Should Guns Be Allowed in Schools?

Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic- No Guns Allowed!

By Cassandra M.

The placing of guns in the hands of educators is not an adequate solution for protecting students and faculty from harm. If guns are placed in schools, criminals and those looking to cause bodily injury to others will have additional avenues to access weapons.  No amount of training given to educators can take the place of a trained professional with years of experience handling guns.

The added knowledge of knowing a gun is on the premises could cause undue stress and possible departures of tenured teachers and other essential staff. The departure of staff could prompt parents to withdraw their children and a reduced enrollment would lead to a reduction in force and school closures. If guns are allowed in schools, school systems will be open to possible lawsuits from parents and the neighboring communities if the guns meant to protect the schools fall into the wrong hands. The Connecticut Education Association polled 400 teachers in January to ascertain their position on allowing guns in schools. Surprisingly, only 3% supported the effort. Currently there are only 18 states that allow the carrying of concealed weapons on school grounds.

After the Sandy Hook tragedy, many schools positioned armed security guards or stationed police on their grounds in order to combat fear and protect against other tragedies aimed at schools. In addition to added security personnel, school doors remain locked during school hours allowing entry only after proper identification is received. These are just a few examples of safety measures that can be put in place verses arming educators with guns.  

History continues to show how harmful guns are in the hands of the inexperienced user and those unfamiliar with how to react in emergencies. There is too much that can go wrong if a loaded weapon is placed in the hands of someone whose vocation is that of an educator. The educators and students have enough to be concerned about without adding an additional layer of stress. The safety of teachers and children should remain the responsibility of those whose job it is to serve and protect--the police officers.

Let's stop making schools such easy targets!

By Jason G.

Public School staff should be required to carry firearms daily.

Throughout history, schools have been the target of violent criminals. If they aren't sexual predators preying on little kids, they are insane people climbing clock towers to shoot at college kids. Why are schools such attractive targets for people wishing to do harm? Because social norms and mores dictate that the school should be a nurturing environment, staffed primarily by women. So, in the eyes of a criminal, a school becomes a big building full of young, vulnerable people who are being cared for by a group of women. Since violent crimes are primarily committed by men, this presents a very easy target. As a society, we have made our teachers, administrators, and students one of the easiest targets for violent crime. As women are often less physically powerful than men, they need another way to assert force and defend themselves and our children.

The answer to the problem lies in changing society's perception of our public schools. We need to turn the idea that schools are easy targets on it's head. If we, as a society, require compulsory firearm training for all teachers and administrators and require a firearm in each classroom, the “easy target” perception will change. Once potential violent criminals see a school as a place to get shot and killed, they may look for another venue to wreak havoc. A recent example of this deterrent effect is the city of Kennessaw, Georgia, where all home owners within the city limit are required to own a firearm. Kennessaw seems like a really bad place to take up home invasion as a hobby. Because of this deterrent effect, the number of violent crimes and break-ins are much lower than the Georgia average.

In the case of mentally insane people, this deterrent will not be effective, but their harm could be limited by an armed teacher. How far would Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold have gotten had they been shot as soon as they began their rampage in the Columbine High School? How many fewer people would Seung-Hui Cho have killed at Virginia Tech if there had been even one armed teacher? We will never know. It is too late for us to save those children.

Since we as a society have already failed to protect these children and dozens more throughout the years, their blood is partially on society's hands. We have allowed this to happen and need to go about changing it today. 

We need to properly train and arm all Public School teachers and administrators.