Should teachers be able to open carry in school? It’s a question that we’ve all been asking since the first school shootings started to happen, which is all in all very sad.  

I interviewed one student and she said that “with the right training and with a permit, and passing a psychological evaluation teachers should be able to carry and open firearm.” 

Although I support the second amendment, there are some exceptions where I would not like to see a gun, and at the top would be a school, except a school resource officer. But with today’s society and the mass shootings that are happening across the country and even the nation it is safe to assume letting teachers open carry with the right qualifications would not be a bad idea.

Although it sounds good, we must think about the cons of this. Such as misfiring, students trying to grab the gun whilst the teacher is not looking, the gun jamming when there is a threat in sight etc. 

Let me suggest some solutions for these problems. For a gun to not jam I think the teachers should have proper weapon care and clean and service the weapon regularly. Misfiring rarely if ever happens if the firearm is being controlled and handled in the right way. And if a student try’s to grab the firearm he or she will be unsuccessful because along with firearms teachers will be mandated to have a locking holster.  

According to worldpopulationreview.com, there have been an estimated thirteen school shooting in the state of Washington and 0ver one-hundred-forty across the nation. 

One point that I have really been looking into is if the teachers should have open carry or if they should have it stashed somewhere else. If the school administration chose to have open carry, why show where the gun is, I feel like if schools want to be able to have guns and protect children and students, only a select few should know where the firearm is going to be as well as where the extra magazine will be. 

Nine states already have allowed teachers and staff to have firearms on school grounds, including Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Kansas, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Texas. With nine more schools allowing firearms to be in locked cars in school parking lots. If I was a parent and had children in school it would feel better knowing a licensed, trained and psychologically evaluated teacher had a firearm with them to defend our children. 

There is one alternative to this dilemma that I have discovered. And that is more security, if schools had more school resource officers placed around entrances, and more security guards the threat of school shootings could be resolved. 

The problem with this solution is funding, schools would have a tough time funding more security guards and school resource officers. 

Another issue with teachers being able to open carry is whether the teachers and staff can visibly identify a threat. If the teachers cannot identify the threat and accidentally draws the weapon that will have catastrophic consequences, to if schools will ever be able to have firearms on campus. 

Carrying a firearm should not be mandatory for a teacher, if a teacher does not want to carry one then they are allowed to not carry one. If a teacher does, they need to have their permit, license, and must pass a psychological evaluation. 

Teachers have so much responsibility already with keeping their students safe, with a gun they can keep them even safer.