I'm friends with LOT of teachers. I can say that most if not all of them would be scared to death of just firing a handgun, much less using it on somebody. I don't see any problem with having an armed security guard in each school. Even if they were armed with tazers it would be better than nothing.

If teacher had a gun they would have to keep it locked up. Plenty of damage would already be done by someone before anyone might be lucky enough to get it. Moreover, I know that someone would find a way to get a hold of that gun and cause trouble. I am open to hearing more about the possibility of a security guard being assigned to a school with a gun. Not sure about it - but would like to hear more about it.

If you don't have an arrest history and know how to use a gun (not just physically), then go get permits, buy one and carry one. -Massive shootings wouldn't happen if 70+% citizens were carrying.

Publish that all teachers have a gun and know how to use it, and that there is a trained guard at the school.Most of these idiots are cowards and when confronted with force
usually shoot themselves.
How many deaths on the hwy's of CA yesterday (one day) 78.....we have to ban cars!!!

I would say No to just simply arming a teacher, but would ALLOW a teacher who possess a Conceal & Carry Permit to have one with them. I would rather see SRO's (School Resources Officers) who are local Police Officers for that city who are of course armed and ready to protect and serve!

While I understand the reaction to this terrible event, I would not support teachers carrying guns in school. A slippery slope...

For the good our kids, we have to do something differently.
Similar to Nicholas' comment -- I think if a teacher has been verified/certified and wants to carry, then he/she should be allowed to (after some type of rigorous vetting process). It would only take a small amount of teachers or administrators to be carrying, to act as the deterrent. If the teacher does not want to, that's OK too.
Another option is to use plain clothes security. Not uniformed armed guards, as they can be easily "taken out". But use someone more akin to an air marshall on a plane.

It occurs to me that what parents seem to want is not to keep their kids safe. If that were the case they wouldn't have a swimming pool, drive a car, have kitchens full of processed food, etc., all of which present a substantial risk to their kids' health.

What they want is to be free from worry themselves, about the things they can't control. Funny that so many care so little about the things they can control.

As a teacher, here are my thoughts on this subject...
http://scimama.posterous.com/addressing-the-reasons-behind-violence-in-our

Thank you, Callie, for linking your blog post. Spoiler: Mark down one Fridley High teacher is not in favor, for a whole bunch of reasons.

Teachers are people. If they choose to carry a weapon for self defense, that should be their choice. Yes, they would need to obtain a carry permit, they would need to pass a background check. If they can, then they should be allowed to carry.

We really need to end this BS of "gun free zones"...it's simply not helping...only the lawful and sane care about being in a gun free zone...to the criminals and crazies they use it to their advantage. We need to end this.

I am not in favor of forcing someone to carry a weapon. That's dumb.

However, I get to choose to put dead bolts on my doors. I get to choose if I want a fire extinguisher in my home, I get to choose if I want an alarm in my house. I take these precautions and some do not...it's ok to be different but I should get to choose my level of precaution. It's my right!

Guns are not for everyone and that's ok, but if YOU feel that you would like a weapon to protect yourself, then that's YOUR decision.

And once we start allowing honest, law abiding, background checked, permit holders to carry on schools and any other public place, the better off we all will be,

Well we already have a police person in our schools and I would guess they have a gun so what is wrong with a teacher (trained) to also carry a firearm? One can have all the rules and regulations but nothing is going to stop a person from obtaining a weapon and using it if they want to. They are allowing Judges and Lawyers to carry might just as we'll add any teacher who would want to.

Teachers simply do not need this on their already very full plate.

The 357 magnum is capable of cracking the block of a car engine. How many unintended victims will there be if this weapon is fired accidently or purposefully? interior school walls or frame house walls won't stop it. /who is liable for the unintende victims? A neighbor accidently discharged his 38 caliber revolver while "cleaning it" and the bullet was found in the bathroom of a neighbor's house. Imagine how many walls and bodies a 357 will penetrate. A police person has many hours of specialized training and refresher training to react in combat situations and they still make mistakes. The police or securityperson has full time responsibility for the weapon they carry. They don't have teaching responsibilites which involve close interaction wtih students. There are no places to safely store a weapon in the classroom and a safely stored weapon is not available to fight a shooter.

Here is what scares me - I work in a school and have been following the recent (also just last week) story about the licensed substitute teacher arrested in Bloomington for physically assaulting three 5th grade students in school. Hmmm, glad this teacher wasn't permitted to carry while teaching!!! More guns are not the answer - more attention to mental health would be a more logical response. If teachers are permitted to carry, it will have a devastating effect on the public school districts as masses of parents pull their children out to home school and staff seek other jobs outside public education. This needs some serious consideration rather than knee-jerk reaction. The fall-out will effect so many different aspects in our country's education system. Right now I am not scared to be at work, but if everyone around me was carrying a gun, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat!!

The only way good guy teachers can stop bad guys with guns are teachers with gun cuz by the time they call police which is about a miles away that would be too late.

Arm teachers? NO.

I hope that there isn't a big overreaction to these murders. First off, it's unlikely that armed security or armed teachers would have prevented the killings. If someone walks into a place ready to kill, it's very difficult to react fast enough to stop that person even if you're armed. And if a security person or a teacher was prepared to pull the trigger within a split second of spotting danger, it's more likely that the person will be mistaken when firing their weapon and shoot an innocent person.

Also, I think that more discussion should focus on whether this catastophe would have occurred if the mother didn't have any guns. From my recollection, most of the time the guns used in these crazed murder suicides are guns that were legally owned. In other words, the killers didn't buy the guns illegally. In general, I think that keeping a gun in the house is bad news. If you're a collector, hunter, or marksman, keep your guns at your clubs. This doesn't need to be a law - just a common practice.

It won't help to make schools more of a fortress than they already are.

If the Sandy Hook Elementary principal had a gun she could have pop that bad guy instead she died while lunging along with the school psychologist at the gunman in an attempt to overpower him

Armed security or armed teachers couldn't prevented the killing but at least they have something to fight back instead of standing there waiting to be shot Why do you think these crazy guys choose school because they know that it is gun free zone and no one will fight them back.

Sometimes the killer chooses a school because he wants revenge on people than have wronged him (in his mind anyway). Other times, I think a school is chosen because killing children brings an even greater amount of heartache to the world than if the victims were adullts. Also, there's a very high concentration of people in small enclosed spaces at a school.

A lot more deaths could be prevented by making parents' houses gun-free zones than by putting guns in schools.

So what are you gonna do when the next Adam lanza comes at you? Nothing. So why not be prepare.

I believe some schools have policemen or at least security of that sort already - that seems like the most logical solution... a good guy with a gun who knows how to use it might have helped in this type of situation.

in terms of recognizing a threat etc - the last two of these media serial killers were wearing fatigues and bulletproof armor - kind of a give away of their intentions.

Sometimes, preparing for the worst is so expensive financially and emotionally, that it makes more sense to hope for the best. I mean, we could drive around in heavy steel cars at 20 mph and be a lot less likely to die in a car accident. But we don't because the risk of death in a car accident isn't worth it costing 3 times more and taking 3 times longer to get somewhere.

Remember that supposedly good guys with guns have been known to shoot at unarmed boys with hoodies. Even with highly trained police officers, this happens far more often than is ever acknowledged or proven. I think the children are probably safer without some $13 an hour frustrated armed "security" guard at the school.

I agree that if it were a truly "good guy with a gun", that might help in some cases. There just aren't that many of them out there - and you can't always tell if the person is going to have the split-second judgment needed for the job. Way more can go wrong in this situation than can go right.

I am surprised at the subtext of this comment stream that presumes that the rules for carrying a weapon would be the same everywhere. It seems to me that there are still rural areas, and some schools (one my son attended) where weapons are part of the curriculum, and are commonly carried back and forth to school. Other places, it might be highly inappropriate.

It is also illogical to think that a teacher with a carry permit would have a particular problem with losing control of his weapon, if he carried it in school any more than he would if he carried it at the state fair. Those who have carry permits realize that they are carrying a deadly weapon, and they are very, very careful to maintain control of the weapon. No difference in school.

Allowing a teacher with a permit to bring his weapon to school, but making him put it in the safe in the office is pointless. When the shooter arrives, the weapon is pretty useless if it's not readily available.

There may be good reasons to do this different ways. Some approaches may work, and some may not. There is absolutely NO reason this issue demands a FEDERAL solution. The only mention of firearms in the constitution is the 2nd amendment. It seems to me that suggests that the federal government should have a truly minimal role.

If this is addressed, it should be done at the state level.

No way. Don't we need more federals making sure we are all safe? Put the TSA in every school, church, mall, theatre, highway and bathroom. Let's make sure we are safe by having a federal presence everywhere. ....surrrrre

Ah for the old days - In the sixties all we had to worry about we the Russian Nuclear threat.

and getting home in time for dinner

teachers please just focus on teaching our youth... leave the security..defense and protection to armed guards or trained professionals in using them and protecting .... a classroom is a handful ... and all it does is give the idea inside the one student's brain..
i can get access .. now...plan ...

disarm teacher cause she/he isn't paying attention to the subtle cues or at all to the weapon, or student... NO GOOD! !!!