Gun Control At School

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

Some are afraid that by placing guns in school zones, more deaths and homicides will occur. That by giving administrators guns the chance of a shooting will increase tremendously, but the truth is by not placing guns on school property, we are increasing the chance of having our children and loved ones being shot. By allowing our administrators to carry guns in schools, we decrease the chance of someone walking into that school and possibly injuring or killing our students and teachers. The Superintendent David Hopkins of the Arkansas district stated “ The plan we’ve been given in the past is ‘Well, lock your doors, turn off your lights and hope for the best’ That’s not a plan”(“Guns in School” #2). Locking the doors and hoping for the best is not the best way to protect the students and teachers. Arming a number of administrators and allowing them to protect themselves and students is the best way to be

Imagine the notion of being defenseless against an individual holding the purpose of wreaking mass devastation on the students and faculty inside of a school. In 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut endured a tragedy that carries historical significance to the notion of shielding those inside of a classroom in a worst-case situation. When twenty-six students had their life taken away during a school massacre, the thought of permitting teachers to carry handguns during class drew more consideration than ever. The safety of the students inside of a school facility may be in jeopardy as manifested in school shootings such as the ones which transpired at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Virginia Tech, where thirty-two students and teachers lost their lives (History.com). While many feel that presenting teachers with handguns may prove harmful to safety efforts, inflicting such standards would provide instructors and students equally with enhanced protection and overall security.

An evolving and highly debated problem that continues to grow in our society, is the gun control epidemic. Gun violence in America is a national epidemic. Many people carelessly take advantage of Gun use and manipulate the tool without much thought to any repercussions. Many lives have been loss due to people legally or illegally obtaining guns and taking matters upon themselves to be executioners in holding other people's lives in their hands. Specifically, ongoing gun violence in schools have become a horrific catastrophe. It is putting student lives at risk, in a place that is supposed to facilitate a certain level of safety for the students. According to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there was 558 gun incidents in schools

Numerous studies have been conducted to determine if teachers should be in possession of a firearm while on school properties and if this will decrease the number and magnitude of school shootings. Many scholars believe equipping teachers with firearms will be costly and end up unnecessarily endangering more students, but many scholars claim that a teacher should be the last line of defense against a school shooter. The question this paper hopes to answer is how can equipping teachers who teach grades K-12 help to prevent school shootings in the United States. This paper will attempt to answer that question by examining the perspectives of school administration and law enforcement, the impact on student’s safety and education, the

Guns and schools just don’t mix. Of course, this could be arguable from both sides. Only nine out of our fifty states allow guns on campus. Most private universities have the choice to decide if they want to allow concealed weapons on campuses. As for public institutions with the law in its state, they have no choice. Public institutions only have control of what buildings are limited. There are numerous reasons that it could be beneficial, but it can also be a complete catastrophe just waiting to happen. In today’s society, people feel the need to be more protected because of what’s going on in the world. There have been many reported incidents in regards to guns being abused on school grounds. Guns end lives, so it’s imperative that we understand the rules and why they’re so important. In order for people to really understand the pros and cons of having guns on campus, they first must began to understand its safety hazards, retaliation and prevention mechanism.

Gun control is a major topic in today’s society and it is broken into many subcategories that all have different arguments and views. A few examples are The Second Amendment is not an unlimited right to own guns, more gun control laws would reduce gun deaths and more gun control leads to fewer suicides in the United States. The gun control category I am focusing on in this essay is, should teachers and students be able to carry firearms on a college campus. I chose this since I am currently attending college and this could have an effect directly on me or ASU. The idea of teachers and staff being able to carry firearms on a college campus has come up many times in the media recently due to the rise in mass shootings. Many states are now looking at this problem and voting on it. This topic is always heavily debated due to the many different sides and varying beliefs on gun control and safety. The NRA (National Rifle Association) has a heavy influence on the united states and who should be allowed gun and what legislation is passed. The gun control topic of firearms on a college campus has become politicalized and is commonly drawn into political debates and has become a political tool for winning elections. Some states have already voted and taken action on this new idea and have allowed staff to carry guns on campuses and in cars parked and locked in secure parking lots. Another major idea that is constantly brought up with campus carry and firearms on campuses

The safety of schools have been tested more in the recent years with news coverage of the most recent incident in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty children and six staff members lost their lives. With the recent rise of school shootings it is no wonder parents are concerned for their children’s safety in schools. Where drugs and peer pressure were once major concerns, in today’s society, we worry about our children dying in the hands of armed shooters. While there is much controversy over how to protect the future of America’s children, lawmakers are supporting a bill to allow armed guards to stand and protect our children in the school systems by creating laws to allow armed security in the schools. “The Indiana amendment's sponsor, Rep. Jim Lucas (R), said he believes mass shootings like the one in Newtown could be prevented by more firearms.” (Resmovits, 2013). In support of armed guards, the National Rifle Association has paid for research

For example, in 1999 thirteen people, including a teacher, were murdered at Columbine High School. Nine years later tragedy struck again at Virginia Tech University where 32 people were gunned down including five staff members. Most recently, a gunman killed 20 innocent elementary students along with six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut (Rostron 439-440). LSUA cannot be the next school to be added to this list. Schools are supposed to be a safe place for everyone and not a high risk danger zone. These school shootings have sparked debates whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry guns in schools to protect themselves, as well as students (Rostron 440). Although guns can do bad things, they can do good things like saving lives. National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierrce says “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” (Rostron 441-442). Politicians and the media want us to believe that more harm is done with guns than good and make us believe it’s the gun’s fault it killed someone, not the person who shot then gun (Rostron 454). My solution to fix LSUA’s small amount of security around campus and the

Allowing teachers to carry guns will allow teachers to prevent school shootings on the grounds of preschool through college campuses. Everyone has their own opinion about teachers being able to carry guns including other teachers, parents, and government officials. Depending on what state the teacher is teaching in determines if they can carry their gun now, if they are in the process of being able to, or if their state is not passing a law to allow them to carry their gun while at school. Teachers would not stand out like police officers or security officers would while in the school which would allow for other teachers and all of the students to have normal days if schools did not have officers before. Research shows that allowing some teachers to carry guns in their school promotes school safety, protects the teachers and students, and promotes gun safety while still teaching their students.

Since 2013, there have been over 200 school shootings in America- an average of one a week (EverytownResearch.org). Some state Legislators are considering letting individual districts and college campus to have autonomy over the type school security that is available for the students and staff. There is a state law in Texas, called The Protection of Texas Children Act, the law essentially deputizes school officials to serve as “School Marshals” who, after obtaining proper weapons license, undergoing training and passing a mental health exam, and receive training in crisis management and hostile situation, then they can have a gun in schools (Chen). In the rural area of Harrold, Texas, in the Harrold Independent School District, in 2007, they have already made ground breaking changes, they were the first school to allow teachers and staff after following the strict set of prerequisites to carry a weapon on school property. The students in the high school say they feel much safer knowing that in a small town where there is no police station that the teachers are going to protect them if the situation should arrive (Chen). Since this first school many others across the country have also made changes to allow their staff to be armed.

A school's staff are our children's first and foremost defense against violent attacks. Posting "Gun Free Zone" signs has proven time and time again, that it will not stop a criminal from leaving a trail of victims. Leaving our staff untrained and unarmed ultimatley leaves all those in the school vulnerable, defenseless, and in the position to potentially be harmed, or worse, killed. Arming our teachers, prinicipals, and staff will give our children and all else in the school a chance to fight for their lives, if ever threatned.

In Troutdale, Oregon June 10, 2014 a 15-year-old High School freshman brought an assault rifle to school and shot 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman. Two school resource officers, Nick Thompson and Kyle Harris, were armed security guards at the high school during the shooting. The school Resource Officers were able to respond as armed security before the shooter was able to fire additional rounds into classmates. This timely response should be required for all educational establishments that are prime targets for mentally disturbed gun owners (Barkoukis, Leah). According to a survey asking 100 LBCC student if they agree with campus security to be armed, 72% responded in favor of armed staff (Survey). Only 12% of students disagreed with

According to Crime Prevention Research Center “from the 1950’s through July 10th of 2016, 98.4 percent of mass shootings have occurred on gun-free zones, with just 1.6 percent occurring where citizens are allowed to have firearms with them.” This number is extremely alarming and shows the flaws that gun free zones carry with them. Some may put up the argument that only our police should be allowed to carry firearms in gun free zones and as long as they are called quickly the threat should be controlled. However, the average active shooter time is 12.5 minutes while the average response time for the closest police unit in the area is 18 minutes. This seemingly makes the police force useless when the actual shooting is taking place. 12.5 minutes can feel like a lifetime when there is someone threatening to take your life away. I believe that in the case for schools, because 25% of the time this is where mass shootings are conducted, employees of said school should be able to conceal carry after going through proper safety training/handling of a firearm. This will not only help ensure the safety of themselves but also the safety of other students who are too young or unable to protect themselves. The largest portion of mass shootings happen in businesses like the Pulse nightclub accounting for 45.6% of shootings I believe that people who are legally allowed to carry

My initial reaction after reading the article, Teachers With Guns by Wade Livingston, struck me furious. I recall thinking out loud and trying to explain to myself the reason as to why schools, which I had always thought to be one of the safest places throughout my childhood, had become projecting danger zones throughout our nation. Schools are supposed to be a place where a child can go and learn and not have to worry about being put into danger. I am not in anyway blind to the dangers of today’s society and with the amount of school shootings on the rise; I am in agreement with the argument that something has to be done. However my early response was that arming teachers was NOT the way to protect the campuses.