In response to the school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, which took place in February 2018, US president Donald Trump has proposed that teachers should bear firearms while on school grounds. While this proposal has good intentions, I can’t help but think about what we’re opening the door to.
Teachers deal with some students who show out and just give them hell on a regular basis. I applaud those teachers who have a lot of patience, but there are some who don’t have as much. Every human being has a breaking point. One day a teacher could just have enough with a student’s misdemeanor and use the gun that they were legally in possession with on school grounds. I’m sure parents don’t want to see their misbehaved child go to school knowing that an armed teacher could just end their life while under their supervision.
As demonstrated by a teacher at a local school in California, there is the possibility of guns being discharged by accident . On March 14, 2018, during a gun demonstration, a teacher accidentally fired a gun pointed at the ceiling, injuring three students with falling debris.
If one day a student decided he/she was going to harm someone on school grounds, the student wouldn’t have to look too far for a weapon. All a student would have to do is overpower a teacher, disarm them, and do what they want with the weapon. Even if teachers have the weapon in a secure place in the classroom, things can be opened by force. On February 14, 2018, at Minglewood Elementary in Clarksville, TN, a student brought a gun to school after breaking into a locked gun case at home.
Last, we have to consider those teachers who don’t want to put themselves or their students at risk or in an uncomfortable environment. I’m no school teacher, but I’ve been around them long enough to know that they want their students to feel comfortable. A student might feel mighty intimidated rather than safe when approaching or being approached by a teacher with a firearm.
It is my opinion, that by arming teachers, we would be putting students and the school faculty & staff more at risk rather than keeping them safe. I believe we should leave the gun bearing to those law enforcement officers assigned to schools and pray they do their job. To those who have lost someone to school shootings, I sympathize with you and pray for you. May God rest those we’ve lost to such injustice.
DavidSpeaks 
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