In 2012, 20 young children and six adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Amid calls for stricter gun control, the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre managed to shift the debate by introducing a concept that seemed designed to generate outrage: Have an armed security guard present in every school in America.

His strategy worked, and in the years since, the conversation has centered on the ludicrous notion that the solution to our school shooting problem is more guns in schools.

Fast forward to the aftermath of last month’s school attack in Parkland Florida, and the debate has devolved from arming guards to arming teachers.

Enter Maine legislator and U.S. Senate candidate Eric Brakey, marching in lockstep with the NRA, introducing a bill allowing “qualified teachers to carry concealed firearms” in Maine schools.

The flaws in Brakey’s proposal are myriad and the argument behind it has been elsewhere disproved:

The presence of armed police doesn’t guarantee a shooting will be halted or prevented, to say nothing of a civilian.

An armed officer present at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School couldn’t prevent 17 deaths before the shooter apparently walked away, only to be arrested later, off school grounds.

Scientific American recently noted that a dozen police officers fired 141 shots during the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Still, 13 were killed before the shooters killed themselves.

There is no evidence to support the notion that an armed teacher will stop a bad guy with a gun in the classroom. One must also weigh the risk of an accidental discharge or a teacher’s weapon being stolen.

Still, Brakey’s proposal itself is a win-win: A win for the NRA in their attempt to draw discourse away from meaningful gun reform, and a win for Brakey, as he can earn notoriety and name recognition in what will be, for him, an uphill battle against a popular incumbent, Sen. Angus King.

Meanwhile, those who genuinely care about preventing mass shootings ought keep focused on real solutions, such as strengthening background checks, re-instituting the assault weapons ban and fighting cuts to social services that help those with mental illness.

Lobbyists and politicians will continue to cloud the school shooting issue with their nonsense. It’s up to us to see through it.