for 14 years in Taylorsville, a suburb of Salt Lake City.

She was allowed to have the gun in school in Utah, which is among the few states that let concealed-weapons permit holders to have firearms in public schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Teachers are not required to disclose that they are carrying a weapon, and administrators are prohibited from asking if they carry or barring them from bringing their weapons.

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Sixth grade teacher Michelle Ferguson-Montgomery, left, whose gun accidentally went off in an elemen …

Educators have said they have no way of determining how many Utah teachers are armed, but gun-rights advocates estimated several years ago that 1 percent, or about 240 teachers in the state, are licensed to carry weapons.

The Granite School District requires teachers who carry guns at school to keep the weapons on their body at all times, even in a bathroom stall.

A similar incident occurred in 2009 in the bathroom of a Carl's Jr. restaurant in Centerville, Utah. A customer's concealed weapon accidentally fell out of a holster, hit the floor and fired, shattering the toilet.

http://news.yahoo.com/teacher-takes-plea-gun-discharges-school-192330654.html

This is why armed teachers in schools is a bad idea.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This is why armed teachers in schools is a bad idea.

Among other things, yes. It's just a bad idea. Always has been, always will be.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Among other things, yes. It's just a bad idea. Always has been, always will be.

Some thing all teachers should be armed in schools or we should pay mercenaries to guard the schools.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Some thing all teachers should be armed in schools or we should pay mercenaries to guard the schools.

Some are insane. What else is new?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

It's a shame our society is so bad teachers fear for their lives and have to carry guns to school. Back in the day the fear of the principal tearing up your backside and what your parents would do when you got home kept you straight.

Now cussing out or attacking a teacher is common place. In the day the whole community would have risen up if such a thing happened.

It's a shame our society is so bad teachers fear for their lives and have to carry guns to school. Back in the day the fear of the principal tearing up your backside and what your parents would do when you got home kept you straight.

Now cussing out or attacking a teacher is common place. In the day the whole community would have risen up if such a thing happened.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Ridiculous situation.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

It's a shame our society is so bad teachers fear for their lives and have to carry guns to school. Back in the day the fear of the principal tearing up your backside and what your parents would do when you got home kept you straight.

Now cussing out or attacking a teacher is common place. In the day the whole community would have risen up if such a thing happened.

It's a shame our society is so bad teachers fear for their lives and have to carry guns to school. Back in the day the fear of the principal tearing up your backside and what your parents would do when you got home kept you straight.

Now cussing out or attacking a teacher is common place. In the day the whole community would have risen up if such a thing happened.

This is because the government has gotten too involved. Now slapping your kid on the wrist is jail time. Kids know they will suffer no consequences for their actions.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This is because the government has gotten too involved. Now slapping your kid on the wrist is jail time. Kids know they will suffer no consequences for their actions.

Not that any teacher would have any reason to lay a hand on my child since she is a well behaved kid and knows to respect her teachers. That has been taught to her, by the way, without her ever having been exposed to any physical disciplinary action. Not so much as a slap on the wrist. Ever. Anyways, if a teacher were to slap or otherwise physically discipline my child, I'd be tempted to physically discipline that teacher in return. Of course, being a non-violent person, I'd probably drag them into the courtroom instead. Nobody has the right to physically punish my child. Period.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Mr. Big Dog

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Not that any teacher would have any reason to lay a hand on my child since she is a well behaved kid and knows to respect her teachers. That has been taught to her, by the way, without her ever having been exposed to any physical disciplinary action. Not so much as a slap on the wrist. Ever. Anyways, if a teacher were to slap or otherwise physically discipline my child, I'd be tempted to physically discipline that teacher in return. Of course, being a non-violent person, I'd probably drag them into the courtroom instead. Nobody has the right to physically punish my child. Period.

Parents used to be able to discipline their children so when they go to school they are well behaved.

Time out, slap on the wrist, stand in the corner or whatever. Now you can't.

And I grew up in a school where corporal punishment was allowed. I got my but whipped. Kids do get into trouble every once in a while and to know there is someone there to straighten them up is important.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Parents used to be able to discipline their children so when they go to school they are well behaved.

Time out, slap on the wrist, stand in the corner or whatever. Now you can't.

And I grew up in a school where corporal punishment was allowed. I got my but whipped. Kids do get into trouble every once in a while and to know there is someone there to straighten them up is important.

Who says that one can't discipline one's child? I certainly didn't get that memo.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Who says that one can't discipline one's child? I certainly didn't get that memo.

Dude, CPS is all over people now days.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Dude, CPS is all over people now days.

If they're abusive, sure. Discipline does not take abuse. In fact, abuse is counterproductive when trying to discipline a child.

As I said, I have a well behaved child that was and continues to be disciplined as required. That does not involve any form of physical punishment. Time outs and a stern talking to do the trick - she doesn't need either very often since she knows what is and what is not appropriate behavior. CPS has not been all over me for raising a well disciplined child. They don't have any reason to.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

If they're abusive, sure. Discipline does not take abuse. In fact, abuse is counterproductive when trying to discipline a child.

As I said, I have a well behaved child that was and continues to be disciplined as required. That does not involve any form of physical punishment. Time outs and a stern talking to do the trick - she doesn't need either very often since she knows what is and what is not appropriate behavior. CPS has not been all over me for raising a well disciplined child. They don't have any reason to.

http://www.szasz.com/undergraduate/trout.html

[aaydrian 479]

It's a shame our society is so bad teachers fear for their lives and have to carry guns to school. Back in the day the fear of the principal tearing up your backside and what your parents would do when you got home kept you straight.

Now cussing out or attacking a teacher is common place. In the day the whole community would have risen up if such a thing happened.

I don't think the teacher brought a gun into the school because students were being disrespectful.

[Torete 121]

Adrian Peterson discipline...read abuse or a swat on the butt or hand or similar (age appropriate) acceptable? Should that not be the parents prerogative what form discipline is standard in their household?

AP's discipline was horrible and truly abusive and I believe to be criminal.

Parents today have been castrated and neutered by political correctness and aren't allowed to "discipline" their children.