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teachers and guns

7702 Views 38 Replies 24 Participants Last post by  pricedo
First of all i think more public school teachers and university teachers should carry a concealed weapon. I dont think they should tell there students if they are carrying. My daughter told my wife that one of her teachers has a ccw which i am fine with but i dont think he should tell the kids. These are elementary age kids and most of them have no idea what that is but it could cause problems for this teacher from other parents. I know we can carry in a public school but what are the teachers union policies? Can a teacher or professor carry? Would they get fired if students or parents found out? What are some thoughts about this issue?
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I think they should carry and I've never charged a school teacher for a CFP class. The safety of our children is that important to me, and armed school teachers and employees are the perfect start to the hardening of the school target. I don't think they should advertise their armed status to students or anybody else, that's a big loss of tactical advantage should the need to use the tool ever arise. For elementary schools I've always highly encouraged teachers to take advantage of the Eddie Eagle program, whether or not they decide to carry in class, it's just a good common sense program for kids.

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With all the crap happening in schools, they should carry concealed.
I have read policies developed by two school districts to deal with teachers/employees legal carry in school. As I recall, the policies basically boiled down to " we don't like it but we have to let you so you take full responsibility for anything that happens as a consequence to your carrying in our schools". UEA isn't thrilled with school carry by their members but there's not a whole lot they can do about it.

I think teachers, because they are "on stage" so much and in a "hostile" environment, need to be more discreet in their carry than someone just running down to 7-11 for a quart of milk. I would imagine that administration reaction to a school teacher/empoloyee found to be carrying at school would be disproving and would involve some petty retaliation. For example, Emerson School in SLC has signs on the entrance doors saying that they "prefer" that CFP holders not carry in the school. A teacher found to be carrying would no doubt be the recipient of administration displeasure.
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I am glad that my daughters teacher has a ccp, I think that more teachers should carry. My daughter is in his care for about 6 hours every day, and it makes me feel better that he is able to protect his students should a lockdown ever occur. I am just curious as to why he would feel the need to show his permit to his class. I would be concerned about the othe students who went home and told their parents about it, and having other parents protest. I dont think that there is anything that the administration can do, as he has the legal right to carry, but I am sure that they or the union could make things hot for him.
Parent teacher conferences are coming up soon, I am debating on whether or not I should ask him about it.
I believe Annie mentioned she was glad her child's teacher carried,especially in the event of a lock down.

I think this is great. I think all teachers should carry.

Definition: Lock Down; A place where multiple innocent targets must remain, most often in fear and desperation for their lives, as they wait for a criminal to nonchalantly come to end their lives. Or if they are extremely lucky, after several hours of terror a police officer may come to the door and let them know they are free to go.

I would rather have the teacher there able to protect my children with a concealed weapon than to force this type of situation upon them as they may be cowering in fear till executed, and I stand outside unable to aid them because I am not allowed to go in and protect them.

I think most of us probably feel the same way.
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Guns are no more dangerous than anything else in this world. It is only how it is used that can make it dangerous.
I know the instructor for my CCW class has taught 4 school principals here in southern utah. Weather they carry everyday or not I don't know, but I hope they do, as well as other teachers.
ammosargeant, just so it's clear, there is NOTHING a school district in the state of Utah can say or do to prohibit a teacher from carrying their concealed weapon into a school. If they do, they are in violation of the law.
After having read many things and different accounts of many of the school shootings, I am all for having teachers carry guns. I do think that they need to do it discreetly just so the kids don't go home and tell their parents. There are too many anti-gun people out there who would blow a gasket if they found out their kids' teachers carried guns, even if it could possibly save their kids' life. It seems at least once a month you see a news report of a school shooting or someone getting arrested before they can carry out their plans.
I email my sons teacher periodically to see how he is doing as I don't hear as much as my wife does. I was curious one day & decided to ask her what her feeling were on ccw in schools. Here is her response

One of my former principals believed that if someone had proper training, they should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Her opinion was based on what she had learned at a conference she had attended. My dad, who served with the Davis County Sheriff's Department for ten years and has been a teacher and administrator for the past twenty five years in Utah, believes that even if someone is properly trained and licensed should not carry a weapon in any public arena, especially schools. In my opinion, I am strongly opposed to any weapons in schools. The violent scenes at schools, such as Columbine & Virginia Tech, do not validate carrying firearms for protection. As a former school counselor I am more for prevention than for protection.

She is a great teacher & as much as I disagree with her opinion on this I did not debate with her. I respectfully told her that I strongly disagreed with her & her fathers opinion. My son hasn't come home with any "ban all guns" stories from her. She does a great job with a child that can be a heck of a challenge some days.
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My dad, who served with the Davis County Sheriff's Department for ten years and has been a teacher and administrator for the past twenty five years in Utah, believes that even if someone is properly trained and licensed should not carry a weapon in any public arena, especially schools.
Wait, doesn't that sentence contradict itself? So he was a Sheriff, a licensed law enforcement official, trained to use a weapon, working amongst the public in many arenas... umm... So he is saying that even law enforcement should not carry weapons? If he is referring to civilians only, I say shame on you sir! The idea that only LE should have weapons is closed minded and foolish.
Very surprising response. It actually raised my hackles a bit. I'm not sure I even want to understand that mentality. Perhaps that shows how close-minded I am? I cannot push aside the fact that, even with all the prevention in the world, someday, somewhere, someone is going to bypass all that preventative training and do something horrible to harm someone else. And given that possibility, I could never forgive myself for NOT being prepared, if I had the ability to stop it. Just baffling.
ammosargeant said:
First of all i think more public school teachers and university teachers should carry a concealed weapon. I dont think they should tell there students if they are carrying. My daughter told my wife that one of her teachers has a ccw which i am fine with but i dont think he should tell the kids. These are elementary age kids and most of them have no idea what that is but it could cause problems for this teacher from other parents. I know we can carry in a public school but what are the teachers union policies? Can a teacher or professor carry? Would they get fired if students or parents found out? What are some thoughts about this issue?
It must be nice to be a cloistered academic and know everything about everything. Some of these people have got to get their heads out of the text books, test tubes, petri dishes & quite frankly their backsides and grab reality by the horns once in a while. How many lives would have been saved if CCW had been allowed by qualified teachers, students, caretakers, cleaning staff, whatever in schools and universities?

If the academic institutions do not want CCW on campus then they should be willing to foot the bill for an on site ARMED security guard or two on a 24/7 basis......and not some 70 year old near sighted grandpa on a cane with an shot out .38 cal. wheel gun working for minimum wage either. Goodness knows the tuition fees they're charging these days are high enough to buy some security for their staff & students.

In Canada, which is a liberal/anti Utopia, a scrawny kid with a Ruger mini-14 walked into a university campus in Montreal about a dozen years ago & casually picked off 14 female engineering students & then shot himself. What is really scary is that on a crowded university campus not a single person or group of persons tried to rush or in anyway subdue the shooter as he calmly & deliberately chose targets and shot them to death.

It would appear that the SAVE ME, everybody for themselves instinct for survival takes over to the exclusion of all others in these situations.....they scatter like a flock of sheep being attacked by a mad dog.

Experience has shown that in most of these situations each person is their OWN SAVIOR. On rare occassions a hero, or heroes will emerge from the panicked crowd and overpower the shooter, but not very often on a percentage basis. The natural human instinct to save oneself that is programmed into our DNA is the reason that each person should be allowed to carry the tool (a firearm) to defend themselves in the event of attack by a violent criminal. If you count on others, or the cops to protect you, past occurences have proven that it just isn't going to happen. They will attend your funeral.....that is the only solidarity that you can realistically expect.

Qualified & licensed persons should be able to CCW anywhere, anytime.
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It would please me to no end if I know that one of my grand-kids teachers had a ccw and carried. With the it can't happen here attitude's of colleges, schools and teachers, it scares me. To me a gun free zone means a killing zone. My God when will they wake up to that fact.
The Teacher said:
...As a former school counselor I am more for prevention than for protection...
Pardon my ignorance but where is the evidence that "prevention" has taken care of school shootings because we all know where prevention HASN'T. Now, is there evidence that I'm not aware of where the protection not only HASN'T helped but even harmed? Am I missing something?
What exactly does she mean by prevention?

In the school that my children used to attend, down in Layton, I asked the Principal what measures had been taken to protect the students in the event that there was a school shooting or a lockdown.
HIs answer was that they had trained the teachers to turn off all the lights and lock the doors of their classrooms from the inside, and keep all the children quiet so that the room would appear empty, and not worth bothering.
I felt so much better knowing that...
Shaolin said:
With all the crap happening in schools, they should carry concealed.
I agree
ammosargeant said:
First of all i think more public school teachers and university teachers should carry a concealed weapon. I dont think they should tell there students if they are carrying. My daughter told my wife that one of her teachers has a ccw which i am fine with but i dont think he should tell the kids. These are elementary age kids and most of them have no idea what that is but it could cause problems for this teacher from other parents. I know we can carry in a public school but what are the teachers union policies? Can a teacher or professor carry? Would they get fired if students or parents found out? What are some thoughts about this issue?
Here in Utah I once spoke with a teacher and she has a CFP. She said that she would be fine to carry in the High School , but the School just "suggests" NOT to carry due to liability.

TJ
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