Proponents of this policy cite two major arguments:
1.) Police response time, even rehearsed, is still hundreds of times slower in a school shooting, considering teachers are already present. Even a five minute response time could lead to dozens more unnecessary deaths. Teachers, voluntarily armed and trained, could end a potential massacre before the police even arrive.
2.) Given the implied conclusion that aggressors are purposefully targeting locations where they know that they will not encounter armed resistance, just the idea, true or not, that teachers may be armed, could stop a massacre from even starting. This means that the children are measurably safer than before, with no visible change that they can even see.
Opponents of this policy cite three arguments:
1.) Teachers don't want to carry weapons and be security guards; they want to teach. I'm sure that's true for a good number. In fact, given the bias that I've been subjected to from some of my past teachers, who seem to want to indoctrinate more than educate, it would not surprise me to learn that some teachers would not only prefer not to carry but would prefer that no one carries. Many teachers, however, are clamoring for the opportunity to protect themselves and their students. In the wake of the Newtown shooting, a Concealed Handgun License instructor, LoneStar Handgun, based in Schertz, TX has opened up classes to anyone who works with children at a school, offering the $125 class for free. The response has been overwhelming. Within hours of the announcement, all classes through the Christmas Break had filled to capacity, a total of 400 seats. The owner, a veteran of the armed forces, Josh Felker, opened up another class, which filled to the 60-seat capacity within 45 minutes. Anecdotally, it appears that there are plenty of teachers who do not fit this argument. Kudos to LoneStar Handguns for their outstanding public service.
2.) Teachers are not trained to use guns and would only put the children in more danger by trying to fight back. Looking back at previous posts, we've already began trying to establish that many aggressors immediately surrender or retreat as soon as they are confronted by someone else who is armed. We would also like to assume, based on statistical evidence, that just the notion that teachers are armed would prevent an aggressor from even targeting a school to begin with and the teacher would never even have to withdraw a gun, let alone shoot it. In the unlikely event that both of those assumptions fail, the school still has the authority to mandate specific training requirements to allow weapons to be carried on school grounds. The decision to carry is an individual decision made by each teacher; if one wishes to carry, he or she must still comply with the school's policies.
3.) An irresponsible teacher might allow a student to either, through physical force or through negligence, obtain a weapon that was legally carried into the school and use it illegally. In the off-chance that this occurs, not only are other potentially-armed teachers close by for a very fast response time, any teacher who allows his or her gun to fall into the hands of a student should be held responsible. That is a risk that they take when they make the decision to protect themselves and their students. Just as a parent must make an intelligent risk decision on whether to lock his or her weapons to prevent a teenager from gaining access to the weapons or keeping them unlocked so the same teenager can protect himself when home alone, a teacher must take on the responsibility of carrying a weapon with thoughtfulness and understanding.
Let's hear from the teachers. If your school district opened up concealed carry to teachers and administrators, would you carry? If not, why?
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I happen to an educator, and I would never, ever bring a weapon into my classroom. There are a million reasons for this. First, I'm not a huge fan of guns, myself. I don't begrudge anyone their right to bear firearms, but I choose not to do so. Secondly, I'm an elementary school teacher. I would most certainly have to inform my students and their parents of a weapon in the classroom. This tells these tiny little kids immediately that my room is not a safe space. Guns do not equal safety, folks! It just equals more of a chance that somebody's going to die or get hurt. If these kids don't feel safe in my classroom, then they're not going to be willing to learn and take risks academically or socially. I'm not an indoctrinator, I'm definitely the opposite side of the scale -- more of the John Dewey progressive type with experiential learning and problem-based learning. Guns and the idea of always being on the defense does not promote this kind of learning environment. Also, I spend a fair amount of time in my particular classroom trying to combat the pull of violence in general. Gangs. Sexual abusers. Emotional/Physical abuse. Bullies. I deal with all of these things every single day. Now, how am I going to stand in front of those kids and tell them that violence isn't the answer while I've got a 9mm strapped to my leg? I teach and lead by example, and for me, that's not a good one. Violence begets violence, and my job is to help these kids think about their world and shape their world to be different and better than the one we've got. My job is not to make them fearful and on edge, ever at the ready on the off-chance somebody comes into the school and demolishes 2 classrooms inside of 3 minutes. Also, our school district already employs "resource officers," which are sheriff's deputies. One is assigned to every school, and they are armed. On a side note, I went to high school about 3 miles from Schertz, Texas. They're gun-happy down there, anyway. I live in Virginia now, and I can't say it's all that different, here. I'm definitely in the minority, and that worries me. However, I will say that 95% of the teachers I know and/or work with feel exactly as I do -- no guns in school.
ReplyDeleteAngela, thanks for your comment. The reason it was published was because it was thoughtful and absent of the typical emotionally charged pleading that tends to typify the gun-control side. I will say, in response, that there is no regulation or mandate that states that a teacher is required to disclose to anyone whether or not they are carrying. In fact, I would say that the advertisement of it makes the policy less effective as a deterrence. The whole idea is to make a potential shooter unsure of what classroom to enter. If parents do not want a teacher carrying in school, they can force the school board to overturn it. I would suspect that for the vast majority of children, they would never know or have to know whether or not a teacher had a gun.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for guns not equaling safety, keep reading. Each day this blog will feature one or two stories with real people who would gladly say that but for the presence of a gun in their own hands or the hands of a nearby responsible citizen, they might not be here today. Just because they never got their stories on CNN or MSNBC or any other nationwide 24/7 news station doesn't mean that they are less real or less important than the victims of public shootings.