How Teachers Feel About Arming Educators In K-12 Schools: A Statewide Investigation

ABSTRACT

Calls to weaponize teachers with guns as a means of enhanced school safety and protection against a school shooting have intensified in recent years. Arguments for and against arming teachers are relatively well-established, but a paucity of scholarly research exists regarding its effectiveness and whether teachers generally support carrying guns on school grounds. Using survey methodology, the current study sought to better understand teacher perspectives on guns in K-12 schools. The majority of respondents opposed allowing armed teachers and indicated no desire to carry a gun at school. Regression analyses demonstrated a consistent impact of political party, gender, and rural teaching on items assessing support for armed teachers. These findings, among others, draw attention to the importance of educational stakeholder representation in future policy considerations and highlight the need for additional research that focuses on understanding the actual and perceived impact of arming teachers in school buildings.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers
• school shooting
• school safety
• school security
• guns

Disclosure statement

No conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandon Wood

Brandon J. Wood, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of Toledo in the school psychology program. He is a nationally certified school psychologist.

Eric Hampton

Eric Hampton, Ph.D., is a full professor at Indiana State University within the Department of Applied Clinical and Educational Sciences.