Should teachers be armed?

After the most recent shooting in Parkland, Florida people have been arguing about whether or not teachers should be  armed. Democrats and Republicans in the government have had different opinions on this topic. At AJCMS, students and staff had had different opinions. People in the government say  that schools should arm teachers, because it is the best for us.

Gun laws now

In California, there a law ( AB 424 ) signed by California governor Jerry Brown stating that school workers won’t be able to carry weapons on school grounds.

In Texas, some schools have already armed teachers with weapons. In addition to this, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Tennessee, and Wisconsin also let teachers carry weapons on school grounds.

No, Teachers should not be armed

Edgar Flota, school principal, says arming teachers isn’t necessary because, “The teachers have to go to college to study to get a degree. Police have to study to carry guns. It’s not the teacher’s job to protect the schools.”  in addition he also stated some problems arming teachers could have. “I don’t think arming teachers will make schools safer because more guns means more opportunities for something to go wrong.”

Christopher Rodriguez, 7th grader, said, “It’s not necessary because let’s say teachers are armed and a student takes out something from their backpack like a pencil or an eraser the teacher might think they are pulling out a gun, so the teacher shoots the student.” In addition to this, he also thinks schools won’t be safer because, “the students will feel uncomfortable around weapons.”

Yes, teachers should be armed

On the other hand, Chris Paxtor, 8th grader, says it is necessary to arm teachers because then teachers will be able to defend themselves and others from armed people.

In addition to this, Heriberto Estrada, 8th grader, says schools should allow teachers to be armed because “it makes schools more safer and offers more protection to students and staff.” He also said that ,”I feel like shooters wouldn’t shoot a school if they knew teachers had guns, so I’ll feel more protected.”