Teacher Leaves Gun in Public Bathroom Stall

Here's a perfect example of why it's sheer lunacy to arm teachers in schools:

Not the most normal sight: a gun left in the bathroom stall.

But that's exactly what went down on Sunday in a men's room at the Deerfield Beach Pier.

The circumstances of how the Glock 9mm got there are unusual.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, the weapon was left by Sean Simpson. If his name sounds familiar, he's the teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas who said he'd be willing to arm himself while on duty.


According to the sheriff's office report, Simpson told deputies he'd left his gun by accident. By the time the chemistry teacher realized his mistake, the Glock was already in the hands of a drunk homeless man who had picked it up and fired. The bullet hit a wall.

Simpson was able to grab the gun away from the vagrant, Joseph Spataro, who was charged with firing a weapon while intoxicated and trespassing.

Who could have predicted such a thing would happen? Me. And every other rational person.

The teacher didn't leave the gun in the school bathroom, so at least the school didn't get shot up. But the incident illustrates yet again the fallacy of the "more guns make us safer" trope.

The more guns there are, the more dropped guns, forgotten guns, lost guns, accidentally fired guns, and guns falling into the wrong hands there will be.

This kind of crap happens hundreds of times every day, across the country, but it doesn't make the news because the people who do it aren't school teachers. The more common guns are, the more gun handling errors there will be.

As guns become more common and prosaic the less dangerous they will seem, which will ultimately make the people who carry them less careful, increasing the frequency with which such errors are committed.