“I can only speak personally, but I would feel uncomfortable carrying a gun on me. First of all, I don’t think adding more guns to the fray is a solution to this issue of gun violence in schools. Secondly, I would be worried that we would have moments where someone gets shot accidentally. Learning how to carry and use a weapon should not be in a teacher’s job description; it only serves to make schools more of a militarized zone, and I just don’t see that as a solution.”
-Tony Herman
“One of the features of working in education is that when a teacher makes a mistake in class, it can be corrected the next day. This is rather distinct from professions that negotiate business deals, litigate for damage awards, or cut into the human body in an effort to save or improve a life. It is also distinct from the sort of mistakes that are capable of being made from the improper or untrained use of a handgun. Not only is it impossible to believe that there would be adequate training for teachers for the accurate use and safe handling of a gun, but the fallibility of humans guarantees that deadly mistakes would eventually be made. There’s no correcting such a mistake the next day and there’s no living with such a mistake on one’s conscience. I’ve fired handguns at the range. I’m a fair shot. But there’s no way I’d trust myself, or others, with that duty if they lacked the training and temperament for the responsibility. ”
– Thomas Goebeler, Ph.D.
“Everyone should be frightened at the thought of someone like me might have a gun because I don’t know how to use a gun, and may end up shooting myself.”
-Cheryl McLauchlan
“Personally, I don’t think teachers should be armed in the classroom. I don’t want to have to make the choice of confronting a shooter or getting my students to safety. I don’t think that is a choice teachers should have to make.”
-Rob Trumbull
“I am opposed to this as part of a solution to safety in schools. Most teachers are in schools to teach and not to act as members of law enforcement, even with training. The extent of training and experience needed to master the use of firearms, especially in an intense and potentially violent situation, is not covered by a single course. Bringing more weapons into a school is not the way to create a safer environment.”
-Cassandra Keith
“On one hand, it would make me feel safer knowing that I could potentially protect my students and myself if the unthinkable were to happen here at EA, since it is rather difficult to defend yourself from a person with a gun who wants to kill people if you do not have an equally powerful weapon yourself. However, on the other hand, it makes me incredibly nervous to think about having to be responsible for such a powerful and lethal weapon in a setting such as a school. What if someone is able to wrestle a loaded gun away from a teacher? I’m torn on the issue.”
-Stephen Kerwin