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• v.108(7); Jul 2018

Arming Schoolteachers: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go From Here?

Both authors contributed equally to this editorial.

The recent mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has reignited a national conversation about arming teachers. Although gun violence prevention research has been historically underfunded, 1 there has been strong support for studying the prevalence of violent behaviors more broadly in schools and the role of preventive efforts (via curricula, increased social support services, and parent engagement) in reducing these behaviors. However, we know little, if anything, about the effectiveness of arming teachers in deterring gun violence in schools. Furthermore, uncertainty about how schools should operationalize this kind of proposal perpetuates concerns.

As teachers, school administrators, parents, and policymakers seek to build safer school communities, we need a far better understanding of the implications of arming teachers on the school environment, on a child’s development, on student learning outcomes, on existing school safety policies, and on the full costs of such interventions, including the added responsibilities that it would impose on teachers and school administrators. We arm uniformed police officers with the expectation that they have been appropriately trained to protect us with their firearms in times of crisis. Although teachers are conceivably capable of appropriately using firearms, no evidence-based guidelines are available to help us develop the necessary training for teachers and continued instruction needed to maintain their preparedness so that they would be ready when crisis strikes. We also have no means for identifying teachers who would be willing to take on this significant responsibility. Nor do we have enough information on whether nonuniformed, armed civilian teachers would reduce or increase risks for themselves and their students when uniformed law enforcement arrives during a crisis. In other words, we are debating whether a new profession that combines the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer and a teacher is even feasible, given all these caveats.

EXISTING RESEARCH

The question about whether to arm teachers has seen very limited scholarly discussion and scientific inquiry. In a 2011 article, researchers explored the relation between school characteristics and school violent crime. 2 The findings suggested that school resource officers with nonlethal force capabilities might be helpful in deterring violent crime rates in schools. However, that same positive relationship was not found with school resource officers armed with a firearm. 2 In a 2002 article, Beger 3 argued that heightened policing and intrusive security efforts within public school spaces decrease a student’s sense of safety; this finding has been reinforced by recent work. Indeed, research has since confirmed that punitive efforts in schools (such as zero tolerance policies intended to reduce illicit drug use and weapon possession among students) do not effectively deter crime and cause more harm than good to students and schools. 4

From a financial perspective, a 2013 report assessed the cost of placing an armed school resource officer in every elementary and secondary school across the United States (n = 132 183). 5 The report accounted for estimated variations in salary, student population size, and number of hours worked per academic year. Drawing on these estimates, the cost would range from $19.1 to $22.6 billion annually, 5 which accounts for nearly 30% of the current federal education budget (reported by the National Center for Education Statistics to be $78.9 billion). The United States currently has an estimated 3.1 million full-time teachers. Arming even 20% of them, as recently suggested by the White House, would result in similarly significant increases in the federal budget.

OPERATIONALIZING SCHOOL SECURITY

Note that school security encompasses a broad spectrum of behaviors and situations, including planning for the possibility of natural disasters, implementing antibullying interventions, recognizing and responding to students with suicidal behaviors, implementing protocols for working with police and local law enforcement, and overseeing medical emergency response protocols for a broad range of possible health situations. Also, let us not forget the many additional services that schools—and teachers in particular—provide while they attend to the education, development, and well-being of our children. The extraordinary number of responsibilities that teachers and schools bear has been pointed out frequently in research related to teacher stress and burnout. Therefore, we need to be mindful of the additional burden that such an intervention could have on schools and their staff.

The existing research base also highlights that school security is an important component of a school’s climate, which has more broadly been shown to inform youth engagement in violent behaviors. Specifically, school climate includes a range of characteristics that help define the quality of a child’s learning environment, including disciplinary practices, social-emotional security, respect and acceptance of diversity within the school community, efforts that nurture positive peer relationships and social support for all students, and teaching practices that provide opportunity for thoughtful discourse and constructive conflict resolution. Therefore, the nature of school security measures and their ramifications for school climate quality must be accounted for when developing strategies for reducing gun violence in schools.

COULD ARMING TEACHERS WORK?

Although no empirical evidence is currently available regarding whether arming teachers would deter gun violence in elementary and secondary school settings, we can extrapolate from existing research on the possible outcomes of such efforts. Research has shown that increased gun access and gun possession are not associated with protection from violence, 6 which suggests that increasing the presence of guns in the hands of civilians in schools, no matter how well intentioned, may backfire. Furthermore, exposure to gun violence across a broader spectrum—hearing gunshots, witnessing gunfire, and knowing someone who has been injured with a firearm—can adversely affect a child’s health and development. Whether arming teachers would decrease these types of negative exposures is unclear.

We also know that the anticipation of violence can lead to increased anxiety, fear, and depression. Given the sensationalized and speculative nature of many mass school shootings that has reinforced the misperception that schools in general are unsafe, 4 arming teachers, in all likelihood, would heighten levels of anxiety and negatively affect a school’s climate. These concerns are echoed by families as well; a recent study that used a national sample found that more than half of the parents of school-aged children oppose school personnel carrying firearms. 7

CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

The existing literature indicates a lack of clarity on the efficacy of the different proposals that have been put forth by various politicians and lobbying groups with regard to firearms in schools. A multitude of questions remain regarding the nuances and logistics of arming teachers. In addition, the efficiency and return-on-investment for this kind of costly effort, with little if any existing evidence, are unclear.

The existing research base does, however, suggest that multifaceted, preventive methods are effective in preventing and mitigating incidents of violence. Examples of such approaches include legislation and public education efforts that help reduce youth access to guns; increased support services within schools and community settings so that the early antecedents of violent behavior can be quickly detected and immediately addressed; and efforts that promote a positive and nurturing school climate that attends to every child’s well-being.

Coordinated research and practice efforts that effectively address and prevent violence among youths and in school spaces are urgently needed. Keeping schools safe must be a national educational and public health priority.

See also Galea and Vaughan, p. 856 ; and the Gun Violence Prevention Section, pp. 858 – 888 .

Arming teachers – an effective security measure or a false sense of security?

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In the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, some elected officials are making calls anew for teachers to be armed and trained to use firearms to protect the nation’s schools. To shine light on the matter, The Conversation reached out to Aimee Huff and Michelle Barnhart , two Oregon State University scholars who have studied the ins and outs of putting guns in the hands of the nation’s teachers as a way to protect students.

1. What does the public think about arming teachers?

According to a 2021 poll, 43% of Americans supported policies that allow school personnel to carry guns in schools.

But if you take a closer look, you see that most of that support comes from Republicans and gun-owners. For instance, 66% of Republican respondents expressed support for such policies, versus just 24% of Democratic respondents. And 63% of gun owners supported allowing school personnel to carry guns, versus just 33% of non-gun owners.

The majority of teachers , parents and students oppose allowing teachers to carry guns.

The largest teachers unions, including the National Education Association, also oppose arming teachers, arguing that bringing more guns into schools “ makes schools more dangerous and does nothing to shield our students and educators from gun violence .”

These teachers unions advocate a preventive approach that includes more gun regulations.

While the public is justifiably concerned with eliminating school shootings, there is disagreement over the policies and actions that would be most effective. A 2021 study found that 70% of Americans supported the idea of armed school resource officers and law enforcement in schools, but only 41% supported the idea of training teachers to carry guns in schools.

In our research on how Americans think about the rights and responsibilities related to armed self-defense , we even find disagreement among conservative gun owners over how to best protect schoolchildren. Some advocate arming teachers, while other gun owners believe guns in schools ultimately make children less safe. These conservative opponents of arming teachers instead support fortifying the building’s design and features.

After the massacre in Uvalde, we are seeing renewed calls from politicians to arm teachers and provide them with specialized training .

However, amid conflicting reports about whether police officers engaged the Robb Elementary School shooter, there are renewed questions about whether armed teachers would make a difference. Police have acknowledged they didn’t enter the school even as kids frantically dialed 911.

Given that there were also armed officers present at the Columbine and Parkland school massacres in 1999 and 2018, respectively, the public is understandably right to wonder whether armed teachers can effectively neutralize a shooter. Amid reports that trained and experienced police officers may have been unable or unwilling to intervene against the Uvalde shooter, it’s not clear whether teachers would be, either.

2. What are the potential drawbacks of arming teachers?

Arming teachers introduces risks to students and staff , as well as school districts themselves. These include the risk of teachers accidentally shooting themselves or students and fellow staff. There are also moral and legal risks associated with improper or inaccurate defensive use of a firearm - even for teachers who have undertaken specialized firearms training.

One study found that highly trained police in gunfights hit their target only 18% of the time . Even if teachers, who would likely have less training , achieve the same accuracy, four or five of every six bullets fired by a teacher would hit something or someone other than the shooter. Further, a teacher responding with force to a shooter may be mistaken for the perpetrator by law enforcement or by armed colleagues.

Introducing guns to the school environment also poses everyday risks . Armed teachers may unintentionally discharge their firearm. For instance, an armed police officer accidentally discharged his weapon in his office at a school in Alexandria, Virginia in 2018. Guns can also fall into the wrong hands. Research on shootings that took place in hospital emergency rooms found that in 23% of the cases, the weapon used was a gun the perpetrator took from a hospital security guard.

Students could also access firearms that are improperly stored or mishandled. Improper storage is a common problem among American gun owners. In a school setting, this has resulted in students finding a teacher’s misplaced firearm , sometimes taking it or reporting it to another school official. News reports show that guns carried into schools have fallen out of teachers’ clothing, and have been left in bathrooms and locker rooms . There have also been reports of students stealing guns from teachers.

Insurance companies also see concealed guns on school grounds as creating a heightened liability risk .

Other drawbacks to arming teachers involve the learning environment. In particular, owing to structural racism and discriminatory school security policies, Black high school students are less supportive than white students of arming teachers – 16% versus 26% – and report feeling less safe if teachers are carrying firearms.

3. What are the arguments for arming teachers?

Proponents emphasize that teachers, as Americans, have a right to use firearms to defend themselves against violent crime, including a school shooter. Our research shows that some people interpret their right to armed self-defense as a moral obligation, and argue that teachers have both a right and a responsibility to use firearms to protect themselves and their students.

Parents who regularly carry handguns to protect themselves and their children may take comfort knowing that their child’s teacher could perform the role of protector at school.

In a school shooting, where lives can be saved or ended in a matter of seconds, some people may feel more secure believing a shooter would immediately meet armed resistance from a teacher without needing to wait for an armed school officer to respond.

4. Have any school districts allowed teachers to arm themselves?

Yes. Teachers may carry guns at school in districts in at least 19 states. The idea surfaced as a viable policy after the 1999 Columbine shooting, and gained momentum after the 2018 Parkland shooting.

The number of school districts that permit teachers to be armed is difficult to ascertain. Policies vary across states. New York bars school districts from allowing teachers to carry guns, while Missouri and Montana authorize teachers to carry firearms.

5. What were the results?

There are documented incidents of school staff using their firearm to neutralize a shooter. However, researchers have not found evidence that arming teachers increases school safety. Rather, arming teachers may contribute to a false sense of security for teachers, students and the community.

• Gun control
• Law enforcement
• School violence
• Mass shootings
• School teachers
• US gun control
• School safety
• School shootings
• Parkland school shooting
• Columbine shooting
• Uvalde shooting

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Trained, Armed and Ready. To Teach Kindergarten.

More school employees are carrying guns to defend against school shootings. In Ohio, a contentious new law requires no more than 24 hours of training.

A teacher in Ohio felt a growing desperation after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. “We just feel helpless,” she said. Credit... Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

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By Sarah Mervosh

• Published July 31, 2022 Updated Aug. 5, 2022

RITTMAN, Ohio — Mandi, a kindergarten teacher in Ohio, had already done what she could to secure her classroom against a gunman.

She positioned a bookcase by the doorway, in case she needed a barricade. In an orange bucket, she kept district-issued emergency supplies: wasp spray, to aim at an attacker, and a tube sock, to hold a heavy object and hurl at an assailant.

But after 19 children and two teachers were killed in Uvalde, Texas, she felt a growing desperation. Her school is in an older building, with no automatic locks on classroom doors and no police officer on campus.

“We just feel helpless,” she said. “It’s not enough.”

Mandi decided she needed something far more powerful: a 9 millimeter pistol.

So she signed up for training that would allow her to carry a gun in school. Like others in this article, she asked to be identified by her first name, because of school district rules that restrict information about employees carrying firearms.

A decade ago, it was extremely rare for everyday school employees to carry guns. Today, after a seemingly endless series of mass shootings, the strategy has become a leading solution promoted by Republicans and gun rights advocates, who say that allowing teachers, principals and superintendents to be armed gives schools a fighting chance in case of attack.

At least 29 states allow individuals other than police or security officials to carry guns on school grounds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As of 2018, the last year for which statistics were available, federal survey data estimated that 2.6 percent of public schools had armed faculty.

The count has likely grown.

In Florida, more than 1,300 school staff members serve as armed guardians in 45 school districts, out of 74 in the state, according to state officials. The program was created after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018.

In Texas, at least 402 school districts — about a third in the state — participate in a program that allows designated people, including school staff members, to be armed, according to the Texas Association of School Boards. Another program, which requires more training, is used by a smaller number of districts. Participation in both is up since 2018.

And in the weeks after the Uvalde shooting, lawmakers in Ohio made it easier for teachers and other school employees to carry guns.

The strategy is fiercely opposed by Democrats, police groups, teachers’ unions and gun control advocates, who say that concealed carry programs in schools — far from solving the problem — will only create more risk. Past polling has shown that the vast majority of teachers do not want to be armed.

The law in Ohio has been especially contentious because it requires no more than 24 hours of training, along with eight hours of recertification annually.

“That, to us, is just outrageous,” said Michael Weinman, director of government affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, the state’s largest law enforcement organization. By comparison, police officers in the state undergo more than 700 total hours of training, including a portion dedicated to firearms proficiency. And school resource officers — police assigned to campuses — must complete an additional 40 hours.

Supporters say 24 hours is enough because while police training includes everything from traffic tickets to legal matters, school employees tightly focus on firearm proficiency and active shooter response.

Studies on school employees carrying guns have been limited , and research so far has found little evidence that it is effective. There is also little evidence that school resource officers are broadly effective at preventing school shootings, which are statistically rare.

Yet arming school employees is finding appeal — slight majorities among parents and adults in recent polls.

Of the five deadliest school shootings on record, four — in Newtown, Conn., Uvalde, Texas, Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas — have happened in the last 10 years.

It was this possibility that brought Mandi and seven other educators to a gun range tucked amid the hayfields and farm roads of Rittman, in northeast Ohio.

Over the course of three days, Mandi practiced shooting, tying a tourniquet and responding to fast-paced active shooter drills. Her presence on the range, firing her pistol under the blazing sun, cut a contrast to the classroom, where she dances to counting songs with 5-year-olds, dollops out shaving cream for sensory activities and wallpapers her classroom with student artwork.

That she was being trained at all spoke to the country’s painful failure to stop mass shootings, and to the heavy responsibilities piled onto teachers — catching students up from the pandemic, handling mental health crises in children, navigating conflicts over the teaching of race and gender and now, for some, defending their schools.

Mandi, in her 40s, arrived at the training with nervous anticipation. She had been a teacher for a dozen years and has children of her own. She wanted to be sure she could carry her gun safely around students. “I get hugs all day long,” she said.

And then there was the prospect of confronting an actual gunman. Could three days of training prepare her for the unthinkable?

‘Time Is All That Matters’

The educators had come from Ohio and as far as Oklahoma for a 26-hour course by FASTER Saves Lives, a leading gun training program for school employees. It is run by the Buckeye Firearms Foundation, a Second Amendment organization that works alongside a major gun lobbying group in Ohio. The lobbying group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, supported the new state law for school employees.

Over the past decade, the foundation estimates it has spent more than $1 million training at least 2,600 educators.

Its approach aligns closely with an argument that has become a hallmark of the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby: “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

In this view, teachers are the ultimate “good guys.”

“We trust them with our kids every day,” said Jim Irvine, an airline pilot and a longtime advocate for gun rights who is president of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation and volunteers as a director with FASTER.

Their philosophy is that saving lives during school shootings is a matter of speed, and that schools cannot afford to wait for the police.

At Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, the first 911 call was made after about five minutes, and the first officers arrived at the school less than four minutes later. Still, 20 children and six adults were killed. In Parkland, Fla., the gunman killed 17 people in just under six minutes.

Even in Uvalde, where the police have been criticized for waiting on site for more than an hour, the gunman is believed to have fired more than 100 rounds within the first three minutes, according to a state report .

“Time is all that matters,” Mr. Irvine said. “It’s that simple.”

Of the eight school employees being trained, Mandi was in some ways an anomaly. She was the only woman in the group. Several others were administrators — a superintendent, a principal — rather than teachers.

In other ways, she was typical.

Everyone had some comfort with guns. Mandi described hunting with her husband and shooting at a gun range on weekends. She said she had taken other firearms classes, including concealed carry training, one of the prerequisites to participate in FASTER.

Like others, she worked in a rural area, where carrying guns in schools is more common, in part because of longer response times by the police. One group in the training, from Oklahoma, estimated the response time in its area was at least 22 minutes.

“The last thing I want is for people to think we are just a bunch of gunslinging teachers who want an excuse to carry guns in schools,” said Mark, a middle-school teacher in Ohio who described measuring his school’s hallway to determine how far he needed to learn to shoot.

“I love my kids,” he said. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep them safe.”

School districts typically require anonymity as a tactical and safety strategy, so that would-be gunmen cannot plan around armed employees. While the school community may know someone on campus has a gun, employees and parents will not be told who.

That makes the choice of candidates especially crucial.

“We don’t always consider an individual that’s like, hey, jumping up and down,” said Malcolm Hines, an assistant superintendent in Suwannee County, Fla., where armed employees must pass a psychological screening and complete 144 hours of training. “My spidey senses always go up on that, if someone is too eager.”

In Mandi’s district, the superintendent said candidates must be approved by the school board. In addition to going through the FASTER training, they must meet annually with the sheriff’s department and may be removed if their skills are not up to par.

At the FASTER program, much of the training focused on firearm proficiency. The group practiced shooting for hours. Up close and far away. Right-handed and left-handed. Small circular targets and life-size human silhouettes.

“I want to be perfect,” Mandi said, noting that accuracy would be paramount if she ever needed to fire her gun in school.

Instructors offered safety and technical critiques, timed individuals’ shots and urged teachers and administrators to be assertive.

All of it was aimed at one thing: stopping a gunman in the act.

“This is a very reactive way to think about gun violence prevention,” said Sonali Rajan, an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, who studies school gun violence.

School gunmen are often teenagers in suicidal crisis. To intercept them beforehand, experts recommend mental health support, systems to identify children who may become threats and tighter gun laws, including mandates on safe storage.

“It’s one of the laws that has the best evidence,” said Andrew R. Morral, a lead gun policy researcher for the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan think tank.

In the face of an attack, one effective strategy is to lock classroom doors. More and more school districts have also hired school resource officers.

Still, campus police have not reliably prevented mass violence.

In one infamous example, a school resource officer present at the high school in Parkland stayed outside during the attack . In Uvalde, the school district had added officers to its police force and doubled spending on security in recent years.

“If trained law enforcement couldn’t stop that, what makes you think an ill-trained teacher or other school employee would be able to?” said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, which opposed the new law.

This Is Only a Test

FASTER touts its program’s rigor.

Though not required by state law, some districts require teachers and administrators to pass the FASTER course, which includes a shooting qualification test — with distances ranging from close up to as far as 50 feet. To pass, participants must make at least 26 out of 28 shots.

Some, like Mandi, scored 28 out of 28.

Shooting in a controlled environment on the gun range, though, does not necessarily translate to high stress, real-world scenarios. Even police officers lose accuracy on the street, with hit rates below 50 percent .

“I would consider those to be marksmanship tests, to show you can handle the firearm safely, but they are not combat shooting,” said Pete Blair, executive director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University, which specializes in active shooter training.

A more dynamic environment came later, when Mandi and her classmates practiced simulated scenarios in an empty school building. Experts say these kind of live scenarios offer more realistic preparation.

Mandi said she heard gunshots — blank shots — ring out in the hallways. Peering into a classroom, she saw a role player pointing a gun, and threatening to shoot, amid teacher and student actors. She aimed at the role player with a rubber bullet and was encouraged, she said, that she did not miss. (Because of media restrictions on campus, The New York Times was unable to attend this portion of the training.)

Other scenarios called for de-escalation. In one example, two role players tussled over a gun, making it difficult to tell who had brought the firearm and who was a bystander.

“We learned that it is just as important not to pull the trigger,” Mandi said.

The program did not include formal training on how implicit bias might affect decision-making.

Black and Hispanic Americans are killed by the police at significantly higher rates than white Americans, and in school, Black students experience the highest rates of suspension of all racial groups.

At one point in the program, the group fired at a row of paper targets showing a photo of a Black woman holding a handgun. Later, the targets showed a white man with a rifle.

But some experts say that targets should show a greater mix of race, gender and age, so as not to reinforce stereotypes or prime the mind to see particular groups as a threat.

“If you are trying to look at bad guys, then there should be an array of bad guys,” said Tracie Keesee, a co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity. “We also know the prominent folks who do the types of shootings in schools are not Black women.”

Mr. Irvine said the training is meant to focus on risk, not race. Shooting is warranted only if there is an “imminent threat to innocent people,” he said.

For critics, the everyday dangers are among the most worrisome.

Mass shootings, for all their heartbreak, remain exceedingly rare in a country with nearly 130,000 schools and 54 million schoolchildren.

Teachers, principals and janitors, on the other hand, interact with students every day.

“Arming teachers doesn’t make kids safer,” said Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a network of parents fighting for stronger gun laws. “In fact, it increases the chances that a teacher’s gun will fall into the wrong hands or discharge unintentionally.”

Laws vary by state but often are not specific about how teachers must carry or store guns.

In one case, two first graders in Ohio found a gun after an employee in a concealed carry program left it in an unlocked case near her desk. Students have also discovered guns on buses and in school bathrooms, according to news reports.

A Growing Stealth Force

By the end of the program, Mandi and her classmates had enough training to carry a gun in school under the new Ohio law. They are part of a growing, and somewhat experimental, stealth force in schools.

The outcome is far from known.

While there have been anecdotes of armed citizens intervening in public shootings, such as the recent case at an Indiana mall, “that is an anomaly,” said Jaclyn Schildkraut, an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Oswego, who studies mass shootings.

Most mass shootings end when a gunman is shot or subdued by the police, dies by suicide or leaves the scene.

FASTER officials said they were not aware of any graduates of their program who had responded to a school shooting.

Jennifer, a school custodian who volunteers as an instructor with FASTER, said that in four years of carrying in her school, she had never needed her weapon. She doesn’t doubt her ability, she said, but believes the hardest part would be using her firearm on a student. She recalled a time when a middle schooler she had been mentoring threatened to bring a gun to school.

“My heart just dropped,” she said, adding that administrators were able to intervene.

For Mandi, the decision to be armed in the classroom seemed like a better solution than wasp spray or a tube sock.

She has worked through logistical details, like how she will carry her pistol: inside her waistband, in a holster meant to prevent accidental discharge. She did handstands, to check that her gun remained secure. When students come for hugs, she plans to turn her hip to direct them to the other side of her body.

To keep up her training, she goes to the gun range each week, she said.

And while she acknowledged other, important policies could help prevent school shootings, she did not feel she could afford to wait for change.

“We’ve got to help the kids right now,” she said.

Sarah Mervosh is a national reporter covering education. She previously covered the coronavirus pandemic and breaking news. More about Sarah Mervosh

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Should firearms be allowed in K-12 public schools? An analysis of law enforcement’s perceptions of armed teacher policies

• Original Article
• Published: 16 January 2022
• Volume 35 , pages 1288–1307, ( 2022 )

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• Jaclyn Schildkraut   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5130-8994 1 &
• M. Hunter Martaindale 2  

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Mass shootings in schools generate both widespread public concern and a demand to “do something.” Among the most controversial of responses are policies permitting teachers and staff to conceal carry firearms at school, which have gained traction since the 2018 shooting in Parkland, FL. Polls regularly find that the public broadly, and teachers, students, and administrators specifically, do not support such a policy, but have failed to consider perceptions from law enforcement. Using a nationally drawn sample of law enforcement, the present study finds that officers overwhelmingly support armed teacher policies, but such support is contingent upon concerns related to training. School resource officers are less likely than those in other roles (e.g., patrol) to support arming teachers, as are individuals in supervisory positions.

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Armed and considered capable? Law enforcement officers’ attitudes about armed teacher policies in the USA

M. Hunter Martaindale & Jaclyn Schildkraut

School Shootings: No Longer Unexpected

Parents’ expectations of high schools in firearm violence prevention.

Erica Payton, Jagdish Khubchandani, … James H. Price

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was passed as part of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (see § 1702). The Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 was passed as part of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (see § 14601).

This project was approved by the Texas State University IRB under proposal # 7382.

The following states were not represented in the sample: CT, NM, ND, SD, VT, WY.

Nix et al. ( 2019 ) state that there is no accurate metric of what constitutes a good or acceptable response rate for law enforcement surveys. They further caution that survey findings from law enforcement samples should not be dismissed due to what is traditionally considered a low response rate (Nix et al. 2019 , p. 542).

Oblimin rotation was chosen over Varimax as it does not force factors orthogonally (which is sometimes an unrealistic assumption for factors).

The race variable was collapsed to two categories (White [ n  = 296; 81.54%] and Other than White [ n  = 67; 18.46%]) due to low numbers of “Other” races present in the sample.

Open-ended responses were coded dichotomously for any reference to training.

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Schildkraut, J., Martaindale, M.H. Should firearms be allowed in K-12 public schools? An analysis of law enforcement’s perceptions of armed teacher policies. Secur J 35 , 1288–1307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-022-00327-4

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Safety in Numbers is our new monthly newsletter highlighting all things Team Research here at Everytown. Get to know our work and get to know us!

Arming Teachers Introduces New Risks Into Schools

Learn more:.

• Child & Teen Gun Safety
• Educate Gun Owners of Risks
• Guns in Schools
• Keep Guns Off Campus
• Reconsider Active Shooter Drills
• Require Permits to Carry Concealed Guns in Public
• Secure Gun Storage
• Stop Arming Teachers
• Strong Standards for Carrying Concealed Guns in Public
• Threat Identification and Assessment Programs in Schools

Seeking a response to the tragedy of school shootings, legislators in some states have eschewed proven solutions that approach the problem from every angle and have been seduced by the risky and false idea that arming teachers and school staff will make our schools safe. In fact, an armed teacher cannot, in a moment of extreme duress and confusion, be expected to transform into a specially trained law enforcement officer. An armed teacher is much more likely to shoot a student bystander or be shot by responding law enforcement than to be an effective solution to an active shooter in a school.

Our leaders should instead pursue an evidence-based intervention plan that addresses what we know about school gun violence. For more information about evidence-based school safety solutions, visit:  everytownresearch.org/school-safety

A March 2018 survey of almost 500 U.S. teachers found that 73 percent oppose proposals to arm school staff. 1 Brenan M. Most US teachers oppose carrying guns in schools. Gallup. March 16, 2018. https://bit.ly/2MPTRV5.

Another survey found that 63 percent of parents of elementary, middle, and high school students oppose arming teachers. 2 PDK Poll. School security: is your child safe at school? September 2018. https://bit.ly/3VeRkGW.

Introduction

Arming teachers is opposed by school safety experts like law enforcement, and teachers and parents..

The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are the nation’s two largest teachers’ organizations representing millions of educators and staff. They oppose arming teachers. 1 Everytown for Gun Safety. Keeping our kids safe at school: a plan to stop mass shootings and end gun violence in American schools. everytownresearch.org/schoolsafety. February 2019.

The National Association of School Resource Officers strongly opposes proposals to arm teachers due to the risk it would pose to law enforcement, students and the school community, as well as the risks to the armed teachers themselves. 2 National Association of School Resource Officers. NASRO opposes arming teachers. https://nasro.org/news/ press-releases/nasro-opposesarming-teachers/ . Published February 2018.

The President and Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which represents 75 police forces from large cities in the USA and Canada, both agree that arming teachers is  “not a good idea.” 3 Toppo G. 132 hours to train teachers on guns: is it enough? USA Today . March 8, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/ story/news/2018/03/08/132- hours-train-teachers-gunsenough/408525002/

“The more guns that are coming into the equation, the more volatility and the more risk there is of somebody getting hurt.” J. Thomas Manger, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association 4 Patterson BE. America’s police chiefs call BS on arming teachers. Mother Jones . March 8, 2018. https://bit.ly/39lNHaC .

The notion of a highly trained teacher armed with a gun is a myth.

Law enforcement officers receive an average of  840  hours of basic training including 168 hours of training on weapons, self-defense, and the use of force. 5 Reaves BA. State and local law enforcement training academies, 2013. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. July 2016. https://bit.ly/2pg0whI .  In states that have laws aimed at arming school personnel, school staff receive significantly less training. In some of these states there is no minimum training required at all.

Even some of the most highly trained law enforcement officers in the country, those of the New York City Police Department, see their ability to shoot accurately decrease significantly when engaged in gunfights with perpetrators. 6 Rostker BD, Hanser LM, Hix WM, et al. Evaluation of the New York City Police Department firearm training and firearm-discharge review process. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/ monographs/MG717.html. Published 2008.

Key Findings

1. students will access teachers’ guns..

Research strongly supports the idea that children will access guns when guns are present.

• One study showed that the majority of children are aware of where their parents store their guns. In fact, more than one third of those children reported handling their parents’ guns, many doing so without the knowledge of their parents. 7 Baxley F, Miller M. Parental misperceptions about children and firearms. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine . 2006; 160(5): 542-547.  Nearly a quarter of parents did not know that their children had handled the gun in their house. 8 Baxley F, Miller M. Parental misperceptions about children and firearms. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine . 2006; 160(5): 542-547.

There have been numerous incidents where guns carried into schools were misplaced — guns left in bathrooms, 9 Metrick B. Ex-teacher charged for leaving gun in school bathroom, police say. USA Today . September 13, 2016. https://bit.ly/2G9jlfF .  locker rooms, 10 Associated Press. No charges after Isabella Co. sheriff accidentally leaves gun at school. Detroit Free Press . April 3, 2018. https://bit.ly/2GtNfeb.  sporting events, 11 Laine C. Woman finds gun in bleachers at basketball tournament. WNEM. January 24, 2019. https://bit. ly/2PqmERG .  even an incident where a gun fell out while a teacher did a backflip. 12 Rojas J. Student: substitute teacher was doing back flip when gun fell out. Bay News 9. October 24, 2018. https://bit. ly/2t4SlFF .

There are also multiple incidents where guns were stolen from teachers by students, or cases where guns were misplaced and later found in the hands of students. 13 Harten D. Police: Jacksonville High student steals gun from teacher. Arkansas Democrat Gazette. January 17, 2012 https://bit.ly/2V3psWX ; Madden R. Police find teacher’s stolen gun with student. Fox 2 Now St. Louis. October 25, 2018. https://bit.ly/2S9hqy7 .

There have been numerous incidents where guns carried into schools were misplaced—guns left in bathrooms, locker rooms, sporting events, even an incident where a gun fell out while a teacher did a backflip.

2. The risk of shootings increases.

Access to a firearm, irrespective of age,  triples the risk of death by suicide  and  doubles the risk of death by homicide. 14 Anglemyer A, Horvath T, Rutherford G. The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: a systematic review and metaanalysis. Annals of Internal Medicine . 2014; 160: 101–110.

There have been several incidents of guns intentionally or unintentionally discharged on school grounds by school staff. This includes both intentional and unintentional shootings such as:

• A janitor who killed two of his colleagues at a performing arts school in Florida. 15 Seltzer A, Winston H, Hitchcock O. Breaking: Man arrested in 2013 murder of Dreyfoos school janitors. The Palm Beach Post . May 25, 2017. https:// pbpo.st/2RE4R8V .
• A Spanish teacher who was fired and then returned to school with an AK-47 in a guitar case that he used to kill the school headmaster and then himself. 16 Nelson R. “My school shooter was a teacher,” Jax school shooting survivor speaks out against arming teachers. Actions News Jax . February 14, 2019. https://bit.ly/2BAc0lg .
• Firearm suicides by faculty or staff at schools. 17 McCray V. Lithia Springs shooting intentional, teacher ID’d. Atlanta Journal Constitution . August 21, 2017. https://on-ajc.com/2M6D42h .
• Unintentional incidents, by both school resource officers in schools and teachers who accidentally discharged their firearms. 18 Schrott M. Officer accidentally discharges weapon at George Washington Middle School. Alexandria Times . March 13, 2018. https://bit.ly/2BnC8zT .

3. Arming teachers introduces new liability risks.

When several districts in Kansas sought to arm teachers, the insurance companies informed them that they would not insure such a dangerous practice. 19 Hiltzik M. One big problem with the idea of arming teachers: insurance companies won’t play along, and for good reason. Los Angeles Times . February 26, 2018. https://lat.ms/2BkRxBb .

School policies may expose teachers to criminal liability in the event policies are not consistent with state law. It is also unlikely that insurance companies would indemnify schools from monetary claims in these cases.

State immunity laws cannot exempt schools from all legal liability, particularly federal civil rights liability.

Recommendations

The best way to protect American schools from mass shootings and gun violence is to adopt an evidence-based intervention plan like the one proposed by Everytown, The American Federation of Teachers, and The National Education Association.

Using what we know about school gun violence, our organizations have put together a plan that focuses on intervening before violence occurs.

1. Enact Sensible Gun Laws

The first part of this plan focuses on preventing shooters from getting their hands on guns by enacting sensible laws including:

Extreme Risk laws

Laws that empower family and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily prevent a person from having access to guns when they pose a serious risk to themselves or others. These laws empower family members and law enforcement to act on warning signs of violence, which most active shooters exhibit before shootings at school.

Responsible firearm storage laws

Laws that require that people store firearms responsibly when they are not in their possession in order to prevent unauthorized access. These laws, along with building public awareness of responsible storage, can address the most common source of guns used in school gun violence.

Raising the age to purchase semiautomatic firearms to 21

These laws raise the age to purchase all semiautomatic firearms to 21, to match the age to purchase a handgun from a licensed gun dealer. Most active shooters at schools are school-aged. These laws can prevent minors from easily obtaining guns.

Requiring background checks on all gun sales

Under current federal law, background checks are only required for sales from licensed gun dealers, but not for sales between unlicensed individuals. This gap enables people exhibiting warning signs, minors, and people with dangerous histories to evade gun laws and get their hands on guns at gun shows or from strangers they meet online. Requiring a background check on all gun sales is the foundation of any comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.

2. Protect Schools with Evidence-Based Actions

The second part of the plan focuses on evidence-based and expert-endorsed actions that schools can take to intervene and address warning signs of violence and to keep shooters out of schools. Schools can do this by:

Establishing threat assessment programs

Threat assessment programs are school programs to identify and manage potential threats of violence. These programs allow schools to understand and intervene when a student is a risk to themselves or others.

Implementing basic security upgrades

Basic security measures that prevent unauthorized access to school buildings, grounds, and classrooms, including access control measures and interior door locks, can intervene to prevent access to a school and give law enforcement time to respond.

Planning in advance for emergencies

Effective emergency planning, which facilitates communication, can empower staff to immediately lock out schools and allow law enforcement to respond quickly.

Establishing safe and equitable schools

Schools should review school discipline practices, establish community schools, ensure threat assessment programs are not having a disproportionate impact on communities of color, and promote effective partnerships between students and adults in order to keep schools safe.

Everytown Research & Policy is a program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to understanding and reducing gun violence. Everytown Research & Policy works to do so by conducting methodologically rigorous research, supporting evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public.

Freedom from Fear of Hate-Fueled Violence: Preventing Transgender Homicides

The statistics make it clear: violence against transgender people is a gun violence issue.

Those Who Serve: Addressing Firearm Suicide Among Military Veterans

Repeal gun industry immunity, new data, same conclusion: smart gun laws save lives.

Everytown's Gun Law Rankings show a clear correlation between states with strong gun laws and lower rates of gun violence.

Did you know?

Every day, more than 120 people in the United States are killed with guns, twice as many are shot and wounded and countless others are impacted by acts of gun violence.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using four years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2021.

Last updated: 2.13.2023

Arming Teachers: What are the Implications?

Assistant Professor of Health Education

Arming teachers will not solve gun violence in schools. Research unequivocally illustrates that increased gun access and gun possession are associated with heightened violence, thereby suggesting that increasing the presence of guns in schools is likely to have harmful effects on our nation’s students.

Existing research provides evidence about the risks of adding to the number of guns in schools on multiple fronts.

First, any exposure to gun violence -- hearing gunshots, witnessing gunfire, and/or suffering direct injury from a firearm – can adversely affect a child’s health and development. Arming teachers is likely to increase the risk of these types of exposure.

Second, the anticipation of violence can lead to increased anxiety, fear, and depression. Given the sensationalized and speculative nature of many mass school shootings that has more recently fed the perception that schools are unsafe, arming teachers likely would heighten levels of anxiety and negatively affect a school's climate for teaching and learning.

Third, according to recent research, more than half of our nation’s parents oppose school personnel carrying firearms. And teachers themselves have made it clear that they do not want to be armed. Indeed, research indicates that these more criminalizing approaches provide temporary response to what are often deep-seated reasons for how and why guns and forms of gun violence enter school grounds.

Research has clearly furnished evidence for researchers, policymakers, and teachers to oppose the call for arming teachers as a way to deter school-based gun violence.

Research also points us to a multifaceted, preventive, and more effective approach, which would include:

• Implementing legislation and public education efforts that would reduce youth access to guns;
• Increasing support services within schools and community settings so that the early antecedents of violent behavior among students can be quickly detected and immediately and comprehensively addressed; and
• Promoting a positive and nurturing school climate that attends to every child's wellbeing.  

Schools should be safe spaces for learning and growth. Arming teachers, thereby increasing gun possession (and, given past research, likely increasing exposure to gun violence), achieves exactly the opposite. Keeping guns  out  of schools must a national educational priority.

Sonali Rajan’s research is  focused on identifying patterns of risk behaviors among adolescent youth; implementing and evaluating school-based health education programs; understanding the antecedents of gun violence among youth in urban settings, and supporting efforts aimed at reducing violence in K-12 schools. 

Related:  Gun Violence in the United States: Stemming the Tide of a Growing Social Crisis

• Benjet, C., Bromet, E., Karam, E.G., Kessler, R.C., McLaughlin, K.A., Ruscio, A.M., et al. (2016). The epidemiology of traumatic event exposure worldwide: Results from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium.  Psychological Medicine , 46( 2 ), 327 – 343.
• Borum R, Cornell DG, Modzeleski W, & Jimerson SR. (2010). What can be done about school shootings?: A review of the evidence.  Educational Researcher , 39( 1 ) 27 – 37.
• Branas CC, Flescher A, Formica MK, et al. (2017). Academic public health and the firearm crisis: An agenda for action.  American Journal of Public Health,  107(3): 365-367.
• Branas CC, Richmond TS, Culhane DP, Ten Have TR, Wiebe DJ. (2009). Investigating the link between gun possession and gun assault.  American Journal of Public Health,  99(11): 2034-2040.
• Kellermann AL, Rivara FP, Rushforth NB, et al. (1993). Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home.  New England Journal of Medicine.  329:1084-1091.
• Payton E, Khubchandani J, Thompson, A, Price JH. (2017). Parents’ expectations of high schools in firearm violence prevention.  Journal of Community Health , 42( 6 ), 1118-1126.
• Rajan S, Vasudevan LV, Ruggles KV, Brown B, Verdeli H. (2017). Commentary: Firearms in K-12 schools: what is the responsibility of the education community?  Teachers College Record,  published online.
• Teske SC. (2011). A study of zero tolerance policies in schools: A multi-integrated systems approach to improve outcomes for adolescents.  Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing , 24( 2 ), 88-97.
• Webster DW, Cerda M, Wintemute GJ, Cook PJ. (2016). Epidemiologic evidence to guide the understanding and prevention of gun violence.  Epidemiologic Reviews.  38(1): 1-4.

The views expressed in the previous article are solely those of the speakers to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, or staff either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.

Tags: Views on the News Civics Opinion Research Youth Gun Violence

Programs: Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design

Departments: Mathematics, Science & Technology

Published Friday, Feb 23, 2018

Teachers College Newsroom

Address: Institutional Advancement 193-197 Grace Dodge Hall

Box: 306 Phone: (212) 678-3231 Email: views@tc.columbia.edu

Has There Ever Been a School Shooting Where Staff Could Carry Guns?

The data necessary to answer the question is sparse. there is no central database for tracking schools that allow staff members to carry firearms., izz scott lamagdeleine, published april 28, 2023.

After the Nashville Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 — in which three adults and three children were killed along with the shooter — claims about the effectiveness of arming teachers and school staff swirled online. They continued to circulate weeks later, after Louisville's  Old National Bank shooting on April 10, 2023, which killed five people and injured eight others.

"If banks, with armed guards, high tech security systems, and cameras everywhere can't stop a mass shooter how can anyone suggest arming teachers or putting police in American schools would be a reasonable solution for kids being gunned down while simply trying to learn??," Rex Chapman tweeted on the same day as the bank shooting.

If banks, with armed guards, high tech security systems, and cameras everywhere can't stop a mass shooter how can anyone suggest arming teachers or putting police in American schools would be a reasonable solution for kids being gunned down while simply trying to learn?? — Rex Chapman???????? (@RexChapman) April 10, 2023

Other posts about arming teachers in schools could be found on social media platforms like Reddit , TikTok , and Facebook . Discussions surrounding the effectiveness of armed teachers have surfaced online before, like after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 that killed 17 people.

Elected officials have discussed the question as well. Following the Nashville school shooting, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Jamaal Bowman were recorded  getting into a heated debate in the U.S. Capitol over allowing more guns in schools. "There's never been a school shooting in the hundreds of schools that allow staff to carry," Massie later claimed in a  tweet .

The data needed to fully confirm or disprove the claim were sparse. Complicating matters, the definition of "school staff" can vary to include school resource officers or other types of law enforcement officers who often carry firearms, depending on the source. Also, there is no central database tracking every U.S. school that allows people on campus, no matter their title, to carry guns.

We found at least one instance of a mass shooting in a school where employees of the school district — school police officers — were allowed to carry guns: the 2022 shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two teachers.

Who Can Carry Guns in Schools?

Teachers themselves are allowed to carry guns in some states. According to a research review by the nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation last updated in January 2023, 28 states allowed schools to arm teachers or staff as of January 1, 2021. States like Missouri have passed laws that create frameworks for  school employees to be armed.

That said, the number of adults in schools carrying guns increases if you consider all types of staff members, not just teachers. For instance, whether employed by a school or an outside law-enforcement agency, officers who are tasked with patrolling campuses often carry firearms.

Some school districts consider these types of officers, called school resource officers, part of school staff, reporting directly to the superintendent. Other districts have partnerships with local law enforcement agencies to have the officers on campus.

According to the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Justice dedicated to advancing community policing, school resource officers are sworn law-enforcement officers responsible for preventing crime in schools. That is a widely used definition applied by reputable publications like EdWeek and state agencies like the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction . 

Another part of the Department of Justice, the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center, published  a  research brief in September 2020 that stated school resource officers were police officers who "carry firearms, have arrest powers, and carry a police department badge" and are employed by the school, sheriff's agency, or local police departments.

Other centers like the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, considers school support staff to include   school resource officers. The center also included guidance counselors, nurses, social workers, and special education aides in its definition of who was school support staff.

For the purposes of this article, we used the word "staff" to refer to school resource officers and school police departments, as well as teachers, administrators, and all other types of school employees. States and local districts have varying criteria for who can serve as school resource officers. For example, schools in South Carolina have expressed interest in hiring retired police officers as school resource officers. 

Gun safety aside, there is ongoing research into whether school resource officers are an effective safety strategy overall — and/or if their presence has potential negative effects. For example, a 2021 study from the RAND Corporation and University of Albany researchers also found that suspensions, expulsions, police referrals, and arrests were significantly higher in schools with school resource officers, impacting Black students at a rate over two times than that of white students.

What Does Research Say About Armed Staff in Schools?

Overall, proponents of having armed resource officers in schools argue that they make schools safer. In a 2021 study from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), National Police Foundation President Jim Burch  wrote ,  "...carefully selected, well trained, and properly equipped school resource officers provide an important resource in the prevention and response to school attacks." 

When we reached out to Massie's office for evidence to support his claim about school shootings and armed staff, a spokesperson cited an  April 2019 study by economist John Lott. Lott has been described by publications like The New Yorker and The Trace as the most influential pro-gun researcher in the country. Many academics have  refuted  his findings.

The study examined the rate of shootings between January 2000 to August 2018 in all K-12 school shootings that purportedly allowed teachers to carry guns. The research did not identify one shooting in which someone was wounded or killed, and said the researchers had contacted each institution that experienced a shooting and where questions remained about what had been the school's firearms policy. The study specifically looked at armed teachers, not armed resource officers or other types of school employees.

Lott's study also concluded that there had never been a report of a student getting ahold of a staff member's gun. That finding didn't specify whether it considered schools that do, or do not, allow armed teachers — or both. (We found evidence of students reportedly gaining access to guns during the time of the study. For example, two Missouri students  stole a gun from a substitute teacher in 2018, according to a Patch Media article. The school district had not granted teachers permission to bring guns on campus.)

In other words, one study that looked at all schools between the years of 2000 and 2018 supported Massie's underlying claim that schools with armed staff don't have shootings. However, that research did not consider schools that allow non-teachers to carry guns, nor any school shootings after 2018.

Other research on arming teachers to prevent school shootings had different findings.  Colombia University researchers found in 2018, nine months before Lott's research was published, there were a "multitude of questions'' regarding the effectiveness of arming teachers, including how to develop or implement training for using the firearms.

Teachers have wounded themselves in schools where they could carry guns. For example, in 2014, an Utah elementary school teacher who was a concealed-weapons permit holder injured herself in her school's bathroom when her handgun accidentally discharged. In a 2014 article by The Desert News, the school district spokesperson  said  state law allowed the teacher to have the concealed weapon, and that the district had no authority to prevent people with concealed weapons permits from accessing school campuses. (The example was noted in Lott's 2019 study as the only accidental discharge by a permit holder on K-12 property.)

Not only do studies focusing specifically on armed teachers offer various findings, but research into the effectiveness of firearms being carried by any type of school employee — including armed resource officers — also do not answer the underlying question: Do guns make schools safer?

According to a  PolitiFact  article from May 2022 , there were no credible studies that show the presence of armed officers keeps violent people from targeting schools with guns. The National Institute of Justice, which is the research, development and evaluation agency of the Department of Justice, found in 2022 that research did not support arming school resource officers as an effective safety strategy. 

Has There Ever Been a Shooting in a School With Armed Staff Members?

According to our review of recent school shootings, there was at least one instance in which a shooting occurred where employees of a school district were armed.

In May 2022, a shooter killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The Texas Tribune  w rote  in June 2022  that Texas police officers employed by school districts report to a chief who works directly under the district's superintendent. As such, it was accurate to say the police officers working for the Uvalde CISD police department were employees of the school district, not another jurisdiction. 

According to The Texas Tribune's timeline  of the shooting, the Uvalde school district police chief at the time, Pete Arredondo, entered the school with another school district officer at 11:35 a.m. The timeline stated Arrendondo did not have his radios because he thought they would slow him down and he wanted to have both hands on his gun. He remained in the building during the shooting, and was later fired by the school district in connection to his response to the shooting.

There was no evidence that any teachers or administrators were armed during the shooting. It was reported  that there were no Uvalde CISD police present before the shooting began.  We sent the school district a request to respond to what we found — that there were armed employees of the school district on campus at the time of the shooting — and we will update this check if we hear back.

It was possible other school shootings could fall under this category as well. It was first reported by The Tennessean that at least one staff member at the Nashville school where three adults and three children were shot carried guns. A person at the school reportedly told a 911 dispatcher that the school had staff that "would be packing, whose job it is for security." No further reports have come from either The Tennessean or other news publications substantiating that information. 

Current Tennessee  state law allows handguns to be carried in private schools as long as the school has a written handgun-carry policy that's communicated to students, faculty, other employees, and anyone else on school grounds. There is no evidence that the Covenant School had such a policy. 

We found at least one instance of a mass shooting in a school where employees of the school district — school police officers — were allowed to carry guns: the 2022 shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two teachers. It is possible that other school shootings could fall under this category as well, including the 2023 Nashville Covenant School shooting, though we were not able to confirm that the school had a policy allowing staff to carry firearms.

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Delaney, Ryan. "Missouri Law Allows Armed Teachers; Schools Are Using Something Else." STLPR , 27 Mar. 2018, https://news.stlpublicradio.org/education/2018-03-27/missouri-law-allows-armed-teachers-schools-are-using-something-else.

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By Izz Scott LaMagdeleine

Izz Scott LaMagdeleine is a fact-checker for Snopes.

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Teachers With Guns: District by District, a Push to Arm Educators Is Growing

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An act of mass violence hasn’t yet touched the Benjamin Logan Local School District.

Superintendent John Scheu is thankful for that.

But for years, every time news broke about yet another school shooting, Scheu faced a handful of “what if?” questions.

What if a school in this small, rural district about an hour northwest of Columbus, Ohio—where the closest police outpost is 10 miles away—were the next target of a shooting? What if Benjamin Logan students were the next to have to huddle in closets sending “I love you” texts to friends and family? What if Scheu’s community were the next to have to mourn the loss of beloved students and staff members?

“If it can happen in all of these other places, it could happen here,” he said.

So, Scheu and his district invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in security. They hired school resource officers who are stationed at each of the district’s three schools. Security cameras send live feeds to the local sheriff’s office. Staff are reminded often that exterior doors are not to be propped open or left unlocked for any reason.

There’s a new mental health clinic at one of the schools, staffed with counselors trained to help the district’s roughly 1,600 students and 225 staff members.

District leaders felt confident they’d done all they could to keep outside threats from entering their buildings.

But what if the threat came from someone already inside?

Students and teachers have lockdown drills, and, as has become commonplace in American schools, they know to pull down the shades and lock the classroom doors before hiding quietly from a threat. But, beyond that, there isn’t much they would be able to do but “wait and hope that help would come,” Scheu said.

Except, Scheu asked himself, what if there were staff members trained to intervene? What if a handful of teachers, aides, and others could quickly reach for a firearm if an active shooter were targeting students?

“When you’re talking about putting out an active shooter threat, it’s a matter of seconds, not a matter of minutes,” said Scheu, who has served as superintendent in the district since July 2020. “And it’s a matter of life and death.”

After a year of planning, the district’s first “Armed Response Team” was in place to start the 2023-24 school year, part of a growing trend in Ohio and elsewhere in which schools tap teachers and other employees to act as the first line of armed defense against an active shooter.

An evolution of thinking on arming teachers

Scheu isn’t the first to have the idea of allowing trained educators to be armed, but he brings unique experience to the process of standing up a team of teachers with access to firearms on campus.

In fact, Benjamin Logan is the second district to develop a program under Scheu’s oversight in which teachers and other school staff take firearms training and have weapons at the ready.

He ushered in a related program at a nearby district nearly a decade ago, in Ohio’s Sidney City Schools, when he served as superintendent there.

In 2013—just a few months after 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut—the district approved an armed response team, which remains in place today. Staff members in the program keep their firearms and bulletproof vests in specialized safes in the buildings that only open with the team members’ fingerprints, Scheu said. Nobody, however, carries a concealed firearm with them on campus.

Sidney City Schools’ current superintendent did not respond to EdWeek interview requests over the summer.

There are no national data on just how many schools have armed staff, but the controversial change has gained steam in the past decade, corresponding with a rise in American school shootings and widespread attention to the issue of gun violence on campuses.

Thirty-three states now allow teachers to carry guns at school, if approved by their local district. Those state laws have all passed in the past decade, after South Dakota became the first state to enact legislation allowing educators to be armed in March 2013.

Is 24 hours enough training?

The 17 staff members who started the school year on Sept. 5 as part of Benjamin Logan’s inaugural Armed Response Team spent the summer preparing. The group is a mix of 10 men and seven women, a combination of teachers and other school employees.

After undergoing background checks and mental health screenings, they participated in a three-day, 24-hour training at the end of June, which included classroom-based lessons and practice handling and using firearms at a local shooting range.

The lessons addressed when and when not to engage with a shooter, first aid, firearms handling, and self-defense, and included simulated drills of active shooter situations and target practice.

Under the Ohio state law allowing districts to have armed staff members, the participants required approval from the local sheriff’s office, the firing range instructor, coursework instructors, and Scheu.

Armed Response Team members will also have to complete eight hours of additional training each year, and the experts who conduct the training will have to reapprove the participants.

Some have raised concerns that armed educators in Ohio aren’t receiving enough training, especially in the past year, after changes to state law in June 2022 dropped the minimum number of required hours of training to 24 from more than 700.

Ohio’s main teachers’ union and its primary police union both opposed the change. In a year of debate, legislators heard testimony from those opposed to the change more than 360 times, compared with 20 times from those in support, according to NPR .

Jim Irvine, president of the pro-gun Buckeye Firearms Foundation, recently told a local news outlet that he doesn’t think the teachers across the state who have been certified to carry guns on campus in the past year, since the reduction in required training hours took effect, have been adequately trained.

“There are some things that are a mess with trainers that have been approved by the state that really don’t have the experience and the knowledge, we don’t think, to be doing this,” Irvine told TV station WSYX .

Scott DiMauro, the president of the Ohio Education Association—the state teachers’ union that represents educators across the state—agreed that the teachers involved are not receiving sufficient training. Twenty-four hours is not enough, he said, pointing out that other states, like Florida, require more than 100 hours .

“If we’re going to go this route, they should at least set a higher standard,” DiMauro said.

Scheu said he understands people’s concerns about the amount of required training, but said most Benjamin Logan employees on the Armed Response Team have participated in additional, voluntary training, and are committed to safety—that’s why they’re part of the program in the first place.

“They understand their commitment to being prepared and comfortable in their roles, and are invested in continuing their training,” said Scheu, who is not a member of the National Rifle Association and had limited experience with firearms before working with local police in Ohio to create the armed response teams. “We feel they are as well-trained as possible.”

All 17 Benjamin Logan staffers who participated in the state-mandated training received their required approvals, and none dropped out after the training, Scheu said.

That’s not always the case.

A few years ago, Scheu’s own daughter, a teacher elsewhere in Ohio, went through the training and passed before ultimately deciding she wasn’t the right fit.

“She told me she was glad she went through the training but just couldn’t do it, and I told her, ‘That’s fine. If you can’t do it, don’t do it. That’s why we have this process,’” Scheu said.

Participating school staff generally have firearms experience

Each Benjamin Logan staffer who is part of the Armed Response Team received a district-supplied handgun and has a biometric safe for storing the weapon that only opens with their fingerprint, rather than a passcode, in their classroom or office. Some are allowed to carry their firearm with them on campus concealed, while others store their guns in the safes at all times. That depends on their preference, the grade they teach, and the recommendation of the school resource officers and local sheriff.

One middle school teacher in the program said he felt compelled to participate because he has a long history of handling and training with firearms—a background he said most other participants shared.

“My kids go to school there. My friends’ kids go to school there. There are people I’ve worked with for almost 20 years, and they become your friends as well,” the teacher said. “So it’s kind of just protecting family and friends and students. That’s something I want to be able to add to what I do here.”

Education Week is not naming the teacher because district policy and state law require that participants’ identities not be disclosed to protect their own safety and the program’s integrity.

Much of the pushback against arming educators in the district has come from people who don’t have much personal experience with firearms, the teacher said.

“It’s something they’ve never experienced, or only experienced through a negative lens,” the teacher said. “My personal feeling about it is if they took the time to learn more about it and what we’re trying to do, they may feel differently about it.”

A life-saving strategy or dangerous gamble?

Although the majority of states allow teachers to be armed at school, the idea remains controversial.

Advocates say having staff on site who can respond in emergencies can cut the amount of time those in the school have to spend waiting for first responders—time that can save lives. Proponents also say that just the knowledge that there are staff on site who can and will intervene with weapons can deter potential acts of violence altogether.

However, opponents argue having firearms on campus is a dangerous gamble.

On top of piling another non-teaching responsibility on teachers, guns could accidentally discharge, get stolen by students or other staff, or create even greater confusion when there’s an active shooter.

National groups including the National Education Association , the National Association of School Psychologists , and the National Association of School Resource Officers have opposed arming teachers and school staff.

Support in the Benjamin Logan district hasn’t been universal, either.

At a public forum last summer, Scheu said a handful of people, many of them teachers, voiced concerns about colleagues carrying or storing firearms.

The local teachers’ union pushed back, too, he said.

The initial school board motion in the spring of 2023 to create the Armed Response Team passed by one vote, 3-2.

The initiative, however, garnered unanimous support in another school board vote in late August, following the conclusion of the Armed Response Team’s training. The two board members who initially opposed the team’s creation didn’t respond to requests for comment.

When you’re talking about putting out an active shooter threat, it’s a matter of seconds, not a matter of minutes. And it’s a matter of life and death.

The Ohio Education Association is firmly against arming teachers, said DiMauro, the association’s president.

Having more guns on campus often makes other teachers uncomfortable and can distract them from doing their jobs, he said. But arming teachers is also a “shortcut approach” that puts more responsibility on teachers and less pressure on state officials to provide funding for “better trained” and “more appropriate” staff to manage school safety, like security guards and SROs , DiMauro said.

“I do think it’s a way for the state to shirk its responsibility … to provide funding so that you can have fully trained people who specialize in that work in our schools,” he said. “I understand the arguments, I do. But taking a step back and looking at the big picture, I don’t think this is the best way to address this need.”

Districts would be better served if state and federal lawmakers made a stronger effort to address the “root problems” of school violence, DiMauro said, like cracking down on who is able to access firearms in the first place.

‘We really don’t know anything’ about the effectiveness

Teachers generally appear to have major doubts that allowing educators to carry firearms on campus will make schools safer.

Fifty-four percent of educators polled late last year by the RAND Corporation said having armed teachers would make campuses less safe, as opposed to 20 percent who said doing so would make schools safer. Educators in rural districts were more likely to support arming teachers, with about a third saying the initiative would make schools more safe.

There are signs, however, that support among educators is growing.

Heather Schwartz, a researcher at RAND, said older surveys of educators’ opinions on arming teachers had shown less support for the initiative, which suggests there is “a national evolution in attitudes about it, and a more accepting attitude in many places.”

There are little data, though, about the “early adopters” that have employed armed teachers, Schwartz said, so there are many questions about the policy’s effectiveness, including its impacts on school climate and how closely armed staff are complying with training requirements.

“We really don’t know anything—not even just the basics of implementation,” Schwartz said.

A response to a problem, not a political statement

In the Sidney City and Benjamin Logan districts, the programs were designed as a response to a problem, not a political stand, Scheu said.

And the superintendent believes it’s a proactive step that could prevent a would-be shooter from targeting his community. Signs posted by the entrances to each of the district’s three schools warn would-be shooters that there are armed staff on the premises.

“In my opinion, just having the Armed Response Team serves as a definite deterrent because these active shooters will always seek out soft targets,” he said. “By putting up signs telling people, it’s not that we’re bragging. It’s just a matter of telling people that we’re not a soft target—do not pick us to do your carnage.”

Even now, when Scheu feels confident his district is doing everything it can to protect students and staff, a “what if?” still lingers in his mind.

What if something goes wrong with the Armed Response Team and someone is accidentally killed or injured, or a gun ends up in the wrong hands—all reasons others have cited in opposition to arming teachers?

“That is a concern any time you have an armed presence in the building, if something could go astray,” Scheu said. “But the flip side of that is, if you don’t have any plan and the shooter comes in and just kills innocent kids who are hiding under tables with no way of putting out that threat, how much sense does that make?”

A version of this article appeared in the October 11, 2023 edition of Education Week as Teachers With Guns: District by District, A Push to Arm Educators Is Growing

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Should Teachers Be Allowed To Carry Guns at School?

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Traditionally thought of as gun-free zones, some schools are now allowing teachers to carry guns in classrooms— an effort that is meant to increase school safety, particularly when it comes to stopping school shootings. But this move is sparking controversy nationwide, as many opponents question whether arming teachers with guns would actually make schools safer.

TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses.  Explore lesson supports.

What are the main arguments for allowing teachers to carry guns at school? Some arguments in favor of arming teachers include that if teachers had guns, they would actually be able to defend against an attack — potentially minimizing deaths. Supporters often point to instances where armed bystanders have stopped shootings in other places. Additionally, arming teachers could act as a deterrent— if potential shooters knew teachers were armed, they may be less likely to carry out an attack.

What are the main arguments against allowing teachers to carry guns at school? Many opponents worry that there’s too much potential for something to go wrong if you allow teachers to carry guns. What happens if a student gets ahold of a teacher’s gun, or if they accidentally shoot an innocent bystander. There’s also concern that a teacher could misinterpret a student’s actions and shoot at someone unnecessarily, and this is especially a concern for students of color— where research shows they are disproportionately disciplined more than white students. Could implicit racial bias lead to a teacher unnecessarily shooting at a student of color? There’s also concern that training and arming teachers is expensive and could take funding away from other academic or school safety resources.

SELECTED SOURCES: Should Teachers Carry Guns? The Debate, Explained (EdWeek) https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/arming-teachers.html

Arming Schoolteachers: What Do We Know? Where Do We Go From Here? (American Journal of Public Health) https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304464

School shootings are extraordinarily rare. Why is fear of them driving policy? (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/school-shootings-are-extraordinarily-rare-why-is-fear-of-them-driving-policy/2018/03/08/f4ead9f2-2247-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html

10 years. 180 school shootings. 356 victims. (CNN) https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/07/us/ten-years-of-school-shootings-trnd/

Should teachers carry guns? In many rural school districts, they already are. (Pacific Standard) https://psmag.com/education/should-teachers-carry-guns-in-many-rural-school-districts-they-already-are

Most U.S. Teachers Oppose Carrying Guns in Schools (Gallup) https://news.gallup.com/poll/229808/teachers-oppose-carrying-guns-schools.aspx

U.S. Voters Oppose Steel, Aluminum Tariffs, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Oppose Armed Teachers, Back Armed Security 6-1 (Quinnipiac University Poll) https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2525

State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2013 (U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics) https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/slleta13.pdf

Gun-trained teacher accidentally discharges firearm in Calif. classroom, injuring student (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/14/teacher-accidentally-discharges-firearm-in-calif-classroom-he-was-trained-in-gun-use/

Black Students ‘Face Racial Bias’ In School Discipline (Forbes) https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2019/04/05/black-students-face-racial-bias-in-school-discipline/#62d323ec36d5

After Ferguson, black men still face the highest risk of being killed by police (PBS NewsHour) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-ferguson-black-men-and-boys-still-face-the-highest-risk-of-being-killed-by-police

A History of Shootings at Military Installations in the U.S. (NBC 6 South Florida) https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/A-History-of-Shootings-at-Military-Installations-in-the-US-223933651.html

To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy.

Arming teachers a bad idea

In the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., President Donald Trump has proposed that teachers carry concealed weapons in order to defend against would-be school shooters. But an expert at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health vigorously disagrees with that idea.

“It’s a crazy proposal,” said David Hemenway , professor of health policy and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC) , in a February 23, 2018 NBC News article. Hemenway said that research suggests that fewer guns —not more—would be the best way to reduce gun-related deaths. He added that expecting teachers to shoot attackers is unrealistic. “Your heart is beating like crazy, your adrenaline is all over your body, and you have to make a wise decision about what to do,” he said.

In a February 26, 2018 MSNBC interview, Hemenway noted that while some are saying that gun-related violence is a mental health issue, the evidence suggests otherwise.

“The evidence is overwhelming that most homicides don’t have anything directly to do with mental health problems,” he said. “If you look across all the 26 industrialized democracies, none of these other countries have our gun problems about homicides, about school shootings, about killings of police. And why is that? It’s not because they don’t have mental health problems. It’s not because they have much nicer people. It’s because they don’t give unlimited access to the most deadly of the deadly weapons.”

Hemenway was also quoted in several other media outlets about gun violence .

• Washington Post : Hemenway called a 22-year-old Congressional measure that prevents the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding gun-related research “a huge problem.” The ban has had a chilling effect on funding not just from the CDC but from other federal agencies and private funders, the article noted.
• The Atlantic : Hemenway said that the Trump Administration’s proposal to ban bump stocks—which allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles—“can’t hurt.” But he said he would prefer to see more significant policy fixes, such as banning large-capacity magazines and implementing one-gun-per-month laws and gun-violence restraining orders.
• The Boston Herald: In an article about a new report showing that homicide is the leading cause of death among Boston residents 10-24 years old, Hemenway said that guns from neighboring states with more lax gun regulations than those in Massachusetts are making their way across the border.

Hemenway’s colleague Catherine Barber , director of HICRC’s Means Matter Campaign , was quoted in a Los Angeles Times article about the high prevalence of U.S. gun owners who don’t store firearms safely in their homes—leaving those guns at risk of being stolen, used by a despondent or homicidal family member, or played with by a child.

“Gun owners care about protecting their family, and many keep guns at home unlocked for ready access,” said Barber, even though the odds of being killed in a homicide are quite low. Suicides far outnumber homicides in the U.S. and firearms are the leading method used in those suicides, Barber noted.

Read the NBC News article: Trump’s proposal to arm teachers panned by experts as a ‘colossolly stupid idea’

Watch the MSNBC interview

Read the Washington Post article: The Health 202: Gun violence research by the government hasn’t been funded in two decades. But that may soon change.

Read the Atlantic article: Trump’s Hollow Gesture on Guns

Read the Boston Herald article: Expert: City homicides show need for stricter firearm control

Read the Los Angeles Times article: More than half of U.S. gun owners store at least one firearm without any locks, survey reveals

Can gun violence be reduced in a culture of guns? (Harvard Chan School news)

Do guns make us safer? Science suggests no (Harvard Chan School news)

Fewer guns in U.S. could mean far fewer suicides (Harvard Chan School news)

Iowa Poll: After Perry High shooting, most Iowans favor letting teachers have guns in school

The polling comes two months after the jan. 4 shooting at perry high school.

© Copyright 2024, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.    

In the wake of a deadly school shooting in Perry, a majority of Iowans favor allowing teachers and school staff to carry guns in school if they complete training, according to a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. 

Sixty percent of Iowans say they support arming teachers and staff, while 38% oppose it and 1% are not sure.  

Support is higher among parents with children younger than 18, with 65% favoring staff carrying firearms in schools, compared with 34% who oppose it.  

It also has the support of 80% of Republicans and 61% of independents. Only 18% of Republicans and 38% of independents oppose arming teachers in schools. 

Democrats, conversely, are largely opposed, with 74% against it, compared with 25% in favor. In addition, 50% of Iowans 65 and older oppose arming school staff, compared with 47% who support it.  

The poll of 804 Iowa adults was conducted by Selzer & Co. Feb. 25-28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 

The results come two months after the Jan. 4 shooting at Perry High School, where investigators say Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student, fatally shot sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger and wounded six other people before killing himself. 

Republican majority pushes armed staff legislation through the House 

The poll was taken just before the Iowa House’s Republican majority passed House File 2586 , which would allow licensed school staff to carry firearms and grant them “qualified immunity from criminal or civil liability” for incidents that might occur while using “reasonable force” on the job.  

Some Iowa lawmakers and education officials support the immunity provision because school districts that have previously opted to arm staff have been forced to reverse course or lose insurance coverage.  

Cherokee and Spirit Lake school district officials spoke to lawmakers about the issue after the two districts dropped their policies allowing some staff to carry firearms ahead of the 2023-24 school year rather than lose their coverage through EMC Insurance. 

EMC had said the liability risk was too great. 

“We know immunity is a big piece that will help us find people from the outside to come in and insure us,” Spirit Lake Superintendent David Smith told lawmakers during a February subcommittee hearing.   

The bill outlines training for staff members and private security guards. Staff who want to carry firearms would need to go through a permit process that includes one-time, in-person legal training covering "qualified immunity, annual emergency medical training and annual communication training" approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety. 

The department would also need to "implement required annual live scenario training and quarterly live firearm training" for school employees with permits. 

"This bill sets a very high standard," the legislation’s floor manager, Rep. Phil Thompson, R-Boone, said last month. "Because we’re talking about the safety of our children, the bar must be high. We recognize that this responsibility must be taken very seriously." 

The bill also would require public schools with at least 8,000 students to hire armed private security guards or a school resource officer for each of a district’s high schools. A district’s school board could vote to opt out of the requirement. 

Based on this year’s certified district enrollment, the requirement would have affected 11 districts, listed in order of highest enrollment: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Iowa City, Davenport, Waukee, Ankeny, Waterloo, Dubuque, Council Bluffs and West Des Moines. 

The bill passed 61-34 .  

A Senate subcommittee also passed  House File 2586  last week and will now go before the full Education Committee.

Additionally, the House advanced House Study Bill 692 , which addresses school safety requirements and is meant as a complement House File 2586. The bill creates a $3 million grant program which school officials could use to purchase infrastructure and equipment related to arming or training staff — including purchasing guns.

If signed into law, schools would be able to apply for up to $25,000.

Related: House lawmakers advance $3 million grant program to help schools buy guns for teachers

Armed teachers and staff at Perry might have saved lives, some Iowans contend 

For some poll respondents, the shooting at Perry High School was at the forefront of their minds in supporting armed school staff.  

Steven Salisbury, 50, of Urbandale — who has nine young family members attending Perry Community School District — wonders if the incident might have ended differently if an armed and properly trained staff member had been in the building when the shootings happened.  

“Luckily, all my family members came out safely, (but) there was a possibility they couldn’t have,” said Salisbury, a Republican and father of four. “And I’m just a true believer in the right to bear arms.” 

Poll respondent and retired mechanic Rodney Boock, 62, of Eldridge said arming staff could serve as a deterrent for criminals. 

“Well, it's the fastest way of defense — with proper training — to save lives,” said Boock, a Republican and father of two who argued that criminals may think twice before entering a school if they know staff might be armed.  

Poll respondent Natasha Haygood, 46, of West Des Moines, however, worries about what might happen if armed staff aren’t properly trained.  

“I know there is biases. We’re humans, everybody has biases ... If it’s that volatile, put police back into the schools again,” said Haygood, who is an Independent and mother of two. 

Police can have biases, but they also receive a lot of training, she said.  

Haygood, who is Black, also worries about her 16-year-old son being in an environment where firearms are in the hands of people who may not have undergone extensive training. 

“I have a Black son and just by him getting up in the morning and just by sight, he's a threat for some people,” she said. “I just don't want to put my son in that type of environment.”  

What if he were to raise his voice and a staff member felt threatened, she asked.  

 “Teachers are there to teach. They are not there to be armed guards,” Haygood said.   

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.  

About the Iowa Poll 

The Iowa Poll, conducted Feb. 25-28, 2024, for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 804 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Dynata. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent American Community Survey estimates.  

Questions based on the sample of 804 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.  

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit and, on digital platforms, links to originating content on The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.   

Should Columbia teachers carry guns? School board candidates talk student safety

A question about school safety, asked by a Hickman High School student, again drew distinctions among the three school board candidates on Thursday at a forum by the Columbia-Boone County League of Women Voters.

The forum, with moderator David Lisle, was in the Friends Room of The Columbia Public Library.

The three school board candidates are Alvin Cobbins, John Potter and Jeanne Snodgrass. The top two vote-getters on April 2 will be elected to the Columbia Board of Education, serving three-year terms. Snodgrass is the lone incumbent.

Potter also is running for the Missouri House of Representatives in the 47th District.

Hickman High School students Penelope Heidy, Allison Hall and Olivia Watts, members of the LWV's Youth Advisory Board, each asked questions of the candidates. Heidy asked about student safety when school shootings are frequent and deadly.

Potter drew gasps from the audience when he proposed allowing staff member to conceal and carry firearms at school.

"The only thing that can stop a gun is a gun," Potter said. "The worst thing you can see on a school is a gun-free zone. It's a deterrent."

Current district policy allows only district security personnel and school resource officers to carry firearms, with requirements for annual training.

Later, Potter clarified that he would want armed staff members to be trained.

Snodgrass said she disagreed with Potter's proposal, instead opting for measures the district is actively pursuing including controlling entry by visitors into school buildings and a weapon detection system.

Communication also is important she said.

"When weapons are discovered, it's often because somebody says something," Snodgrass said.

Cobbins said he can't imagine children in school buildings where teachers or staff members are carrying guns.

Creating students with a love of learning and teaching them to read will prevent them from becoming violent, he said.

Watts asked about understaffing.

Improving teacher pay is part of the solution, Potter said.

Student behavior issues are driving some teachers from the profession, he said. Instead of teaching, they're also required to be security guards and psychiatrists and break up fights.

"They've just got too many hats that they have to wear right now," Potter said.

Retention and recruitment of teachers requires paying them adequately, but supports when in the job also is necessary, she said. That includes good professional development.

Teachers are under a lot of pressure, Cobbins said.

"We have to get ahead of that issue and we have to rectify it," Cobbins said.

Hall asked about efforts elsewhere to ban books from schools.

It hasn't been an issue in CPS .

All three candidates said they don't want to ban any books, but they should be age-appropriate.

Politicians have been behind most efforts to ban books, Cobbins said.

"It is a political football that has no place in public schools," he said.

Potter called for a districtwide cell phone policy, as he has at all the forums.

"You can't learn math if you're on TikTok," Potter said.

Lile asked the other candidates about a cell phone policy.

Something that's consistent across the district is needed, Snodgrass said.

"We want distraction-free classrooms," she said.

Students are sneaky about using their phones, but it shouldn't be allowed, said Cobbins.

"I don't think there's a place for them in classrooms" unless they're necessary for a lesson, he said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at [email protected] or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Should Columbia teachers carry guns? School board candidates talk student safety

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City should fire school administrators, use money to hire teachers

After reading the March 9 Republican-American front-page article, “Waterbury teachers union raises concerns over large classes, substitute teachers,” it has become clear to me that Superintendent Verna Ruffin, her entire…

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