With the rise in school shootings around the nation, people are looking to take precautions to keep their children safe. Some schools are looking into arming their teachers against the cause. While at first glance the idea of arming teachers may seem like a reasonable option, it is in no way the solution we should resort to nor is it a smart idea.
First of all, we cannot fight guns by adding more guns to the equation. The only thing that arming teachers does is create more danger. If a school gives guns to its teachers and staff, you might as well consider it a warzone. In a place where kids are supposed to feel safe, the worst you can do is create an army.
We have to take into account the number of gun accidents that happen per year when thinking about arming an entire school of teachers. When you give such a great number of people weapons, statistically it is more possible for there to be a gun accident than there is for there to be a school shooting. You are putting students into more harm by having an armed staff than by having an unarmed staff.
A large part of what leads to gun accidents is a lack of gun safety training. But even knowing all of your ten firearm safety commandments, accidents are still bound to happen.
Legally purchased guns are used in mass shootings more often than illegally purchased guns. These legal weapons are often taken from parents or other family members. Imagine how easy it would be for a student to get ahold of a weapon when a hundred staff members have guns.
A staff member could make one small mistake by leaving a gun behind somewhere, and a student could get a hold of it. Whether this student has bad intentions or not, having a newly trained person handle a weapon is highly dangerous. In 2021, there were around at least 377 unintentional shootings executed by children in the United States.
Having children around guns can also desensitize them to the idea of guns. If they always see their teacher with a gun, their mind might begin to disassociate from the idea of danger in correlation to the gun. Which could result in even more accidents if the gun is ever left unattended.
The same idea goes for teenagers. Teens are no more mature around guns than those in elementary school. Most accidental shootings happened between people under the age of 25. It is just as likely for a teenager to accidentally or even purposely shoot their classmates if they get ahold of a firearm from a teacher.
At the end of the day, to keep students safe, it is important to keep guns out of the hands of the majority. The best thing a school can do to keep students safe is to utilize its blue light system and have a trained police officer who carries a weapon. Guns should stay in the hands of those who have been fully trained and have experience, not teachers, whose primary expertise is in educating and not defending.
