Gun count to cost teacher his job

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Wednesday, March 05, 2003 | Michael A. Fuoco

[Willie Green]

Shaler police said a teacher made an honest mistake when he brought a loaded handgun to school last week. Nonetheless, they filed a misdemeanor charge against Anthony Sarkis yesterday.

And the school district, seeking the dismissal of the Shaler Area High School teacher, yesterday changed his status from suspended with pay to suspended without pay pending termination.

[Willie Green]

Related thread: Students back gun-toting teacher

[Willie Green]

ping

[Larry Lucido]

investigators believe Sarkis "definitely didn't realize the gun was in [a backpack he brought to school]."

Well, if intent is a necessary component of the "crime," then the investigators have provided him with his defense.

That said, the teacher is certain guilty of a cardinal law of gun-handling: Always know where your guns are.

[xsrdx]

Sarkis put books in it and carried it into the school and left it unattended in a teacher's conference area

Mistake No.1

This guy is toast, but some common sense could have prevented this.

[Ol' Sox]

Sarkis put books in it and carried it into the school and left it unattended in a teacher's conference area

Of course, it was a boneheaded move by the teach to forget where his pistol was, but this would seem to indicate that someone rifled through his backpack while it was left unattended in the teacher's conference room.

[Michael.SF.]

Sarkis put books in it and carried it into the school and left it unattended in a teacher's conference area, Gally said. Two teachers looked inside the bag, saw the gun and took it to the principal's office.

Three comments:

1. Why did those two snoops peek in the bag?
2. They were certainly not his friends.
3. I almost hate to say this but, he may have recourse with the teachers union. But then they are most likely liberalists and will shy away from this.

[janis]

Great. First the two teachers snooped and then they snitched.

[Core_Conservative]

I think the real point of the matter is, once the administration realized this guy owns guns, they had to get rid of him no matter what - Can't have the guy teaching the kids that it's okay to own guns

[chachacha]

Poor guy was still probably under armed. The students probably are still allowed to have their guns. The just don't let them lay around.

[Core_Conservative]

LIBERAL teachers are born snoops!

[Renegade]

I am a teacher. Handguns should be standard issue for teachers in the Burgh' area. I can't think of a better way to stop someone from terrorizing a building or taking someone hostage than not knowing which teacher in the building is " packing."

[robowombat]

Yes, the NEA and educrats in general are among the greatest enemies of 2nd Amendment rights. Last week I was in Huntsville, Alabama, not a place where the attitufdes of NYC or Berkely get much smpathy. At Madison Mall, the largest I think in the area, a large exhibit of elementary student art on the subject of guns and violence was displayed. Every item displyed contained the message guns are bad, guns kill not people. One young artist included the sentiment that only 'policemen' ought possess guns. Where do you think the young scholars in this culturally conservative pro-gun and hunting got thier ideas from I also wonder if any were so bold as to draw a message that responsible gun ownership is a right of all Americans enshrined in the Constitution. If they did I doubt of it would have been exhibited. Parents and citizens in general need to realize the brainwashing efforts on gun rights that the education establishment is dedicated to,

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

Pansy Nation strikes again.

[Steve_Seattle]

"He had no bad intentions with it, there was no hidden agenda. He made a mistake," Gally said Monday, describing Sarkis as well respected in the community.

But we'll fire him and destroy his career just the same.

[Rifleman]

This sort of treatment has its roots in the same motivation that created the Nuremburg Laws in prewar Germany. The goal is to oppress and harass the hated group. For the Nazis it was Jews, for the American Left it is gun owners.

[Teacher317]

I could've been caught for this exact "crime" a dozen times over the past few years.

[biblewonk]

Isa3:12

[Teacher317]

(car trunk in parking lot, not backpack in the building, though)

[Wolfie]

If "zero tolerance" is good enough for the students, its good enough for the teachers.

[newgeezer]

Isa3:12

Absolutely.

When I first saw the headline, I thought it was even worse. I thought there was someone whose edict stated how many guns a teacher could own, and that this one had too many!

(Give it time.)