Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Public Safety

Let Teachers Carry Guns? Some State Lawmakers Say Yes

There are reports from a variety of states about local lawmakers who want to give teachers the right to bring guns to school. They're making the case that school shootings such as the one Friday in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 small children and six adults dead could be prevented or stopped if some school staffers were armed.

Monday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said that teachers with licenses to carry concealed handguns should have "access to weapons in their school."

Tuesday, Huffington Post counted "at least six states" where lawmakers "have outlined plans to introduce legislation in 2013 to allow teachers to carry guns into schools or require several teachers to be armed in school buildings." Those states: Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Tennessee.

Advertisement

Today, there's word from WMBF in South Carolina that a legislator there "has prefiled a bill to allow teachers to carry guns in schools."

While proponents point to incidents where an armed citizen helped end a shooting rampage, some experienced police officers caution about the heavy burden of carrying a gun and having to weigh whether or not to use it and the dangers involved.

Corrected: December 13, 2024 at 3:47 PM PST
Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit www.npr.org.
KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.