One reason teachers should not be able to carry guns because guns are currently illegal in schools; Guns are illegal because they are dangerous. The Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) is a federal law that was accepted in the United States in 1990. According to the GFSZA, “It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.” In order for teachers to carry guns, we would have to discard this law. Also, the school board would have to create a new policy, allowing teachers to carry guns. Adjusting the rules would be time consuming and confusing. Changing the GFSZA would make students tense and distract children from learning. Citizens from CNN Politics say, “72.4% of educators said they would be unlikely to bring a firearm to school if allowed to do so.” This data shows that the majority of teachers do not even want possession of a gun in the classroom. School officers have the right to carry guns, teachers should just focus on education. Not only does it create a huge responsibility, there would also need to be a large financial investment to supply guns for every school. This money would be hard to come up with, and not everyone is in favor of sacrificing money for firearms.
Another reason teachers should not be able to carry guns is because it would be very hazardous; Kids would feel unsafe with guns easily accessible. Having a gun in the classroom would create tension and make it to focus. If teachers accepted firearms then a child could get their hands on it. According to Corbett from Slate magazine, “If a gun finds its way into a teacher’s desk, briefcase, or purse. A child will get his hand on it.” If the gun was easil...
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...prepare students and teachers if a school attack or shooting were to occur.
Works Cited
Corbett, Ken. "Why Guns in Schools Are a Bad Idea for Kids." Slate. N.p., n.d. Web.
Gun Free School Zone Act Of 1990. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Harvey, Ted. "Teachers Need Guns, Says Lawmaker Whose Son Attended School with
Colorado Shooter." Fox News. FOX News Network, 06 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
Severson, Kim. "Guns at School? If There’s a Will, There Are Ways." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
"Should School Teachers Be Armed with Guns?" The Premier Online Debate Website.
N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
"Should Teachers Be Armed?" US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 24 Mar.
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Sperry, Todd. "Survey: Teachers Don't Want to Carry Guns, Do Support Armed
Guards."CNN. Cable News Network, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Arming teachers is deranged. Many teachers or potential teachers may shy away from their dreams or future plans of being a teacher with forcing him/her to carry guns and police student’s.
As the generations of America’s youth continue to grow, so does the increase in violent crimes associated with each generation. Over the last decade, studies have shown that school shootings have increased by an astonishing 13%. Although this figure as a percentage does not seem like much, it makes one stop and think. Parents blame the video games and their violent behaviors for the influence on their children’s daily lives. Grandparents blame the child’s parents for not showing them the right way to grow up in the world. And then we have that child’s friends who say that this child just was not respected by their classmates, or perhaps even bullied into this violent nature. Regardless of the cause to this violent increase, many Americans do believe in a solution: gun control. Gun control is the situation in which the federal government would put a ban on owning firearms. Contrary to what many “hard-core” Americans believe, gun control would not necessarily ban them from owning hunting rifles or even personal handguns. It would simply limit the ownership of semi-automatic assault rifles, and other rifles of this nature. This does not contradict the Second Amendment of the Constitution which states that American citizens have the Right to Bear Arms. I believe in the constitutional Right to Bear Arms, and I am against any attempt to eradicate that right for any American citizen: however, I am for gun control in the sense of lowering the possession of semi-automatic and fully-automatic rifles.
Watkins, Christine. "Gun Crimes Cause Serious Harm to Children." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Gale Cenage, 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
One of the biggest debates in education is how to respond to gun violence in schools. According to BBC, “There were 64 school shootings in 2015” (BBC). One response to the rise in gun violence in schools is to arm teachers. Even our President has mentioned “giving a bonus” (Davis 2) to teachers that The fact that the idea of arming teachers is even being discussed is disappointing. Bringing more guns into a school is not the answer to gun violence. Most people that defend the idea that guns will “help” keep schools safe have basically three points: (1) teachers will be trained in gun safety, (2) it helps deter potential school shooters, and (3) it will make the students feel more safe. Even though there is some truth to those points, I think that the cons of arming teachers vastly outweigh the pros of arming teachers.
Moore, Claire. "To Teach or Not Teach Gun Safety in School." ABC News. ABC News
DeMillio, A. D. (2013, July 30). Guns in school: Ark. district arming more than 20 teachers,
Pavlich, Katie. "Arkansas to Allow Teachers to Carry Guns at School." Townhall.com. N.p., 01 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
My recently divorced History professor seemed to be in an extremely foul mood one dreary Monday morning. Every move and comment the class made seemed to irritate him more and more. Everyone in the room stopped moving and talking in concern for him, everyone except Josh, who is our class clown. He made the decision to make a comment to our teacher that any other day would have broken the ice and class would have resumed. For some reason, on this particular day it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My professor looked up from the floor and in a matter of seconds had removed a gun provided to him by the school for protection, from under his jacket, and then shot Josh before anyone could do anything to stop him. Although, this is a story of fiction and never really happened, it could become a headline on the six o’clock news if David McGrath gets his way. He is the author of an article that supports teachers being given loaded weapons for protection in the classroom. To me providing teachers with weapons is a drastic move because the epidemic of school shootings is not as big as McGrath makes it out to be and there are many more sensible solutions that have yet to be explored.
School shootings have altered American history greatly over the past two decades. From 1997 to 2007, there have been more than 40 school shootings, resulting in over 70 deaths and many more injuries. School shoot-outs have been increasing in number dramatically in the past 20 years. There are no boundaries as to how old the child would be, or how many people they may kill or injure. At Mount Morris Township, Michigan, on February 29th, 2000, there was a 6 year old boy who shot and killed another 6 year old girl at the Buell Elementary School with a .32 caliber pistol. And although many shootings have occurred at High Schools or Middle Schools, having more guns on those campuses would not be a good environment for children to grow up in. However, on a college campus, the pupils attending are not children anymore; the age range is from 17 to mid 20’s. Therefore they understand the consequences associated to the use of weapons and have gained more maturity. In April 16th, 2007, at Blacksburg, Virginia, there was a shooting rampage enacted by Sung-Hui Cho (23 years, from Centreville, VA) who fired over 170 rounds, killing 32 victims, before taking his own life at the Virginia Tech campus. Colleges and Universities would be a much safer place, for student and teacher, if guns were permitted on campus for self-defense purposes.
Severson, Kim, and Alan Blinder. "Guns at School? If There's A Will, There Are Ways." LexisNexis Academic. LexisNexis, 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
By appealing to several different views, Wheeler is able to grab every reader’s attention. Using schools as his focus point grabs the reader’s attention on a personal level. A school is a place where your children, your friends, your spouses all could be, and we still aren’t motivated to change our gun control laws. Tragic events do not have to happen like those that occurred at Virginia Tech, The Jewish Day care in Los Angeles, and Pearl High School. Wheeler believes concealed carry should be allowed in every school. Let’s make the students and teachers of these schools and colleges their own heroes. Wheeler says we must embrace all of the varied disciplines contributing to preparedness and response. We must become more willing to be guided and informed of empirical finding. School officials base policies on irrational fears. Wheeler states, “What is actually worse, the fear of what we think might happen, or the massacres that actually did occur?” Wheelers essay is very well thought out and uses fear, credibility, and factual evidence to support his beliefs. My belief is we should allow teachers and students to have guns at schools, as long as they have gone through training to do
Lott, John R., Jr. "Opposing View: Guns in Schools Can save Lives." USA Today. Gannett, 25 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
I feel teachers should be able to carry guns, the main reason for this, is in some schools the closest law enforcement is 20-50 miles. For example “some teachers and staff in the Harrold, Texas, school district where Thweatt is superintendent carry concealed guns in the school as the last line of defense in the event of a shooting on campus.
In the summer of 2013, 4 principals came together to discuss whether they wanted to have teachers carry guns with them in school. Three principals said that they agree with the idea but one principal disagreed. That principal said that it's teachers having guns is a high risk. He also said that you're “putting a lot responsibility on the staff of the school to perform a law enforcement they aren't trained for” according to (“Arming Teachers to Keep Schools Safe”). There have also been incidents where teachers were not responsible with the handgun. In 2014 in Idaho State University, a professor's handgun discharged and he shot himself in the foot. So a lot of responsibility on the teacher's shoulders. While many states are trying to stop gun
On the side if teachers were to carry guns students and parents may be more scared. “When violent force is upheld as safety, fear and silence creep in”(Corbett huffington post). “Kids get their hands on guns, and they know how to use them”( Corbett huffington post). “I have a patient who recalls his silent car rides with his father who kept two guns under the driver’s seat. Silently the boy watched, on guard, even though nothing ever happened. But then again nothing was ever