Should Teachers be Armed?

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Over the next few weeks, kids across the country are going back to school. Unfortunately, many of them will go to a school with this sign out front. We have seen how people in gun-free zones have become targets in the past.

Should we arm our teachers so they can defend their students?

Should teachers be allowed to carry?

  • Yes, if they want to and have training
  • Yes, if they want to, have training, and are concealing
  • No, it opens them up for additional issues in the classroom
  • No, have others in the school armed, not teachers
  • Other? Leave your response below!

0 voters

12 Likes

It is time that we all take responsibility and train the best we can to protect. I am not saying to be police or military personal.

Not just one single person to sacrifice and be that only first responder, but teamwork is need. Same basic rules apply: Situational Awareness, our Color Codes, and etc. I understand some of the laws that are needed for controlling the bad guys with guns, but government needs to not dictate, but shut up and help the responsible man and woman that works hard in their lives to support their friends and families.

We must stop looking at our indifferences and be the team to help protect. I understand those crazy GUN FREE ZONES, but they are not a state or federal building or grounds. They are not a POSTED Property like are registered in our counties and states.

14 Likes

We are not arming teachers tho. We would just be allowing people more tools to do something they were already gonna do.

I do believe that it should be concealed carry only. If you want to have armed security at the major entrances and exits I’m fine with that, but in the classroom it should stay concealed on body.

15 Likes

I generally agree with the idea of teachers being armed, but with a few caveats.

  1. Individual teachers must volunteer to be armed and trained.
  2. Additional training specific to their situation and responsibilities must be required, far beyond ordinary CC permitting requirements, including drills with local first responders regarding coordination.
  3. Only on-body, well concealed carry.
  4. Teachers should not be required to seek out a shooter but be allowed the option of sheltering in place (If feasible) and defending the students currently in their care. Maybe this should be their primary responsibility.
  5. Teachers should have some sort of indemnification regarding their actions during an incident.

These are my initial thoughts; I surely have overlooked other sensible ideas.

Regards.

45 Likes

Allow any ccw licensee the right to carry in the school. If a teacher has a ccw license, then they can carry. If a parent is licensed, same difference. I volunteer with kids events at the school my son attends. Why should the teachers be allowed to carry and not me?

38 Likes

That’s an interesting point, @45IPAC!

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Spot on! I just retired from teaching and was deep into this issue with my district. I’ve seen all kinds of crazy ideas from well meaning but misinformed people. Ultimately we need to protect our kids, but it takes more than a CC permit and a few days on the range

12 Likes

I 100% agree with teachers carrying if they will go through extra training. I present to you 3 reasons I think the extra training is important - These people couldn’t make a good decision for anything. I’d like to discourage them from being the ones carrying. Maybe there’s a better way, this is just some initial thought on the subject.

2 Likes

I’m confused by your post. You 100% agree that people who "Couldn’t make a good decision for anything " should be armed. Then you post a few cherry picked articles relating to sexual abuse ofkids by adults as your support. WTF??? Yep, there are teachers who sexually abuse kids. Most are women teachers but I dont see anyone wanting to ban females from the profession. News Flash! Parents sexually abuse kids, grandparents likewise, let’s not forget about the clergy or uncles and aunts who abuse kids. You are stereotyping a large group because of some bad apples. I’m good with that if you are. After all, we’ve had some mass shootings lately so…wait for it…let’s ban guns!

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I do think you misunderstood. Teachers are in a position of power and authority. Making the choice to be armed in that situation suggests to me they want to accept some additional responsibility for protecting those children. I am suggesting maybe they get a little extra training if they are choosing to be armed in that position. The additional education might also serve to discourage people like the ones I posted. There are many aspects of this to think about. Seriously I am just thinking out loud for the sake of discussion, it’s not a dig on teachers at all. It’s a dig on opportunistic and or intentional scumbags of any gender. When I googled Teacher Indicted, these were the first three to come up.

2 Likes

Thanks for the clarification. As a teacher who was armed I can assure you the training goes well beyond the training most police receive. My profession, like many gun owners, suffer because of the actions of a small minority. I always defend teaching as a profession and always will. Google isn’t the end all say all for everything. That’s why we start teaching critical thinking to kindergarteners.

8 Likes

Interesting. Can you elaborate? I would have thought LEO training was the best training one could obtain.

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I’m not replying to disagree at all. I’m honestly torn a great deal on the topic. I’ve been an educator for 18 years, the last 7 as a school administrator. My heart says arm teachers, but my experience says we need to really think this through. I’ve lost count of how many heated arguments between parents I’ve broken up and I’ve actually had to physically restrain multiple adults at sporting events due to various conflicts. I think everyone on this board who’s members of the USCCA are responsibly armed citizens and always do the right thing. But we also know that carrying a concealed weapon requires the proper mindset and as bad as I hate to say it, my experience has proven to me too many people come to school campuses without the proper mindset, particularly at extracurricular activities.

Being a school administrator and a firearms instructor I’m asked frequently for my thoughts on arming teachers. I’ve sat down at my computer multiple times and tried to hammer out my opinion and no matter how much thought I put into it I always come away a little bit unsure. I lean heavily toward the idea of arming teachers, but what has given me pause since day one is the training and requirements. I’ve seen it too many times in education, will the local districts and state departments of education follow through with proper funding and support for the programs? I can’t honestly say I think they would and that scares me. We all know how vital training is to use/carry a firearm and in this context it is just as vital if not more so. I will say this though, if they come up with a program to properly train and implement the plan I am all in.

11 Likes

Please tell us what you can about your training. I’m in a very gun friendly state and work in school administration and very curious how you guys did it and how successful it was. Thanks

3 Likes

We are in states like OK and TX and so far it’s working out very well.

I think we need an extra layer of security added over normal licensed carry and additional training specific to dealing with mass shooter threats in schools for them but I absolutely support it.

I would also support putting rifle/shotgun length gun saves in every classroom and those faculty and staff then having access to long guns in an emergency.

You wouldn’t need or probably want to put long guns in every one of them, just let the faculty/staff that are trained know where they are and have access to them in the event of a shooting.

In a fight the long gun gives a decided advantage over the handgun whether you are on the attack or acting in defense.

2 Likes

In Texas we have two different programs. One is the “School Defender” program that is essentially a concealed carry course with an emphasis on mass shooter response. The other is the “School Marshal” program for which the training is quite similar to that which a police tactical team has.

1 Like

Teachers yes, but I feel all staff should, janitors, counselors, office personnel, gym teachers, athletic coaches, etc., many teachers simply aren’t physically or mentally equipped to shoot another human, even in self defense, but the staff could easily handle it, they should even take out 1 or 2 days a month and go to a tactical range and practice as a team, a team is always more effective then a single individual, it is so critical that regular citizens start taking an active role in being there when it counts. Every state should enact laws to allow school staff to purchase their own concealed weapons and carry, usually by the time LEO arrives on the scene the situation is virtually over.

2 Likes

@Patrick3 you are sadly mistaken if you believe that police are the best trained. Yes, they ar generally trained better than most but that is not always true. Obviously large departments usually have good training programs including firearms training and qualification. But, smaller departments lack the resources of the larger departments. Kentucky basic training currently requires 111 hours of firearms training out of an 800 hour curriculum. That’s not bad but that may be all an officer ever receives in formal training. The law also requires an annual qualification which is the CCDW requirement of hitting a full size silhouette target 11 out of 20 times at 7 yards. Blind people can pass that. Again, larger departments have greater requirements but it is dangerous to expect that all law enforcement are the best trained. i have watched many LEOs fail their qualifications that had to have remedial training. They often only shoot at their qualifications.

5 Likes

I would gladly take any additional training required. I was trained in the Army (retired) also took the Los Angeles county reserve deputy course. Before I would feel safe carrying in the school I would require myself to have additional training. Not only that training I previously mentioned was a juvenile corrections officer. I feel that almost 99% of the situations I would encounter could be dealt with using verbal commands ONLY! Just because the school district I work with has minimal issues. Administration is quick to respond to any threat with overwhelming support from our local police, county sheriff and constables officers. We have a armed constable who teaches a class on law enforcement. Plus 2 very competent school resource officers. The police department has administration at varying times and when a threat may be imminent. I’ve worked with some of the police officers at my time at juvenile. We have excellent rapport.

2 Likes

Yes the should, if trained and concealed. I think there should also be officers on site.

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