Guns in School

The safety and security of our students should be of the utmost importance not just before and situation occurs, this is especially important during the moments after a hostile event happens. Recent events have shown that police response time can be the difference between saving lives and putting a successful end to the rampage. According to CNN the police response time for the Sandy Hook shooting was twenty minutes. The Newtown Police Station that responded to the shooting is less than three miles away from Sandy Hook Elementary School. Dispatchers at the police station started receiving calls from inside the school at 9:30 a.m. During this time, the gunman was able to walk the halls and fire off 154 rounds from a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle, a Glock handgun, and a Sig-Sauer handgun killing twenty-six people. This all happened in a span of five minutes and when the officers arrived on the scene the gunman had taken his own life. Could less lives have been lost if teachers and other staff at the school was allowed to carry concealed weapons after undergoing a background check and training on use of the weapon?

Briggsdale School located in Briggsdale, Colorado is twenty minutes from the nearest police station and response time in the event of an emergency at the school would most certainly be a factor here. Superintendent Rick Mondt of the Briggsdale School District is currently constructing a controlled plan to allow four of the eighteen teachers employed at the school to carry guns. The catch is that teachers selected must prove they shoot 100 rounds each month at a certified range. Teachers carrying guns can be beneficial in several ways. Clark Aposhian, chairman of the sponsoring Utah Shooting Sports Council in Salt Lake City, Utah says, “Gun-toting teachers are a deterrent when the bad guy comes in. He could be surprised by return fire from any direction.” This is due in part to the shooter not expecting return fire and may be caused to retreat when fire...