By Ashley Bowerman
SAN MARCOS, Texas – In conjunction with the recent school shootings in the United States, President Donald Trump and members of Congress met at the White House on Feb. 22 to propose the idea of arming teachers K-12 in an effort to solve the debate on gun laws.
Following the death of 17 students at the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Americans are demanding for a change to be made to our current gun policies. Arming our teachers as a means of protection in schools has become a national debate. Who should source the funding to properly train our teachers has been another topic of discussion. Some civilians side with the idea of banning guns altogether in America or more closely monitoring who can purchase a firearm.
According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, 55 percent of U.S. adults are against the idea of teachers carrying guns in K-12 schools. However, a considerable amount of 45 percent are in favor of arming teachers in school.
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| Otto Glenewinkel Photo by: Ashley Bowerman |
The students and faculty at Texas State have mixed views about teachers carrying guns on grade school campuses.
Texas State Police Officer Otto Glenewinkel said that teachers should not be in ones in charge of keeping students safe on campus.
“Teachers aren’t the ones who should be securing the schools,” Glenewinkel said. “You hire trained professionals, equip them properly, train them properly and put them in the schools to do the job of protecting the students, the staff and the faculty.”
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| Sarah Ferrell Photo by: Raegan Babb |
Some civilians say that teachers should carry firearms. An FBI study identified 21 out of 160 incidents where unarmed citizens were faced with protecting themselves and others against an active shooter. 11 of the 21 incidents were school staff members. This study supports the importance of training teachers with firearms to better protect students and staff during a school shooting.
Sarah Ferrell, an early education major at Texas State, said that as a future educator she would want a gun to protect her students in the classroom.
Ferrell said, “Personally, since I’m going to be a teacher, I feel that guns should be allowed for teachers … [if] something happened and we did have a school shooting, I would want to have some way to protect my kids in the classroom and not just be helpless.”
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| Jayla Dunbar Photo by: Dymond Sam |
An article from the Washington Post says that the one-fifth of all teachers that Trump estimates will agree to carry a gun must undergo training that is estimated to cost $1,000 per trainee. This rounds the total cost of training teachers to an estimated $718 million. Whether the funding comes from American tax dollars or the teachers themselves has become another controversial topic.
Jayla Dunbar, a communication studies major at Texas State, said that the money to carry a gun should be provided by the people who are advocating to arm teachers.
“I feel like if you want to carry a gun you should pay for it. Because I don’t feel like me as a taxpayer [should] have to pay for it because it’s not something I believe in,” Dunbar said.
The issue with guns seems to largely be an American phenomenon. A source told CNN that while the U.S. is about 5 percent of the world’s population, it encompasses 31 percent of all public mass shootings. Perhaps a solution to the gun problem is reducing the number of guns in circulation and not putting more armed people into schools.
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| Vangelis Metsis Photo by: Dymond Sam |
Vangelis Metsis, a computer science professor at Texas State, was born and raised in Greece. He said that the gun violence in America, compared to other countries, verifies why action needs to be taken against gun laws.
“There needs to be a change,” Metsis said. “You can just compare it with what happens in other countries where there are no guns allowed to the general public, and the rates of mass shootings are almost zero.” Metsis said, “Not having access to guns, I think that’s the reason for it.”
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| Darius Partee Photo by: Shanell Smith |
Some argue that more efforts should be made to reduce the number of people with mental health issues that have access to guns. An analysis of survey results estimated that nearly 1 in 10 adults has access to firearms that also have a problem with anger and impulsive behavior.
Texas State student Darius Partee said that anger management is an important factor to consider before handing a teacher a gun.
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| Evan Brieden Photo by: Dymond Sam |
“I think anger management is number one,” Partee said. “I have teachers walk out of class sometimes because they are that upset. Imagine if they could just walk to their desk and
grab a [gun].”
The recent shootings have had varying degrees of impact on students at Texas State.
Student Evan Brieden says that though the recent shootings are misfortunate, he stands by his right to bear arms.
“Though I do believe they are a terrible national tragedy, it didn’t change my views on our gun control. I just think we need to have more regulation on who can get them,” Brieden said.
To take part in the nationwide protests regarding our countries gun laws, visit the March For Our Lives website. Visit the 30 gun reform actions you can take now website for ideas on how to share an opinion on arming teachers K-12.
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