I am a middle and high school teacher. It is not my first career. I have mixed thoughts about teachers carrying at school.
Should teachers be able to carry to prevent threats to kids? My answer is yes. But it should have a higher standard than just owning a weapon legally.
I personally think school personnel should be able to carry if they are able to meet a CCW and perhaps even a higher level of qualifications. There are teachers that shouldn’t be able to carry at work, but there are some that could save coworkers and student lives in the case of an incident.
My opinion is yes, if they want to they should be able to. I also agree that qualification for this should be greater than it is for a standard carry permit.
My thoughts… As long we do have School Gun Free Zones, there will be problem for teachers to let them carry the firearms…
But, I’m supporting concealed carry for teachers.
I agree, Teachers should be able to and Should Carry. Additional training probably isn’t such a bad idea. Thins like Firearms Security, we don’t want the kids to have access to the gun. What to do next, we don’t want the teacher to be mistaken for the gunman and getting shot be first responders…
That is a great point. Open carry could lead to teachers being targeted by a threat, or students around them being hit if the teacher is targeted. It could also make some students uncomfortable, so I think concealed with adequate training would need to be the requirement to keep students both comfortable and safe.
Good points. I think if it is ever allowed it should be concealed and not put in a desk drawer ever even if locked. On the person at all times. And I agree with your point about being mistaken for the gunman as it is something I have thought about… whether it is at a school or defending an armed robbery while shopping. If given time, I think holstering it and cooperating would work fine but if officers came into a live situation it would be easy for them to mistake the gunman keeping people safe for the aggressor.
Yeah the lock the door and hide procedure bugs me. The only way locking the door could be useful is if I break a window with the door locked and help students escape to a courtyard, which is against “policy” but who cares.
The “lock the door and hide” policy sounds about as useful as when during the Cold War students were instructed to hide under desks in the case of nuclear attack.
Knock on wood I never see school violence but it is hard not to think about when watching over kids.
I see no issues with teachers who carry at school, I do believe if they carry then the firearm needs to be worn on their body and not stored in their desk or purse. I also feel there needs to be heavy penalties if there are any negligent incidents involving a teacher with their firearm, loss of job, loss of teaching license, possible jail time type of deal.
Agreed to carry with additional training with re-certification annually for teachers so qualified. Also, upon certification, to be issued a photo ID stating teachers so qualified to be exempt from school Gun-Free Carry ZONE laws, a copy of which is recorded with local PD for sharing with responding LEOs in the event of an incident. Also, some form of communication device could be provided to alert responding PDs regarding location of teachers so qualified to carry to prevent possible “Friendly Fire” incidents. Extra points if said communication device is capable of voice communication for gathering such intelligence as can be provided by the qualified teacher. This is a bit involved but, hey, what’s your kids life worth?
There are teachers who should not even be teaching, let alone carrying. If school districts - and municipalities - screened for and eliminate wasteful spending there would likely be adequate funding to provide appropriately trained security personnel at all levels of schooling. If teachers want to “do something useful” put them in an advanced first aid class and teach them how to recognize marginal behavior in at risk students.
I agree with you. There is so much bloat and waste. Things could be more efficient and accomplish more. I agree with your solution of adequate security, but under the current school framework I don’t see changes happening soon.
The only teachers that shouldn’t carry are one’s that don’t want to carry. Nobody should be denied their second amendment right. The only way they should make it mandatory for teachers to get training is if they make it mandatory that they carry.
I agree with Rober1246 and the reason being is that if you require a special license or training, it’s just the Government making it harder to exercise your 2nd Amendment. People can claim all they want it’s to protect the children, but the reality is, it’s to dissuade people from carrying firearms. In Oregon it will become a requirement that people will have to take a Gun Safety class then register with the State before they are allowed to purchase a new firearm. And they will have to renew this license every year where they are going to spend $100+ for the privilege to be allowed to purchase firearms. This is not something that is going to lower gun crimes, but it’s just adding a hurdle for lawful citizens to exercise their rights.
Instead of making it harder for teachers to protect themselves and our kids, we should weed out potential bad actors by making the penalty of gun negligence for teachers the factor that will have the bad actors weeding themselves out. An alcoholic teacher can take as many safety courses and pay as many licensing fees as they want and carry at school just fine. But if you set a rule that if you come to school drunk with your firearm you will lose your job, your license and go to jail, sippy cup Sharon may decide carrying a firearm is just not that worth it for her.
@DTinAZ Welcome to the community, and YES for those teachers that are pro-2A and can handle a firearm including training should be allowed to conceal carry.
Seriously??? So you would be alright with a person with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder to own a gun? These people are unstable and have massive mood swings. If you’re okay with that, you are part of what’s wrong in this country!
