Citizens speak out on the arming of teachers and faculty in K-12 schools
Robert Dillon
rrd26@txstate.edu
SAN MARCOS, Texas – With the increasing number of school shootings since the start of 2018, citizens across the country are calling for something to be done to put an end to these tragedies.
Government officials and citizens alike are all concerned with helping children feel safe while at school. The topics of gun control and allowing teachers in these schools to carry a firearm to protect their students are the main issues. Some people are heavily advocating giving teachers a firearm in hopes that it will deter future school shootings or at least bring them to a swift end.
Katrina Greggs, who is a 29-year-old psychology student at Texas State University, was well aware of the issue and believes that it is not as cut and dry as gun control or giving a teacher a firearm.
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| Katrina Greggs Photo by: Cole Sanchez |
“My personal thoughts on the issue are its more of a mental health issue than an arming students and teachers issue or a gun control issue I’d say, I don’t have a lot of extensive knowledge, but it seems more like the people in the mass shootings are a cry for help more than anything, and I don’t know that more guns are the solution. Not that I have a problem with them, but I think that’s really sad, I’ve seen videos of shelters in classrooms, and I think that’s terrible having to practice drills like that and have a shelter assuming something like that is just going to happen one day,” said Greggs.
Joseph Losoya, who is known as the “Bubble Guy” on Texas States campus, has spent considerable time in the Airforce and believed that giving a teacher a gun would not solve anything unless they are highly trained.
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| Joseph Losoya Photo by: Cole Sanchez |
“I think it’s a bad idea. Just because you can shoot a gun doesn’t mean you can handle that situation it’s going to be chaos a lot of kids running around its very unorganized. I have military training, I was in the Airforce, and I have some gun training, and I would feel uncomfortable if I was armed and some guy came to Texas State or the quad, I wouldn’t just take out my nine, I would feel very uncomfortable, and I would probably miss,” said Losoya.
According to a 2008 RAND Corporation study, police officers often miss their targets. Between 1998 and 2006, the average hit rate was just 18 percent for gunfights.
Joe Pieczynski was also aware of the issue. He believes that changing laws to raise the age of being able to purchase a rifle to 21 instead of 18 could be a start along with increasingly thorough background checks.
"I think that making rifles not purchasable at 18 and raising the age to 21 like pistols would’ve kept this one at least from being able to obtain one. So I think doing that and increasing third-party background checks in states like Texas where you can just buy and sell between individuals without a paper trail, I think that that should be addressed as well,” said Pieczynski.
Mark Villanueva, who is a 19-year-old student and Texas State, had a personal connection to the issue due to his mother being an elementary school teacher in his hometown.
“My mom is a teacher at an elementary school back home. Anything can happen at any moment, the best thing I want is to know that she is safe and that she can protect herself at all costs,” said Villanueva.
Jayla Dunbar said the recent school shootings had little effect on her opinion of current gun laws because she only knew a little about them.
“At first, it didn’t affect me because I was unaware. I just knew the minimum, but then when I read up on it, it affected me because I have like a little brother and he’s in high school, and I have little cousins who are in school like it could’ve been them,” said Dunbar.
Vangelis Metsis, who is a 34-year-old Computer Science System Professor, stated that he was personally against arming teachers because most are not trained to handle a firearm.
“People can have their opinion, I don’t think it’s the right way to approach things I don’t think it will help, but you know people can have their own opinion. We can discuss it and see what the best solution is. I am against it personally. I don’t think it will help. I don’t think it will make things any better. You have to be trained to use a weapon, and if you’re not, you’re probably going to cause more harm than help,” said Metsis.
To help the families affected by the recent Parkland shooting you can visit the official gofundme and donate to help the victims.
According to a 2008 RAND Corporation study, police officers often miss their targets. Between 1998 and 2006, the average hit rate was just 18 percent for gunfights.
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| Joe Pieczynski Photo by: Robert Dillon |
"I think that making rifles not purchasable at 18 and raising the age to 21 like pistols would’ve kept this one at least from being able to obtain one. So I think doing that and increasing third-party background checks in states like Texas where you can just buy and sell between individuals without a paper trail, I think that that should be addressed as well,” said Pieczynski.
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| Mark Villanueva Photo by: Carlos Mercado |
Jayla Dunbar said the recent school shootings had little effect on her opinion of current gun laws because she only knew a little about them.
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| Jayla Dunbar Photo by: Dymond Sam and Ashley Bowerman |
Vangelis Metsis, who is a 34-year-old Computer Science System Professor, stated that he was personally against arming teachers because most are not trained to handle a firearm.
 |
| Vangelis Metsis Photo by: Dymond Sam and Ashley Bowerman |
To help the families affected by the recent Parkland shooting you can visit the official gofundme and donate to help the victims.
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