Sutten 1

Jacob Sutten

Professor Zembower

English 1302

13 June 2018

Concealed Carry For Teachers

Imagine a world where there is no law enforcement, sounds scary right? The same idea is

being used to protect students at high school. Teachers with the ability to carry a concealed

firearm could stop the possibility of another devastating school shooting. I believe that high

school teachers should be able to carry a firearm to protect students from threats that may present

themselves, while using the firearm is a great security measure it could also be used as a

preventative.

With the wake of school shootings happening more frequently than ever, students should

be able to feel safe while learning at school, and some schools have already implemented

teachers carrying firearms. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio,

South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington are states that have

teachers armed in some of their school districts in Texas and Utah some districts have been this

way since 2012 after the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (Owen). Teachers and

Staff had to undergo a mental health evaluation and 80 hours of training by the Texas

Commission on Law Enforcement at Agua Dulce ISD. Teachers having the option of defending

themselves and students could dramatically reduce the casualties even to zero; with the correct

training teachers and staff can react faster than if having to call emergency services reducing the

time the shooter has to cause chaos and destruction.

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It is absurd to think that are students don't feel safe while in school of all places. School is

a place to learn and its main priority is to feed knowledge to kids. If students have something

else on their mind it decreases the chance they are learning and not just listening, with this in

mind when teachers and staff can carry firearms this should decrease the fear of a shooting while

also reducing the chance of a shooting because the potential shooter should be worried of the

other firearm that is being held by the teacher. One student at Callisburg High School said that he

felt safe at school because he knew that if there was an active shooter there were staff and

teachers that could protect us (Chavez). One can only wish that all students will feel this way.

Not only should the students feel safe but parents should feel like their child is safe when

sending them to school. Students are at school for seven hours a day, parents should know that

their child is being kept safe and not have to worry whether the school is going to have an active

shooter. With this in mind parents should know teachers that have a concealed firearm, the

firearm will only be used when necessary. The firearm will be kept out of sight from students so

it will not be a distraction while the teacher is teaching. What most schools have done and future

schools should do is students and everyone else beside except faculty do not know which

teachers or staff have firearms as this could cause problems such as the teacher being treated

unfairly.

While we should have firearms being used by trained teachers and staff, if the school

decides that teachers are allowed to carry a firearm its overall the teacher or staffs decision if

they want to. Kasey Hansen a teacher wanted to protect her students after the Sandy Hook

Elementary School shooting, she says “It broke my heart to think that all the teachers could do

was huddle their kids in a corner, stand in front of them and pray that nothing was going to come
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through that classroom door,” after this she knew she wanted to keep her students safe and began

to learn more about gun safety and gun laws. She does not tell her students that she is carrying a

firearm, and she doesn't think her students should know (Sandell). This is important for parents

to know that these teachers that are carrying guns have permits and have to take safety courses

directed towards use in a school environment.

Most high schools have resource officers, they are law enforcement officers and they are

recommended to have the same equipment any other law enforcement officers have. This means

a firearm and emergency equipment such as a crisis kit. The NASRO (National Association of

School Resource Officers) recommends that there is at least one SRO per 1000 students. I know

from experience when I went to Mckinney Boyd High School that our SRO’s had to walk and

survey a large distance which could reduce the effectiveness of their job. Having teachers that

are trained and carry a firearm would greatly reduce the pressure that is put on a single SRO and

allow them to be efficient doing their job as a law enforcement officer (FAQ NASRO).

The majority of people think that arming teachers and staff is a bad idea, and I can

understand why. The main job of a teacher is to teach, with the option of keeping students secure

this could lower the effectiveness of their teaching, that's why this is completely voluntary and

only teachers who think they will still be effective at teaching should carry a firearm. There is

also the possibility of a misunderstanding, if a teacher is being direct to a student, and the student

sees the gun they could read the situation and not realise that the gun was not supposed to be

seen which would be misunderstood as a possible threat. Another possible outcome is that the

firearm which is owned by a trained teacher could be taken from them and used in a shooting to

kill other students.

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Teachers, Staff, Students should feel safe at school no matter the situation. Parents should

feel safe about sending their child to school, trained teachers and staff would solve this problem.

Think about how your child, sibling, grandchild, cousin, nephew could be saved by allowing

their teachers to carry a firearm.

Word Count: 987

Assignment: Essay of Argument

Audience: Zembower
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Works Cited

Alvarado, Beatriz. “In Texas, 172 School Districts Allow Teachers, Staff to Carry Guns in

Schools.” ​Corpus Christi Caller-Times​, Corpus Christi, 30 May 2018,

www.caller.com/story/news/education/2018/02/22/texas-172-school-districts-allow-teach

ers-staff-armed/364677002/​.

Chavez, Nicole. “These Schools Say Arming Teachers 'Can Be Done Right'.” ​CNN​, Cable News

Network, 28 Feb. 2018,

www.cnn.com/2018/02/24/us/armed-teachers-states-trnd/index.html.

“Frequently Asked Questions.” ​National Association of School Resource Officers​,

nasro.org/frequently-asked-questions/.

Owen, Tess. “Here's All the States Where Teachers Already Carry Guns in the Classroom.”

VICE News​, News, 11 Mar. 2018,

news.vice.com/en_ca/article/ywq8b5/teachers-armed-guns-classroom-state-laws.

Sandell, Clayton, and Alexa Valiente. “Why This Utah Teacher Says She Supports Arming

Teachers with Guns in Schools.” ​ABC News​, ABC News Network, 23 Feb. 2018,

abcnews.go.com/US/utah-teacher-supports-arming-teachers-guns-schools/story?id=5328

7677.