Should Teachers Be Able to Bring Guns to School? Guns are powerful weaponry used mainly for protection. Misuse of this type of weapon is the cause of laws and regulations that are enforced today, for people can be greatly injured if not used for pragmatic reasons. Guns have literally been banned from many public places, such as schools, for this reason.
Absolutely no one, aside from law-enforcement officials, are allowed to carry a gun on them in schools; however, teachers should be allowed to carry guns as well because they know their responsibilities and need the ability to protect their students, as well as themselves, in a case of emergency. In a time of crisis, such as an intruder or another person with a gun at school, teachers act as an aegis to their students, for most teachers treat their students as if they were their own children.
Knowing theirresponsibilityof protection, teachers know that it would be difficult to shield their students if an intruder were to infiltrate their classroom or place where they were assigned to teach or monitor students. However, by being able to bear a gun, they would not only be able to protect their students, but they could also stop the intruder from harming any other student or faculty member as well.
This process of being able to allow teachers to carry guns would be inevitably difficult, for, in most places, as Brad Knickerbocker says, “ District policy prohibits anyone except a law-enforcement officer from bringing a weapon onto campus” (1). However, as Knickerbocker also says, “ Throughout the country, lawmakers are filing bills that would make it legal for adult school employees to carry firearms…” (1).
Therefore, there is a chance that a bill will be passed and allow the great advantage of being able to possess a gun on school property for the responsible teachers wanting to provide a protectedenvironmentfor their students, be able to protect themselves, and simply have a security measure for any emergency situation that may come up. Initially, students are the major components that make up a school, for, without them, educators would have nothing and no one to teach. Students should be able to come to school worry-free and comfortably, for they should not have the fear of a school not being safe at any time.
Moreover, in order to be a preventative of students being afraid, there should be more security measures than there are currently in schools today. Indubitably, most schools have emergency drills and practices for protection; however, that is not always enough, for people in a school can still be harmed, or even worse, executed. For example, a student could walk into a school with a concealed weapon and easily start firing off into a crowd of students; therefore, law-enforcement officers alone may not be able to reach the situation fast enough.
Furthermore, if eachteacherwere allowed to carry a gun, with proper training, they would be able to stop the student from harming any more students than they could have before. Nevertheless, this does not mean only a gun such as a pistol, for even Taser guns could be used if the intruder or the threatening student didn’t need to be injured to the extent to where they are immediately deceased. Basically, students would be much more protected where they could roam the halls without apprehension if teachers were allowed to carry and use guns accordingly.
Subsequently, teachers should not only be able to protect their students, but they should be able to protect themselves as well. Although there are risks where teachers could harm themselves by accidental usage of a gun, misplace a gun, or have their gun stolen, there still seems to be more pros than cons on the situation. As students are known to be the main components of a school, the educators are very important as well. Because of this, those educators need to be protected in case something abominable was to happen to them as well.
Most teachers would agree that if a situation came up where law-enforcement officers were needed, they would want to be equally equipped with protection, and, in this case, that protection would be a gun. Unfortunately, there are still teachers that would rather not have a gun, for, as Kenneth S. Trump, President of National School Safety and Security Services, said, “ The vast majority of teachers want to be armed with textbooks and computers, not guns” (qtd. in “ Arming Teachers” 1).
However, those disagreeing teachers most likely wouldn’t believe that if an emergency came up to where their own lives were threatened. Typically, the majority of teachers would agree that a gun could be a great advantage in a case of emergency, whether or not there could be a few risks at stake. Finally, emergency situations can happen in the blink of an eye, and the phrase, “ expect the unexpected,” should be applied as a preventative for anything harmful that could have been avoidable. Also, an emergency situation can get so out of hand that numerous law-enforcement officers would need to be present.
An example of this would be the Columbine High School massacre, where a student brought a gun to school and fired off into a crowd of students, which injured 21 people and executed 15 people; however, this could have been avertible if teachers were allowed to have guns, for a teacher could then have had the ability to stop the student from causing any harm, aside a simple scare of the school’s students and faculty being wounded. Moreover, that massacre is merely an example of an event that could have been much worse, for, withviolencebecoming worse in today’s world, an execution of a whole school could even happen.
This, at least, should be a reason for teachers to have guns so everyone would feel safe in the long run. In addition to this, the matter of teachers having guns shouldn’t be a complicated matter when emergencies come up because it would be a great advantage for all teachers with training for the usage of guns to be able to have a quick way of response to any type of thing that may endanger human lives; therefore, avertible situations should be taken into consideration, and, if nothing else, arming the teachers with guns would be a great way to fulfill that thought.
Mostly, some people could say that a process as complex as this would seem not worth fighting for; however, many teachers could agree otherwise, for they would rather be protected and take risks than to be like a sitting duck and not take even the slightest risk to support an advantage that could save other people’s lives, as well as their own. Trump says, “ The arming of teachers and school staff goes is a significantly different issue that goes beyond simply the issue of an individual’s right in a number of states to be licensed to carry a concealed weapon” (qtd. n “ Arming Teachers” 2). This is partially true, for it does inevitably go beyond the basic rights of individuals; however, that does not mean that it shouldn’t be taken into effect because complexity comes around. Basically, when push comes to shove, people shouldn’t back down due to the lack of simplicity of a certain matter, and, in this case, that matter would be allowing teachers to carry guns.
Ultimately, risks are taken every day, and the risk of wounding a few students to a whole body of students seems to be a much better way out. That way, the teachers wanting to protect their students, as well as themselves, can act as a precaution, for most realistic teachers know that, if an emergency situation came up, it would surely be atrocious to go back and see that less harm could have been done after all.
As Knickerbocker says, “ The NRA and other gun advocates view allowing guns on school property as a safety measure” (2); therefore, overall, if an organization such as the National Rifle Association were to agree that teachers should have the advantage to step up in emergency situations in order to protect their students, as well as themselves, then it shouldn’t be such a crucial matter to allow guns to be carried by teachers after all.
Works Cited “ Arming Teachers and School Staff with Guns. ” schoolsecurity. org. National School Safety and Security Services, 1996-2008. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. Kinckerbocker, Brad. “ Should Teachers Be Able to Bring Guns to School? ” seattletimes. nwsource. com. The Seattle Times Company, 2007. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.
