Hat tip to eager reader Sam Peil!

As the National Rifle Association lobbies to increase sales for its client industry, NRA boss Wayne LaPierre contends that "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

This statement is, of course, hogwash:

The teacher stood in the classroom, face-to-face with his 16-year-old student, who was holding a shotgun.

Ryan Heber, 40, talked to the teen, trying to persuade him to end an armed assault in which one student had already been shot.

Heber had no idea whether the student -- whose pockets were filled with ammunition -- would put the gun down or pull the trigger.

Campus supervisor Kim Fields helped distract the teen, allowing other students in the classroom to escape, while Heber talked to him, according to CNN affiliate KGET.

Eventually, the teen let go of the gun, and police took him into custody [Thom Patterson, "Teacher Talks Armed Student into Giving Up, Police Say," CNN.com, 2013.01.11].

In our discussions here of arming our teachers, I have declared my intent to resist that fearful cry and stand instead for civil society and rational discourse. Some commenters have snarkily suggested that I try to debate a school shooter to save my students.

Ryan Heber shows that talking has at least as much chance of stopping an armed assailant as getting into a quick-draw contest. Talking is also less likely to cause collateral damage. And when I'm not using my voice, I don't have to keep it locked up in my desk to keep grouchy students from stealing and wreaking havoc.

Your kids are as safe as they can be. We teachers can keep them safe. We don't need guns to keep them safe.