More than half a million teachers are eager to be armed in the classroom to stop a school attacker, according to a study of mass shootings in the country’s schools.
The Rand Corporation study found that a fifth of respondents said arming teachers would make classrooms safer, while more than half said they would make them more dangerous.
That would equate to 550,000 of the country’s 3 million K-12 teachers packing heat into the classroom, if allowed, researchers said.
The investigation follows the 300 US school shootings last year, which killed or injured some 330 people, the study said.
One-fifth of US teachers support arming teachers, but more than half say schools would become less safe
School teachers and administrators fire their guns during a training session in Commerce City, Colorado
They include the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last May.
In March, trans shooter Audrey Hale shot into a Nashville school, shooting and killing three nine-year-olds and three staff members.
Conservatives and liberals have long rowed over whether arming teachers would deter attackers or give children a better chance in the face of such an outcry.
Republican politicians in Texas, Tennessee and other states introduced bills this year to allow teachers to carry firearms in the classroom.
The Texas plan included a $25,000 increase in a teacher’s salary if they became such a “sentinel.”
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican seeking the presidency in 2024, supported gun teachers, saying military veterans and those with gun training were ideal.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a campaign group, says more guns in schools will only increase the likelihood of someone being shot.
“Schools are places for books and backpacks, not guns,” the group says.
Heather Schwartz, an author of the 28-page RAND report, says teachers are divided on the hot button issue.
“Even with the unfortunate regularity of gun violence in American schools … only 5 percent of teachers in general singled out gun violence as their number one safety concern,” Schwartz said.
White teachers were more likely than black teachers to say that arming teachers would make schools safer.
Male teachers in rural schools were the most likely to say that they would personally carry a firearm at school if they were allowed to do so.
About half of teachers supported other ways to make schools safer, including locks on doors, ID badges, cameras and security personnel.
Only 5 percent of teachers said these measures affect the school atmosphere.
An active shooter training session at Harry S Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania
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While teachers are alarmed by gun violence, bullying was their bigger concern, according to the nationwide survey conducted late last year.
“Everyday school violence is a concern for teachers,” Schwartz added.
“Bullying, not active shooters, was the most common concern of teachers, followed by fights and drugs.”
Families and loved ones mourned the loss of 19 children and two teachers shot dead in Uvalde last week, on the anniversary of the massacre.
According to a database maintained by Northeastern University, there have been at least 25 mass murder incidents in the U.S. so far in 2023, killing at least 127 people, not counting perpetrators.
That makes 2023 the worst year since 2006 in terms of the number of mass murders.
Firearms are the number one killer of children in the US, and nearly 600 minors have been killed by guns so far this year.
As of 2020, the firearm death rate for children under the age of 19 is 5.6 per 100,000 deaths. The next comparison is Canada, with 0.08 per 100,000 deaths.