WOW. Lets really look at this issue. First of all School Carry has been allowed in Utah for years. My own children attend a school district in WY where the staff are allowed to be armed(and there are some) under certain rules and training. But lets look at this through the eyes of a teacher.
As a teacher for over 20 years I have spent over 20,000 hours caring for students. Teaching them, challenging them, pushing them... I have been there as they cried, as they blew up in anger, been there as students were told about horrible things. I have watched students grow, mature, even pass away. At 7:30am I stand watching the parking lot on duty. At lunch I am standing duty in halls, in the cafeteria, maybe out on the play ground, etc. I do not teach for the pay, I do not teach for the winter break, definitely not for summer break as that means a second job... I teach because I can't imagine a better service to our future. I teach because I love learning...
As a private citizen, I am allowed to carry at the park, in the mall, I can carry at the restaurant, at the ball fields. I carry as I fill my tank, go grocery shopping, etc. Virtually every single place I go in my daily life I am permitted to carry. I do not carry because I am scared, I do not carry because I am blood thirsty. I carry because I like to be prepared. I carry not necessarily for my protection, but more so for the protection of my family, my friends and neighbors.
Why is it that as a private citizen I am permitted and trusted to carry every single day? Why is it that no one seems to have much issue with me carrying at the park, but I cant on the playground? Why is it that I can sit with you and your family at a restaurant in town but in the school cafeteria I am not trusted? As with most who carry, I dread the idea of ever needing to to use my side arm. I hate the very thought of ever seeing a situation where such force is needed. What I dread more is needing my side arm not having it... As a teacher I am forced to leave my side arm at home or at the very least locked in my vehicle. If the worst case scenario were ever to occur. If some derange lunatic were to ever enter the building, we are told to lock the doors and hide. Turn the lights off, be still and sit in quiet prayer, pray that when the door is breached, it is the police officer who are coming and not the gun man.
How is it that when I maybe the only barrier between a mass murderer and your children, I am not allowed the same basic self defense I have everywhere else? In every single school I have served there are people just like me. Not a lot, but some. In my former high school the librarian actually helped train the sheriffs department in tactical situations. She was a competitive shooter... The custodian is former military, a school crossing guard was a retired officer. In every educational setting I know there are some who I would trust in a heart beat.
As to some of the other comments... First of all, if a teacher is going to have a mental break down and shoot up a school, would you rather have no one at the school able to respond or would you rather the teacher next door down, have the ability to intervene and stop it? What would happen right now today at your school if a staff member went off the rails? As for students fighting or taking the gun from a teacher... How would they even know which teacher is carrying and which is not? Why would a student try and fight a teacher? If a student does attack a teacher, and said students is violent enough, wouldn't lethal force be justified? We could go on and on... The only way a person should be against carry by school staff is if they are against all carry by everyone.
PS as for the funding bs and the other ideas. I will shoot 2-3 times a week regardless of school policy. I will carry my side arm everywhere I feel necessary and can legally carry. I would gladly take any course, and pass and skill test the school requires. I would do so all on my own dime as I am already doing it...
