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Matthew Williams
Lisa Cook
ENG 1205.503
20 July 2014
Teachers
Do we all remember the school shooting that almost took place in California? This was
never in the press because the day was saved by a principal with a Colt 45. It was just another
school day with the principal sitting in his office watching the security. Out of the corner of his
eye, he saw something out of the ordinary. He saw a young man walking towards the school
holding a 12 gage shotgun and a riffle. Knowing what to do, the principal slipped out the back
door of the school and ran to his truck where he picked up his Colt 45 pistol. The principal then
approached the young man from behind and told him, "to not take another step or he would be
a dead man". What saved this school from being another statistic was a principal with his
concealed carry who had the proper training in how to use a gun. Our schools would be safer if
teachers with the training could be allowed to conceal carry their hand guns.
If our teachers were allowed to conceal carry guns, our schools, security would
be improved. The schools today are only secured with normal wooden or steel doors with
regular locks. These doors and lock could be shot out with a shotgun. Our security in schools
would improve because a cop is easily seen, and it would be harder to decipher which normal
dressed teacher has a handgun. Our schools security would improve because not all schools
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have an on duty peace office or an officer on duty every day. The average response time for our
peace officers or swat teams to respond is 30 minutes in some areas. Schools security would
be safer if the teachers were allowed to have concealed carry because the response time for
law enforcement is not always the best. In many of rural states, the nearest sheriff's office is 30
minute away. It took the swat 40 minutes to respond to the Columbine High School massacre. If
the swat team is on duty, it takes them tem minutes to respond. If teachers could carry the
response time for a teacher could be less than a minute.

With the power of intimidation and knowing that a teacher might have a concealed
carry, a gunman would less likely try to enter a school to create mass chaos. In a gunmans
mind, the way to create mass chaos is to target our youth because they are our future, and they
cannot defend themselves or fight back. If our teachers could carry a concealed hand gun, it
would give them the power to fight back if the situation presented itself. As of right now there
are nineteen states that allow our teachers to conceal carry a handgun. These states are
Mississippi, California, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho,Iowa, Kentucky, Alabama, Montana,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Connecticut, Utah, Colorado, Ohio and as of
March 11, 2014 Florida became a state.(Zhao) Not too far behind, there are five more states
that are considering making teachers allowed to conceal carry a handgun. These five states
consist of Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Oregon.
Under Senate Bill 968, which passed a Senate Criminal Justice Committee, military
veterans or retired law-enforcement officers with concealed weapons permits and special
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training could be designated to bring guns into elementary, middle and high schools statewide.
Under the bill, principals and school superintendents could appoint staff members or
volunteers who are military veterans with honorable discharges, active military or retired law
enforcement officials as gun-toting designees(Kam). They would be required to carry
concealed weapons with them at all times on school property. The designees would have to
undergo 40 hours of school-safety training and an additional 12 hours of special training
annually, comprised of eight hours of active shooter training and four hours of firearm-
proficiency training. The staff who wants to carry must commit to hitting the firing range for a
minimum of 100 rounds per month (Kam). This bill was put in action to prevent another
scenario like Sandy Hook or Columbine.
House Bill 5162 would give school staff that pass permit training and background
checks the option to carry a concealed weapon, and only if their superintendent
approved(Carry Concealed). Gun-free zones create an illusion of safety. They actually
guarantee that nobody can fight back. That is why attacks occur at schools, not at gun shows.
There are more than staff and politicians for teachers with conceal carry. There is a
group called Students for Conceal Carry that consist of 40000 plus students who support the
right for teachers to have concealed carry. This group has members in all fifty states (Brown).
This group is for this cause because they feel like they are unprotected and not safe inside their
schools.
Schools security would be safer if the teachers were allowed to have concealed carry
because the response time for law enforcement is not always the best. In many of rural states,
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the nearest sheriff's office is 30 minute away. It took the swat 40 minutes to respond to the
Columbine High School massacre. If the swat team is on duty, it takes them tem minutes to
respond.
Some people are worried about teachers being able to conceal carry a handgun. They
are worried about their kids being in the crossfire. I would tell these people that with the
proper training of 95% accuracy, there is a very little chance of the facility shooting a student. If
parents are worry about their kids being around guns, I would say the word concealed means
not seen by the naked eye.
The safest school in the United States is Harrold Independent School District in Texas. If
conceal carry for school staff was allowed, our world would change for the better because our
students, staff and schools would be safer. If this bill was not passed our world would be worse
because it would only be a matter of time before a gunman creates mass chaos in another
school.






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Works Cited
Brown, Chris. "Students for Concealed Carry." Students for Concealed Carry RSS. N.p., 1 Dec.
2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. New
York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
Kam, Dara. "Bill That Would Allow Teachers To Carry Guns Gains Traction In Legislature."
Zhao, Emmeline. "Guns In Schools: Firearms Already Allowed In 18 States With Few "Carry
Concealed." Carry Concealed. Daily Telegram, 28 June 20008. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
CBS Miami. CBS Miami, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Restrictions." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Mar.
2014.