Saving lives and valuable minutes

Teachers today should have weapons and certain security measures in order to keep children safe in school in a time with so much violence and mass shootings.

In order to really prevent mass school shootings, there has to be some sort of defense in place to push the shooters away.

Police and other first-responders can’t quickly stop a shooter from the outside and have to get to the scene. According to American Police Beat, the average response time of emergency services is about 10 minutes. While first responders are on their way to the scene, innocent lives are being taken and the students have to depend on one another and their teachers for strategy and hope.

If teachers were armed, then school shootings could be more preventable, the school would be on defense. The Constitution allows Americans the right to bear arms, and one of the best ways to exercise this right is to have willing teachers use it to protect their students.

Whether there are gun laws into place or not, people will always be able to get ahold of guns or weapons in some way and with that threat always being present, teachers need to be armed. With teachers being armed the students would be safe from the threat of weapons which seem to always find a way to get into the hands of those who want them bad enough.

In the end concealed carry can be rewarding to the teachers and their paychecks. President Donald J. Trump says that teachers could be offered a bonus in order to carry guns, which could be a great thing to some teachers and their paychecks.

According to the National Education Association, the national average starting teacher salary is barely over $36 thousand. A bonus could boost that teacher salary average and allow teachers to make a larger amount of money. This is a small cost to help arm teachers and protect the students.

Some educators have knocked the idea of teachers with guns, but weapons would not be put into the hands of teachers that didn’t have some sort of experience and license. Many teachers have had military experience prior to their teaching and could be evaluated.

According to Giffords Law Center, background checks are effective and in 2012 they prevented about 192,043 people who were not supposed to be armed. Guns would not be put into just any teachers hands- especially not if they have had any mental illnesses or significant problems with students or staff members.

Too many hazards from comfort 

With the rush of today’s society, mass shootings and gun violence are more prone to hit schools than in the past, but teachers with guns are not going to stop school shootings. Teachers carrying guns is a danger to society and the students of schools.

Guns in the classroom pose a danger to students. Teachers and students, even with their differences pose a threat to society just like anyone else.

The Constitution allows the right for citizens to bear arms, but there should be a limit to where guns can and cannot be. Most schools already have or plan to put alternative security measures in place to keep students safe. Parents and family members may have more concern for their children’s safety and protection with guns in the classroom.

All school districts are different and as a whole they can’t just be armed without creating many safety hazards. Many students have voiced a sense of discomfort with the presence of guns in the classroom and that some of their teachers have access to them. Students may be able to disarm teachers and use the gun, creating a potential danger within the school. These hazards cause a lot of tension among the community and should be avoided.

The need to give teachers guns can be avoided through stricter enforcement of gun laws. Gun laws are already in place and students and teachers from across the nation are protesting in order to obtain more gun restrictions.

Businesses like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, Kroger, and L.L. Bean have restricted who they will sell guns to. People under 21, at Dick’s Sporting Goods specifically, are not allowed to purchase weapons. This type of enforcement on guns gets them out of the hands of minors, eliminating the need for teachers to have weapons.

Teachers receiving bonuses for having a gun in the classroom may not be very significant. Some schools are already struggling with finances as it is without having to give teachers bonuses. Bonuses cost money in which some schools don’t have. A school in Texas decided to arm their school with security officials, but it is hard to allow that in public schools.

Teachers are put into a tough position having to shoot a student that they have taught and known throughout their time at the school in the case of an actual mass shooting in the school. Teachers may have troubles having to hurt a student in order to protect the others. The teachers should not have to be put into a situation that goes against what they stand for as a teacher.

Although guns in the classroom may prevent shootings to an extent, they may not stop them altogether. Teachers and students are all alike in the way that they are humans and that there is always a chance of mental issues and breaking points.

Many teachers can’t be completely trusted with a gun around the students and pose a threat to the safety of the school. According to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 United States citizens suffer from some sort of mental illness. When trying to keep guns out of the school, guns should not be placed into the classroom.