5 June 2015

What did you learn in school today, Whitefish Billi, Chet?

Should teachers pack heat? Yes, says Chet Billi, a 17-year-old high school student in Whitefish, reports the Daily InterLake. Upset that the campus carry bill failed in the 2015 MT Legislature, he’s filed an initiative to take the issue to the voters in 2016:

Billi said Thursday he was motivated by a bill rejected by the Montana House this year that would have allowed concealed weapons on college campuses. He says responsible gun owners should be allowed to help prevent mass shootings at schools.

Ergo, armed with a clipboard and a pen (and, let’s hope, nothing more), he’ll take to the streets hunting signatures once he’s a registered voter and the ballot language is approved.

That’s his right, our right, and I applaud his willingness to exercise it. But I do not applaud his notion that students will be safer if their teachers are carrying sidearms.

When I read about Billi’s initiative, an old Tom Paxton song came to mind. I dashed off new lyrics to it in Chet’s honor:

Chorus
What did you learn in school today,
Billi, first name Chet?
What did you learn in school today,
Whitefish Billi, Chet?

I learned my teachers can’t pack heat,
Not here, not in college, that’s not neat,
If shootin’ starts and bullets rain,
All they can use are their hearts and their brain,
That’s what I learned in school today,
That’s what I learned in school.

Chorus

I learned the legislature failed,
On campus carry RINOs bailed,
Now if in classrooms pistols pop,
Laptops must the bullets stop,
That’s what I learned in school today,
That’s what I learned in school.

Chorus

Thus, to the voters I will go,
With a ballot measure, ho, ho, ho,
So if gunfire starts in Johnny’s class,
His packin’ teach’ will save his ass.
That’s what I learned in school today,
That’s what I learned in school

That’s what I learned in school today,
That’s what I learned in school.