February 14, 2018, a day which should have symbolized love, is instead what students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida will forever remember as the worst, most horrific day of their lives. Nikolas Cruz, a former student of the high school, entered the building with an AR-15 and killed 17 students and teachers. Could an armed teacher have stopped the mentally ill gunman from committing this massacre? Could those 17 victims still be alive if staff members at the school were trained to carry guns? In 2018 alone, 20 school shootings in which one or more people were injured or killed have taken place, and these include shootings on college campuses as well as elementary and high schools (Ahmed and Walker). School shootings are terrifyingly becoming the new normal for students, and every day, students all over the world are scared to walk into school, a place dedicated to helping them succeed, grow, and strive. Arming …show more content…
This could include an irresponsible teacher or even a student. However, school districts who already implement the system of arming their teachers have taken extensive precautions to make sure that the teachers are qualified and able to take on the responsibility. For example, the Northwestern Area School District in South Dakota has armed teachers and guards on site: “Before carrying a firearm on campus, staff members undergo at least 80 hours of use of force, weapons proficiency, legal aspects and first aid classes. They also have to be approved by the school board and a law enforcement agency” (Chavez). The regular, rigorous training that teachers have to complete ensures that they know how to handle and pack the gun without any concern of the gun getting misplaced or taken by a student. Regular, extensive background checks would also make sure that teachers are fit to carry guns in schools. Plus, students would not have to know