In my state there is yet another proposal to arm teachers on school campuses during the instructional day. What are your thoughts on this issue? If your district allowed you to carry a weapon at school, would you do it?
In my state laws allow conceal carry without notification, even for teachers. I don't know if any or how many teachers at my school do so, if any. I prefer this scenario to either forcing teachers to be armed or forbidding concealed carry.
That's very interesting. In my state, which is very pro-gun, it is illegal to have a firearm or any other dangerous weapon on school property.
I'm not necessarily against concealed guns in schools, but I sure would hope that the person holding the gun has extensive training and experience.
I shall now answer the second question. My school does allow me to carry a gun. Maybe I would if I were really, really good. And wanted to actually pay for a gun.
It might be a good idea but I would not want to pack a gun on me. 1. I need some shooting lessons and procedures training like cops take and are supposed to use. 2. I wouldn't want a student sneaking up on me and taking my gun from my holster. 3. They would have to pay for it.
These teachers should not be made to do it, it should be based on volunteering. Training and ongoing practice should be required, not just with how to handle a gun or shooting, but how to respond in situations, and very importantly, the law. You can't just start shooting. The school district would have to pay for everything and the guns would be the property of the district, locked up at school in a safe after hours (obviously more accessible during the day. I think it's a good idea and I would do it.
I agree it should be voluntary. If I didn't live in the most anti-gun state in the union, I would do it (with plenty of training.) The classroom I'm in has glass from three feet up to the ceiling; locking the door and hiding isn't going to keep anyone out.
I think there are better ways to solve this problem. The money could be better spent. I o not feel safe around guns, so I would not feel safer knowing my colleagues were armed.
This is why I'm satisfied with my state on this. Some people may or may not have concealed weapons. Doubtfully most do. If stuff goes down and someone with a good shot happens to have a gun, so much the better. Concealed carry is totally voluntary and has nothing to do with the school, allowing money to go to other things and putting in place more specific means of school protection.
Honestly I'm kind of surprised to see support for this issue here. I'm not in favor of arming teachers. There are lots of reasons why. Is special certification or licensure necessary? The regular conceal carry classes wouldn't address the special issues present in a school setting. Who pays for the firearm, ammunition, holster, cleaning supplies, trigger lock, and safe? Does the state/district require special training? Who pays for that training? Does the state/district require field tests? Who administers those? Who pays for them? What safeguards are in place to limit a teacher's liability? What happens if an innocent/uninvolved bystander is accidentally shot during a threat? Can the teacher be held personally liable for the injury to the bystander? Can the teacher be held liable if he does not discharge his firearm during a threat? Is there a registry of teachers who are carrying firearms on any given campus? If so, who has access to that registry? Do armed teachers know who else is armed so that they don't accidentally shoot each other? How much will all this training and oversight and liability insurance cost? Would that money be better spent on hiring an actual police officer to patrol the campus?
These are good questions to ask. I think a lot of them would probably be dependent on laws already in place in the state.
There is mandatory military service in Israel, so citizens are, for the main part, well trained in handling weapons properly. It's a very different place there.
I would honestly appreciate taking a comprehensive firearms class. I've fired guns before, but not in decades. Before I make up my mind on this issue, I'd want to learn a lot more about my own personal comfort and ability levels.
I would do it if allowed. I also agree that this would be better than banning (my current school) or forcing them to carry. I know for sure my fiance would be super happy since I work in an unsafe area. He really wants me to, but our school bans guns in the building. There's a no-guns-allowed sign posted on every single door, which to me just says "come in, bad guys, we're all unarmed!"
From our side of the pond it always seems strange that someone proposes that the answer to gun crime is to have more guns! Are there any instances in recent times where a shooter was prevented or stopped from committing a crime by an armed civilian?
Actually yes! There are news stories about crimes being prevented because someone was able to stop the "bad guy" with their own gun
yes, there are plenty of stories where good guys with guns stopped bad guys. My father carries and he has stopped two crimes (but not active shooters) by carrying. My BIL stopped a sexual assault where the victim was being subdued with a gun. My coworker stopped a home invasion by killing the man. Found out later that the man had raped two women and murdered a man during previous home invasions. You can find all kinds of cases where active shooters were stopped by armed civilians.
I am actually pro-gun ownership and go to the range for fun. But I wouldn't support guns held by teachers in schools because of how many things could go wrong with it. There are enough accidents with kids getting access to guns in private homes and hurting someone or themselves with it. This is providing one gun per 30 kids with very sticky hands and only one adult to supervise all of them. Accidents WILL happen. As part of getting my own concealed-carry license (I don't even own a gun but it was an interesting way for me to spend an afternoon one day) I had to learn a lot about gun laws in my state. Apparently it's completely legal for parents and other adults who visit the campus to concealed or open carry, but it is illegal for teachers to carry.
I'd be uncomfortable with teachers carrying guns at school. If needed, I'd rather see an armed security guard placed at each campus.
This has been talked about in my area. My teammate came from a district that was talking about arming every single teacher, which I think is completely absurd and I frankly can't see how anyone could get behind that. I don't like guns and would not feel safe in a building that had armed teachers. I would worry about students getting access to the guns and I would worry about a teacher having a mental breakdown (which unfortunately I think is not that far fetched given how stressful the profession has become) with easy access to a gun. I can say with absolutely certainty that if any policy like my teammate's old district was talking about ever came to fruition, I would quit immediately before even considering continuing to work at a school that required me to carry a gun. Another teammate said that she knew of an extremely rural district that wanted to have armed teachers because apparently the nearest "emergency services" of any kind (including police) was over 45 minutes away. That is the only scenario where I could possibly get behind schools even entertaining the idea of arming teachers.
Nope, nope and more nope. I don't really care how great a shot someone is, how "well trained" they are, unless they have been in life or death situations(police officers, soldiers) I do not know how someone will react when $%#@# goes down. I don't trust many of the people I work with to carry a gun.(Although, I do trust them to be fun to shoot with and be a fantastic shot on a range) Working so closely with young kids....so near a firearm....nope, not in favor of this. With that said I would not quit or leave the profession, I simply would not carry one.
Yes. I don't remember what state it was but an Assisstant principal had a weapon in his vehicle. He got out of the building, got his weapon, and prevented murders. I know of about eight people on my campus who have their concealed license and some, I believe, keep them in their vehicles with permission. I do wish they were allowed to carry on campus. I'm not at a level that I would feel comfortable getting a concealed license, but wouldn't hesitate if my ability was better. I wouldn't want to be required to carry a weapon, but I have no problem with people with the appropriate training and certifications to do so.
I remember the mass shooting at a community college, I think in Washinton, Umqua or something, a few years ago. Fox had a live interview with a witnesses or people on campus when it happened. They were asking if they thought it could have been prevented if students were allowed to carry concealed weapons. The man they were interviewing said, "oh, me and my friend had concealed weapons". I did not see Fox News ever replay the interview with that witness again.
As we are talking about research, I think we should look at the facts. In the United States there were over 33,500 gun deaths last year. In Japan there was a total of 6 deaths. That is right, 6 for the whole country, for the whole year. Japan has very strict gun control...something to think about.
I'm not entirely sure what a general gun control debate has to do with the original question of arming teachers.
Well isn't the point of arming teachers to protect themselves and students from gun attacks? Isn't the gun control debate about whether or not arming citizens actually makes one safer?
I think if you're arming teachers, you're participating in a form of control. Gun control debate is more about who gets to be armed rather than if people can be armed, at least outside the extremes. And now I'm making the thread even more political. Which was my original fear with this tangent. I shall go take a bath and read a romance novel now.
Let's not debate other's views. Just state yours. Respect other's 2 cents by not adding disputes to it. Thanks!
