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Gun control laws and school shootings
Mass School Shootings in the U. S. Essay
Mass School Shootings in the U. S. Essay
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Introduction
In the United States there has been multiple school shootings in the past years however, depending on how the shooting is classified depends on the number reported. Some groups such as, Everytown for Gun Safety, reported that there has been 74 school shootings since Sandy Hook happened in December of 2012; this report includes incidents where a firearm was discharged in a school whether it be an assault, suicide, or accidental (Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, 2014). Then another group, The Brandy Campaign, reported 33 school shootings since Sandy Hook but defines a school shooting as when at least one person is shot on school property (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 2016). These statistics vary because of different definitions of a school
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However, after this tragic event, she believes teachers should not carry guns in school. This is because she believes guns will do more harm than good (K. Roig-DeBellis, personal communication, October 13, 2016). One of the biggest risk associated with teachers having guns in schools, even if they are locked away, is there is always a chance of a student getting ahold of a gun and hurting/killing themselves or another individual. This is just as bad as a gunman coming in and shooting. Another why teachers having guns is bad is because of the lack of training they will have. Policeman and swat team members go through months and years of training until they are able to handle situations involving shooters, and these teachers would be handling these situations after just a little training. This can lead to inappropriate use of guns in schools. Also, the training teachers go through does not involve a mental training, so there could be a chance a teacher who has a gun ends up being just as bad as a gun man with a gun
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.
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.
Everyone knows that parents’ first worry is the safety of their children. With the increase of violence in schools, parents have started to wonder if their children are really safe in the school setting. Shootings like Sandy Hook and Columbine left parents, administrators, and educators feeling the need to be proactive towards children’s safety. Reacting to situations like these is not good enough when children’s lives are on the line. Administration has started to brainstorm different ways to help insure the protection of their students. The idea of having teachers carry concealed weapons has been on the front burner for quite some time. As a result of this extreme idea, insurance companies have started to increase or even cancel policies with schools that have armed teachers because of the high risk they are putting themselves at. Parents and administrators also worry about the idea of children getting their hands on one of the teachers’ weapons and injuring themselves or other students. Because this idea seems quite extreme, I believe there are other alternatives that are less dramatic and more positively out looked, such as having armed security guards in schools.
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...
School shootings seemed like a new phenomenon, but they occurred for the majority of American history. The first school shooting occurred On July 26, 1764, when a Lenape Indian shot and killed nine children and the school master of the Greencastle, Pennsylvania school (Galvin): as noted in Appendix A. Since 1764, the number of school shootings rose exponentially. In the 1990’s, eighty-six school shootings occurred and between 2000 and 2014, 110 shootings transpired since 2000 (Killam,2008). The development of semiautomatic weapons lead to an increase in deaths. A study conducted in 1990 found through the years of 1986 to 1990; 71 people died, 201 wounded, and 242 people held hostage by school shooters(Galvin). While the area a school serves as one factor in the number of violent acts committed per year, school shootings have not been connected to this. The schools in Chicago dealt with more violent acts, but Sandy Hook Elementary, a small city school had relatively few violent acts committed by students.
In “Vulnerable Schools Need Protection: Guns, Training For Teachers may be the answer”, published in a 2008 edition of the Chicago Tribune, David McGrath argues that some teachers should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon for protection. First, McGrath states that if a random psychotic gunman were searching for someplace to attack, his classroom would make an easy target. He feels that if he was trained and armed, his class would not be trapped without a chance of survival because he would be able to defend against the gunman. Sec...
Allowing concealed weapons in the schools is not a good thing because the teachers are not trained enough to carry a concealed weapon at the schools. Teachers need a lot of training just to hold the weapon and how they should be using it. Teachers also need a lot of nerves to use the gun on somebody else and it’s not about just using it, it’s also about doing the right thing at the right time. A couple of years ago Utah was the first state to legalize to carry a concealed weapon at the schools. According to Desert News, Last year a town named Taylorsville in Utah, a sixth-grade teacher injured herself in the school bathroom when her concealed firearm accidentally went off inside an elementary school bathroom. Luckily she just did not had serious injuries. If we allowed teachers to carry
Gun control is a controversial issue already; now the question society is pondering is: should teachers be allowed to carry guns to school? Like most instances there are some pros and some cons that could occur if allowed. Although some instances occur where students need protections in schools, teachers are not the ones who need to carry weapons; however, more security and other measures need to be enforced.
School shootings have been a part of America’s history since 1700’s when four Lenape Indians went into a school in Greencastle, Pa., and killed the teacher and up to as many as 10 children (Epstein, 2012). Since that day school shootings have become almost a regular occurrence. This school year alone, we have already reached eleven shootings (Hefling, 2014). Perhaps, an even more stunning number, since the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012, just fourteen months ago, America has had an appalling 44 school shootings, totaling a horrific 28 deaths, in just fourteen months (Dimon, 2014). Since that day in December, about 1,500 state gun...
“That could never happen in my school.” This is one of the first thoughts that goes through a students mind when they hear about a school shooting. The fact is though, it can. School shootings can happen at any school at any time. Lack of security is only a small part of the problem. The major issue lies in the low morality of students and warning signs overlooked by administration.
Teachers play a very important role in our kid’s lives on a daily basis. Not only are they there as educators, but they are also there as protectors as well, especially for our younger students. They are not only there to watch over them and make sure that they get home safely, but they are there to protect them from any harm, including a gunman. If a gunman were to enter the school and some if not all of the teachers were licensed to carry, he could be stopped before harming or even killing several people, including our children.
This article gives a good understanding from a teacher’s standpoint, which most other articles just focus on the government. Obeng focuses on students who may bring a gun into the school and kids who have access to weapons at home rather than just criminals, which is also a good point of view for readers to understand. The authors focus is to show that most teachers are for the students being taught gun safety because they believe it will help the safety of students and the community (p.398). A problem I saw with this study is that was done in 2010, which was before the Sandy Hook incident that took place in 2012 that would probably influence some teachers decision. The Sandy Hook shooting was a focus point in other articles and makes this research study by Obeng a little outdated for this topic. Although I am interested in the teachers view for gun safety, I also believe Obeng would have a stronger case with a larger group of teachers and maybe a separate study with the parents’ opinion on teaching children about 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
One of the most commonly known school shootings that has occurred took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999. According to History.com, “the crime was the worst high school shooting in U.S.
Out of the 102 teachers that responded, 62% of those teachers said that they were for teaching gun safety in schools. Of those 62%, about 54% say that they feel that police or trained military personnel should teach these safety classes in the schools.