no guns signIn 2007, a school district in Harrold, Texas, made a controversial decision and allowed teachers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds to protect students against potential armed assailants.

Now, less than a week after the Sandy Hook Elementary attack that left 20 children and 6 faculty members dead, that school district's gun methods are getting a lot of attention. But arming our teachers in the classroom is not the answer.

We are all feeling vulnerable after the tragic attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School. It's become scarier to send my daughters to school and I am seriously considering home schooling them. Like the rest of you, I am scared to death that something bad could happen to my children, and each drop off may be the last time I see them. That’s the fear that the Newtown, Connecticut, murders have put into my heart. But giving our teachers guns is not the way to go.

I don’t want guns in my kid's classroom. Teachers are not safety officers. That is what the police are for. And by allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons, we're just begging for more accidents involving guns and kids. Arming teachers with guns is not the answer.

Sure the Adam Lanza’s of the world are going to find other ways to exact evil on the world even if we take away the guns but some of those other ways are going to be harder to carry out. We need stricter gun control; more stringent rules, limitations on how many guns people can own, what kinds of guns people can buy.We need mandatory psychiatric evaluations of purchasers and restrictions put on ammunition. We need trained, armed officers on all campuses, bullet-proof doors and shatter-proof windows. We need to keep our kids safe from the monsters that prey upon the most innocent of us all. More guns is not the way to go.

Do you think giving our teachers guns would make our kids more -- or less -- safe?

 

Image via Steve Snodgrass/Flickr