In an article that I read yesterday, a school district in Arkansas is arming teachers with concealed weapons. I watched the video attached, and the superintendent explained that the teachers had been given 53 hours of handgun training in order to prepare them to operate the weapons safely. Parents and the school board are mostly supportive of the plan, but the teachers' union is not.( Arkansas gun laws )
Some parents decided to pull their children from the school district in protest, but many parents, staff and students are supportive. In Arkansas, private gun ownership is common, and the law permitting armed guards in schools has been in effect for years. Much concern and discussion has followed the tragic school shooting most recently in Newtown, Connecticut, last year.
As an educator, I would have to side with the Arkansas Education Association, which said, 'educators should be in the business of educating students, not carrying a weapon'. However, my feelings go much deeper than that.
I grew up in a hunting and fishing culture where rifles and shotguns were a common fixture in most households. I have fired a gun myself. I do NOT own a gun now, nor will I ever purchase one. I think this issue of teachers carrying guns is so divisive. Teachers should be gaining the trust of their students, teaching them to make responsible decisions, not to greet violence with more violence, all of which I believe guns negate. I won't even get into accidental shootings or mental instability of staff members and students.
School shootings have inflamed our country. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I know it's not MORE guns.
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