Arming Teachers Is Not A Solution To Gun Violence
Many students and teachers have lost their lives in shootings at schools. Not only do the victims suffer, but also the families, relatives, and friends. Arming teachers means bringing more guns, the more guns that are brought in, the more shootings happen. Why? Why do these shootings happen?
Trained police officers hit their targets less than 30 percent of the time. A study shows that between the years 1998 and 2006, the average hit rate was 19 percent for officers in a gunfight. The average time required to complete academy training is 21-22 weeks. You have politicians and the NRA (National Rifle Association) who wants to arm volunteer teachers. Teachers don’t have the same training as police officers. On the 18th of March, high school teacher Dennis Alexander also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a classroom. A 17-year-old male student sustained non-life threatening injuries. After the bullet hit the ceiling, fragments from the bullet lodged into the student's neck. This is one of the many incidents that has happened accidentally because of having armed teachers.
Not only do teachers accidentally fire guns but also cops. Arming teachers put students and teachers lives at risk. Other teachers have accidentally discharged guns and injured themselves or others. Accidents happen, mistakes happen. Teachers aren’t professionally trained to carry or use guns. February 5th in Maplewood, Minnesota, a school liaison was talking to a group of young kids about building trust with cops, while this was happening, a third-grader got hold of his holstered gun and pulled the trigger, firing a shot. A tweet from Donald Trump posted on the same day as the school shooting in Florida wrote: “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school”. Donald Trump believes that bringing more guns into the United States of America is safe. He believes that the more guns that are in school, the safer school is. Several videos of teachers and students show that they don’t feel safe having guns at school, and they don’t want guns at school. Schools are meant to a safe, happy environment. Many students are now scared to attend school.
As a student, I personally would be scared to attend school if this was happening in Australia. We wouldn't want to go to school knowing that anybody had access to a gun and could come and hurt us. The current generation has grown up around guns, anybody has access to firearms. 19 year old, Nikolas Cruz, shot and killed 17 and wounded 14 students and teachers in Florida on Valentine’s Day. Where did he get the gun? Why did he do it?
These are many questions people, families, friends, and officers asked. If there were laws and rules that banned guns, innocent lives wouldn’t be lost. Students and teachers wouldn’t be scared to go to school. Families wouldn’t be scared to send their kids, wives or husbands away. Many families have lost their children or partners. Trump wants to spend over 1 billion dollars to buy guns and to give teachers that carry guns a bonus. Instead of spending all this money and bringing more guns which lead to violence, it could be spent on taking guns back, bringing more security in schools, books, school resources and increase teacher paychecks.
