Guns in Schools

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.

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.

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.

If you recently picked up a newspaper or turned on to see the news you may have question what is happening in our schools and begin to think whether our schools are still safe places for children. Recent school shootings have set feared in many parents about their children's safety in our schools. Since last year number of school shootings by students have occurred regularly. On Tuesday February 29, 2000 in Mount Morris Township, Michigan a six-year old boy shot his classmate to death in their first grade classroom. Police reports show that the two youngsters had an argument the previous day. A single shot was fired inside the classroom at Buell Elementary School around 10 a.m. The young boy said he brought the gun to school to frighten

Gun ownership is on the rise and even college students want firearms now. Since 1999 college students owning firearms for protection has increased over 19 percent (DiMauro 17). With this rise whether or not these numbers should increase has become a heated issue. As of now 26 colleges allow concealed carry on campuses, totaling in over 70 campuses(Burnett) and many others are in consideration. Organizations such as Students for Concealed Carry are at work to educate the public on the truths of how on campus carry would to some degree benefit college students, professors, and all visitors. Firearms can be and should be allowed on college campuses primarily because it is a not only a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution but also

“ A 20 - year old man armed with an AK- 47- style rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition entered an elementary school in Decatur, Ga, on Aug. 20 and fired off a few rounds but surrendered before anyone was injured” (Toppo, 2013, para.2). Because of school shooting like Sandy Hook and many others, schools all around are finding ways to become more prepared in case of this kind of tragedy. Many options have been discussed but a common idea to keep students and staff safe in schools is allowing teachers and administrators to be licenced and to conceal a gun on school property. “While many national organizations have rejected the idea, it is now being seriously weighed by some school boards and state lawmakers across the nation” (Shah, 2013, para.5). Teachers and Administrators should be allowed to carry guns on school property because police stations are too far away and It will increase the amount of safety when given proper training.

In the past, there have been several shootings in schools across the nation. However, the students and staffs are questioning should the concealed weapon permit carriers have firearms in their possession on college campuses. Even though concealed weapon permit carriers are protecting themselves from harm by having their firearms; still other people are raising their eyebrows. On the other hand, there are other people who think carrying concealed weapons on campuses will cause more harm and the death toll will rise. As Time. Com writer Josh Sanburn points out that “the shooting at Umpqua Community College on Oct. 1, which claimed 10 lives including the gunman, is by far the worst incident on a college campus this year” (qtd. in Sanburn). Therefore,

Over the past several years gun violence in schools has been led into many news stories. From the 1999 Columbine Shooting in Colorado to the Sandy Hook Massacre in Massachusetts, the death of students by armed intruders has ignited a debate among many Americans. At the root of this argument is the question: Should teachers and school staff be armed? Some argue schools would be safer if this occurs. The fact of the matter is; it would make schools a more dangerous place to be. Placing untrained individuals into a stressful school environment where their decisions have life or death consequences is a horrible idea.

“Are gun free zones worth having in American schools?” Through the recent struggles in policy related to mass school shootings in gun free zones, I believe that we should evaluate current policies and if need be, propose new policies, to limit or eliminate mass shootings in schools, which can and should be prevented. A common misconception when talking about ‘gun free zones’ is that Gun free zones can easily be misunderstood as meaning zero guns, but rather (usually) means that an unauthorized person cannot carry in that area (which may vary from state to state). But the issue isn’t with the misconception, but more so with the lack of safety that schools have or so we think.

Idaho Senator Jim Guthrie is discussing the pros and cons of allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns at school. A school district in north-central Idaho decided that some of the teachers and administrators should be trained and carry a gun. “I think we should give districts the maximum flexibility to make those decisions”(Journal Staff & Wire Reports). The National rifle association's believe all action to help keep children's safety should be considered. “ When a threat occurs, a quick and timely response by law enforcement professionals is what everyone hopes for, but in these when time is clearly of the essence we strongly believe that trained school personnel can also serve a vital role”( Journal Staff & Wire Reports).

How many children have to die, before we realize that teachers being armed WILL prevent any more lives taken away in school shootings.

There are an abundant number of places in this country in which you would expect to see people advocating the reduction or revocation of gun control laws. The first places to come to mind would be Montana or Colorado, because of the more rural connotations those places have been given in the popular media outlets such as movies, magazines, and television. Montana is depicted as a state where there are large sweeping plains and horse ranches over every horizon, while Colorado is a land of mountains and forests with a very small amount of urban invasion. This argument however comes out of Brooklyn, from a Midwood High School newspaper deep in the boroughs of New York. Considering the fact that in a national gun ownership survey only 18

Laws in many governments prohibit carrying a knife. However, carrying a weapon is permitted in come cases, such as the Kirpan, a ceremonial sword worn at all times by followers of the Sikh religion. Nevertheless, ethics and morals do not determine a law. Instead, what is just and unjust is what matters, as John Austin believed, and to some, religion is not a recognizable purpose to carry a weapon. Possession of a knife in itself is not evil; rather the potential for violence creates a need for control and so elimination of the possibility is vital.

going to a public, private, or chartered school should not make a difference or judge a child’s smartness because every child works on their pace and not everyone that is successful has attended chartered or public schools. He is for the access of guns but hopes that people that have guns have limited access especially keeping the people with mental illness and criminals in mind. He wants guns to be legal for everyone as a sense of safety. Carson wants to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid and instead let every American citizen have two thousand dollars in their account just for health services. This solution is not that great because some people may need more or less than two thousand dollars and it isn’t realistically possible because as it