Dustin Ward, right, a substitute teacher at junior high schools and high schools in the Granite School District, holds a hand gun with assistance from Jim McCarthy, a Utah Concealed Carry Permit Instructor, during a free concealed carry class and mass violence response training session for school employees at the Maverik Center in West Valley on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
With the call by some legislators advocating arming teachers in our schools by way of a concealed weapons permit four-hour course, I would like to know what our state school districts' policies are.
Is additional tactical training required? Are they able to aim and shoot under stress?
Where is the teacher allowed to keep a loaded gun? Strapped to their side, in a drawer or purse? Most of us are aware of the potentially tragic results of a child getting hold of a gun.
Do they allow a substitute, custodian, lunch worker, bus driver or parent to bring guns into a school? The current law gives them that right.
The more guns allowed into schools, the greater the possibility of a gun-related accident.
Are school districts ready to accept the liability should an accidental shooting occur?
How do they respond to the parent who does not want their child in a classroom or school where guns are present?
Is a parent's right to keep their child safe from harm less important than the right to bear arms?
Allowing guns in our schools could be the most dangerous piece of legislation to come out of our state capital.
Paul and Sandy Krueger
Murray
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Arming teachers is a ridiculous idea. Teachers are role models to our sons and daughters. They are not placed in a classroom to kill intruders. What irreparable harm would occur if a teacher shot and killed an intruder in front of his young More..
To "Mike Richards" the problem is simple. We are not arming teachers to kill intruders. We are allowing teachers to be armed to protect themselves.
Just look at the mass murders that have occurred. The murderer has typically More..
When my children were younger, my wife and I would refuse to allow them to play at a friend's house if we knew or found out that house contained a handgun. If my child and that friend wanted to play, it had to be at our house. We did this More..