“It is my duty and responsibility as the principal of this school to ensure the safety and security of all of our faculty, staff and students.” That’s McBean Elementary’s principal, Dr. Janina Dallas, explaining why she blackballed Tanya Mount from the Hephzibah, Georgia, school property. The exclusionary offense: Mount posted a photo (now apparently removed) of her Peach State concealed carry permit on her Facebat page. Something Dr. Dallas says she took as evidence of a threat. Now before you run out to the garage to dig out your pitchfork and spark up a torch, there may be more to this story than is laid out in the wjbf.com report . . .
Principal Dallas says several PTO members pointed out instances where Mount would disrupt classes and where Mount said she wouldn’t let anybody bother her daughter
The principal says with the rash of school shootings, coupled with Mount’s comments and the permit, it was cause for alarm.
She adds “there have been a number of school shootings in our country. And inevitably, people will say they saw signs and things of that nature after the fact.”
So…a dash of hoplophobia? Most likely. Could Ms. Mount’s active parenting style have contributed to the adverse outcome of this little drama? That may very well be, too.
But above all, Principal Dallas doesn’t want to be the one standing in front of a forest of microphones with the thousand-yard stare after something unimaginably bad happens, explaining why she didn’t ‘do something’ when all the now-clear-in-hindsight signs presented themselves. So given the alternatives as she saw them — explaining herself to the local news vs. justifying her failure to act against a known gun toter — a government school administrator’s path of least resistance is pretty clear.
Ms. Mount has since transferred her wee bairn to another institution of higher learning where, if you go by the news report, the principal is less concerned about parents who are licensed to pack heat. But in a generally gun-friendly state, the heat on Dr. Dallas may just be getting dialed up.
[h/t Adam G.]
I just want to say I love this paragraph. A really lot.
That was the worst paragraph of the whole article. CCW holders don’t murder people. Is TTAG pro 2nd amendment or not? I have doubts.
How the hell do you get… Y’know what? Nevermind. I’m just gonna say “You’re overthinking it” and leave it at that.
I’m overthinking it a really lot.
In the same sentence, you could have finished your question: “How do I get…” What?
How do I get that the pricipal believes a person is a threat to commit a mass shooting at a school because now she knows the woman has a CCW, is wrongheaded?
How do I get that that paragraph is the worst one? Because it defends the principal’s wrongheaded actions.
How do I get that I have doubts about this blog being as strong a 2nd amendment advocate as it should be? Maybe because guys like you like wishy-washy articles like this one.
My question would have been your last one, there. I liked that paragraph because it was well-written, made sense, and evoked a vivid mental image. Like I said, you’re overthinking it. I saw in another post where you said you’d just discovered TTAG, and based on what (little) you’d read so far, you thought Dan was the weakest on the 2A, or something like that. Whatever. I’m sure establishing your opinion of him (and the site) based on one paragraph of one of the 3000+ posts he’s written here is a good plan. If you didn’t like that one, I’m sure you’re gonna call me a commie libtard bootlicker (and maybe a schmuck) at some point. That’s happened to me before from people with poor reading comprehension.
I’m glad you found us, because new people are almost always a good thing, and I invite you to continue looking around, commenting, and establishing your credentials as a staunch defender of the 2A, instead of simply taking semi-informed potshots at ours.
The other article I read of Dan’s was on CCW instructors (whatever that is). In GA we don’t need to take a class to be able to do what is a God given right. Anyway, he was particularly harsh on James Yeager from Tactical Response. I just believe we need more patriots like Yeager and less sheep suckling at the teet of this great Nation. If you just want to collect firearms and polish your precious 1911 then you have that right but we are all on the same team here (I assume) so bashing other guys in the industry just seems counterintuitive.
Oh, now I get it.
So, “in GA [you] don’t need to take a class to be able to do what is a God given right,” huh? Well, you may want to turn down the volume on your snide arrogance about that, because even if you don’t have to take a class, you still have to apply for and receive a permit. And asking permission (that’s what a permit is) seems like a pretty funny thing to have to do in order “to be able to do what is a God given right,” doesn’t it? So in reality, Georgia is no different than (wherever Dan was when he wrote that) is it? It’s just a matter of degree. Every bit of superciliousness that you directed at those who have to take a class can be turned right around and directed at you by folks who live in states like Arizona or Vermont or Alaska when they say, “In [insert state] we don’t have to pay anyone a fee or carry a stupid card to be able to do what is a God given right.”
As for being “particularly harsh” on Yeager, well… I don’t know which post you’re specifically talking about, but Yeager has done, over the past couple years, some particularly dumb things. I’m not a Yeager-hater (and boy, do we have some of those here), but he’s definitely done a few things deserving of some criticism, or at least critique. His “rant” video was red meat for people who think like him, but it also gave the media a perfect target to point to when they needed a “crazy gun owner” example, and I’m certain it alienated some on-the-fence folks along the way. That said, I think overall he is a force for good among people of the gun.
I agree with you, mostly, about bashing other guys in the industry. You’re new here, so you don’t know this, but one of my personal common themes is how bad it is that our side “eats its young” over petty disagreements. One step out of line (by a very subjective measure), and people on our side tend to go directly to scorched earth tactics, and that’s bad. The anti-gunners have a unity of purpose that our side only dreams of. While they have as many minor disagreements (if not more) over policy and procedure as we do, when it comes time to take names and be counted, they shut up and get in line with unified purpose. We, on the other hand, will refuse to vote for someone because he’s not pro-2A enough. Nevermind that there isn’t anyone else running that’s more pro-2A, our side will stay home and not vote at all rather than support someone who is only 80% of what they want. It’s effing stupid. Now, with all that said, there’s still room for criticism, both constructive and otherwise, and Yeager gets his share of that, and deservedly so. And I’ll agree with it right up to the point that people start trying to put him out of business or the like over a minor disagreement.
Finally, I don’t own a 1911. I don’t get 1911s.
Wow! I actually read all that! I see why you wanted to drop the subject in the first place.
Concerning the second amendment and my “credentials”, I don’t need to be a constitutional law professor (Obama) to know there is no grey area. You are either pro or anti arms rights. There are degrees of anti but only 100% pro. Take the recent article about Dick Metcalf. Perfect example of a “pro gun” guy that doesn’t get it.
Yeager on the other hand, did not say anything that wasn’t true. Did he make a threat? Damn right. The second amendment stands as a threat to a tyranny. It is time gun owners stopped being ashamed of themselves.
Dan, you should have warned us you were going to post a pic of Jabba the Hut.
Nah…too much hair.
Too much hair for what, exactly? 🙂
That’s Jabba’s wife. After a spa visit.
Wow, the days when the discourse on TTAG descended to treating women as objects sure are coming to a middle.
That is very harsh. Seems to me she was looking out for her school and the students. Don’t be cruel.
Same thing happened to the President of our HOA board….you like guns and act crazy, shit is gonna happen!!
Ok, my only kid is 9 months old, and we’re planning on homeschooling, so it won’t matter to me anyway, but if the school accepts custody of your child for 6-8 hours of the day, how can they ban you from being there? Your kindertgartner is just gonna walk off the school property without you being present? I can’t see how they can do this without removing your child from the school as well.
Because it’s a school not a helipad for hovering parents.
“Principal Dallas says several PTO members pointed out instances where Mount would disrupt classes and where Mount said she wouldn’t let anybody bother her daughter” there’s no context to that situation. It sounds bad on the surface but without knowing the whole situation its unfair to side with the principal.
…that’s kinda what I’m thinking. I agree with Dan’s take the dash of hoplophobia, but for all we know there could be more to the story. I’m not defending the principal’s actions, I’m just wondering what the linked article doesn’t cover on both sides.
Personally, the only person I ever want to see my CCL is ……me.
Just posting one’s chl or dl number to the internet is pretty loco.
In my state, they’re the same #, so…yeah.
Was thinking the same thing. Only your spouse and those you trust should know if you have a CCW permit. Posting it on facebook for the world to see seems to defeat the purpose.
Excellent point. I’d make the same point about those teenage airheads that take self-nudies and send them out on the internets, them snivel when people look at them.
But yeah, I agree that the point of concealed carry is that it’s concealed, and nobody’s business.
Regardless of the true state of affairs, I believe this story would not be a story if she had just kept a lower profile.
So, now that she’s banned from the school, she could never come back and commit a violent act. This sounds like “gun free zone” thinking to me.
Exactly this.
Not a story in any sense of the word. Just as banning guns does not suddenly make them poisonous (and thus preventing baddies from getting and using them) banning the mom from the school does not erect a force field around it. It was a symbolic gesture but ultimately pointless.
It’s good enough to say she “did something”, and it got a positive result for her. The mom obviously wants to meddle in the workings of the school more so she moved her child to another school. I personally have little respect for parents that want to meddle in their children’s affairs. You can’t do everything for them and that’s the vibe I get from this scenario.
What is boggling to me is the connection between banning the mom and her concealed carry license. The school is already a gun-free zone, at this point the principal is banning the mother for being a public nuisance and adding the gun part on top, insinuating the mother can’t be expected to follow the law. In order to enforce the law she basically created another one. If the mother were more motivated that wouldn’t work.
By “meddling in their children’s affairs,” are you referring to parents taking an active interest in their kids’ development? i’m going to go out on a limb and assume that a) you haven’t considered what it’s like to have kids, or b) if your kid grows up to be a giant spoiled douchebag menace to society, you’d be perfectly happy to wash your hands and blame the government.
“parents that want to meddle in their children’s affairs”
Uh, that’s kind of the point of parenting. You have a responsibility,. while they’re in your custody, to try to prevent them from Darwinizing themselves. At least until they move out and start buying their own toilet paper.
Facebook is bad news all around. That’s why I post next to nothing on my Facebook page, and even the things I have posted have led people to the wrong conclusions. I posted a few pictures of my nieces with the caption, “My Nieces” and multiple people asked me when I had kids. Facebook is the place for the equivalent of small talk, post intimate details about your personal life or work and it may come back to bite you. I know a few people that have lost jobs due to sharing the details of their work relationships, especially with their bosses.
^ this.
I learned the hard way (via a verbal ass-kicking from a previous employer) to not mix Facebook and work.
Grey man, people. Don’t be bragging about your armed status and don’t pull that card as leverage in a dispute.
If, and I know this is a very big if, moms was trying to intimidate or win the argument by hinting around at her armed status then she needs to be reviewed by the 5-0. It’s a school. The only time your gun should be known is if you’re trading fire with the next Lanza. In the meantime, don’t give off Lanza vibes.
I’ve had dealings with enough crazy activist parents, and heard the stories of many others through my significant other, often enough to know that some people are just nuts and you’re better off without them.
In this case, the profile is very familiar: parent makes a nuisance of herself “advocating” for her child’s “needs”, parent is annoying to the point of belligerence about same, parent packs up and transfers to another school district after wearing out her welcome. The only thing missing from the standard pattern is a lawsuit against the school district, which in many cases will settle just to get the crazy woman to leave.
Just another reason for nationwide school choice so those parents that want their children to learn logical and critical thinking can get their children away from the PAYPAL indoctrination centers we currently call schools.
I wonder if the active parenting is the same as the teacher who ignored the “special needs” kid’s random biting attacks in my child’s kindergarten class. It took a bit of active parenting to bring the issue to the attention of the school because it was more than “bothersome”. Sounds like the principal was reaching for any reason to make themself feel better about the banning.
There’s nothing shocking about this report. For decades now, schools have been little more than indoctrination centers run by little tin gods.
Parents tolerate the arrogance because they need to park the kids somewhere while the adults are making a living.
Amen. It’s become taxpayer funded daycare.
judging from the fact that our Halloween party is now called “Fall Party”, and no candy was allowed, but fruit donations were encouraged, i presume you are correct, sir.
“For decades now, schools have been little more than indoctrination centers run by little tin gods.”
So true.
If you want the woman gone for disruptive behavior that’s fine. Waving the bloody CCW as the reason for the action is just idiotic.
Mrs. Fatty just thought if she used the “evil gun” card as a reason to ban her any sane(to her) person would goose step behind her without question.
Pure hyperbole on my part there….. Just a guess.
Is there a list of offensives that will get you banned ? If not then the principal is just making it up as she goes. I think this sets a terrible precedent. Anyone can be judged and convicted of something that wasn’t a crime until after the fact. There is an ex post facto clause in the constitution to eliminate this in the justice system. Guess its OK if you are a liberal and someone else thinks differently than you do
does GA law allow someone to lawfully carry concealed into a school?
Soooo……now McBean Elementary is a “No Gun………I’m looking at you, Tanya Mount……..Zone”……? That’ll learn ’em!
As for Dr. Dallas. Wow. Just wow. You know that mentally unsettling feeling when you’re climbing stairs, thinking there’s one last step that isn’t actually there, and you stomp down? Or how about the surprising, slightly jarring sensation of taking a sip of the Pepsi the waiter mistakenly brought when you had ordered Coke? That’s how I felt when I saw her picture, then saw that “Dr.” title.
That was funny… that sinking feeling you get when you sip into a Pepsi when you ordered a Coke and the whole “Dr.” bit.
I concur with a previous commenter who stated that parents have tolerated the public school b.s. so as to have a place to park kids whilst they (the parents) work. Total garbage.
I homeschool to avoid this crap. I’m not for or against guns. I just don’t care. Rather than deal with the hippie liberal brainwashing of my child, I brainwash intellectual superiority on my own time – something which cannot be applied to any party.
I think it’s important to keep in mind that Mrs Mount is not the bad guy in this at all. I notice a lot of people saying she should have kept a low profile or she shouldn’t be so obnoxious of a parent, etc. She is a veteran and a gun owner, why should she be ashamed of either of those things. The whole idea that we should be forced to keep our enjoyment of guns on the DL is absurd. It lets the anti’s win. When they shame you into thinking it not ok to talk about they are winning.
She had every right to post a picture. She was probably proud and excited to become a member of the armed public. I know I was when my first CCW came in. And why shouldn’t she be? As to her being an obnoxious parent, the thing the story above doesn’t relate but other articles on this incident do, is that her daughter is disabled. Yeah, that kind of makes a difference in how parents respond.
So what we have here is a Army vet, responsible gun owner, law abiding citizen, caring parent, and school volunteer. She sounds too dangerous to me, or not. The principal, the school, and the board owe this woman a deep and sincere apology. The principal deserves to hear from all of us about what a turd she is being as well. Should you wish to send her a respectfully worded email she public school email address is [email protected]
Remember Mrs. Mount is the good guy in this and Dr Dallas is the one who is completely in the wrong.
Why is the school trolling Facebook pages? Is that now part of their mandate?
One article I read said it was posted to Mrs. Mount’s private area. I don’t know if that’s true, but if so, then that’d mean someone else flipped it to the school, possibly another parent. It’d hardly be the first time we’ve heard of that happening.
OK, look:
“That’s McBean Elementary’s principal, Dr. Janina Dallas, explaining why she blackballed Tanya Mount from the Hephzibah, Georgia, school property.”
WTF is this, a joke? And the picture of the frog with hair? Is it April already?
“Panaka: [alarmed] You can’t take Her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters! If they discovered her…
Qui-Gon: … It would be no different than if we landed on a system controlled by the Federation. Except the Hutts aren’t looking for her, which gives us an advantage.”
Well she found her.
Dr. Janina Dallas, aka Ms. Jabba the Hut
Has anybody else noticed that the report doesn’t say WHAT Mount
was complaining about? For all we know the kid might have been
harassed by hoplophobic teachers, or the school was failing to
to a true case of bullying seriously, etc…. Granted the parent could
be a real loon. However you can bet that if she had a legitimate
beef against the school, we’ll never hear it.
This principle has gone full retard.
Well the posting of ones Concealed Weapons Permit on Facebook is just plain foolish
this principle being afraid should seek help.
It sounds to me like she did the right thing and exercised caution. It also sounds like the concerned parent did the right thing and exercised her choice to place her child elsewhere. All is good with the world.
Had the principal issued some blanket ban, this would be a different story.
According to the newspaper story I read, the principal had the police issue a criminal trespass notice. Is that enough ban for ya?
I sent Tanya Mount a facebook message. I would others here would also.
I did as well.
I did too and I changed my Facebook profile photo to a picture of my CCW
Upon seeing the headline that the woman was banned for the gun, I was outraged. I am a strong conservative and this liberalism is just too much for me. However, if the parent really disrupted classes, well, then this is no longer a gun carry issue and makes this instead possibly a good call by the principal. I want to know more about the inside story. …..and how does everyone always get to know what is inside a person’s “private” facebook page?
Just because someone has a “concealed permit” DOES NOT mean that they carry a gun on them. I’m sure that the mother knew that the school did not allow guns on their property.
Also………sounds to me like the principal was “stalking” the mother’s facebook page…I mean how did she know?
If the mother has acted irresponsibly to a point where her actions were disruptive than she should and could have been disciplined for those actions up to and including being banned from school grounds. Her military service and firearms license should not have even been a consideration. Her CCW means she has passed training and a background check. More than can be said for most of the population that carries unlicensed. This principal may or may not have done the right thing. But she definitely went about it completely wrong and gave the wrong reasons for her actions. I personally believe the accusations of class disruption etc. are a poor attempt to distract from the real reasons. And I further believe that unless this principle can back those accusations with some very clear evidence she should be removed from her position immediately and never allowed a position of any authority again. Not only for the decision but for the thinly veiled attempt to cover up her reasons.
Sorry to burst your journalistic bubble, but Dr. Janina Dallas in her first interview said it simply had to do with the fact that Tanya Mount, an Army veteran, posted it on facebook. Dallas then later changed her story, of which there is no evidence to prove her statements, that Mrs. Mount was disruptive. I would also like to point out that that it takes a great deal of paperwork, medical and criminal background checks to become a volunteer in GA schools… a similar process is gone through to get a weapons permit. Dr. Janina Dallas in NOT a hero.
…I’m sorry, did I miss where the story said why the principle was checking out this facebook page?