Should Teachers Carry Guns In School?

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Three hundred and sixty-five is the number of days in a year. It is also almost the same number of school shootings that occurred in 2023. 365 days of the year. 350 school shootings. Education systems across the nation have strategized precautions to protect themselves from gun violence; most include additional security personnel, cameras, school officers, and security tools. However, a few schools have gone as far as having teachers carry guns on their person while in class. Understandably, we are desperate to stop these attacks, but arming educators with firearms should never be resorted to. Teachers should not be permitted to carry guns in school because it will allow unsafe environments, create easy opportunities for larger violence, and …show more content…
It’s scary to think that guns could be all around us, and we would have no idea. Sheriff Smith, the sheriff of the town where that incident occurred agrees, saying "They didn't have any training, any policies, any procedure in place to govern how they used that weapon, which I think is a recipe for disaster”. However, I think that knowing a teacher has a firearm on them is more alarming. Students will be less likely to ask questions or converse, in fear of causing anger. They would turn into robots, trying not to displease their teachers. Joel Myrick, former assistant principal at a high school in Mississippi, says “Teachers have to teach, and that’s what they should be doing” in Natalie Proiux’s article “Should Teachers Be Armed with Guns?” that spoke against the topic. Similarly, Russell Lemmon, a high school teacher, was of the same opinion, saying “That scares me a little bit. Too much liability for the company." in the article “One Response to School Shootings in America: Arm the Teachers”. Teachers did not choose their job, expecting that carrying and using weapons would be a part of …show more content…
This poses a great risk to their safety. Brady Siebal, attorney at Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence who was previously mentioned, agrees as he says “Putting guns into those classrooms increases the risk that the guns might be taken and misused." High school students are almost fully grown adults. It would not be difficult for a student to get their hands on the gun if they attempted to fight against a teacher. One person having a firearm, means that there is a possibility of everyone having that firearm. At the elementary level, there are different hazards. Young children are small and typically around the waist level of teachers, exactly where the guns would be holstered. If a child gave the teacher a hug, what might happen? Lastly, there are other precautions schools can take to arm teachers. In “Should Teachers Be Armed with Guns”, Proiux writes about multiple alternatives, such as, “increasing police presence, hiring more security guards, and installing metal detectors, door buzzers, security cameras and barricades in