Readers React: Why arming certain teachers makes more sense than passing more gun laws

To the editor: I have heard and read lots of discussion about teachers being allowed to carry a concealed firearm on campus after being properly trained. (“Trump backs off raising age limit to buy guns and focuses on arming teachers,” March 12)

The goal of arming “some” teachers is not to make them the primary security for their students, but rather the “back up” plan when law enforcement falls short, as was the case in the recent Florida school shooting.

We already have armed police and plain-clothes officers around our children at concerts, shopping malls and colleges. What makes our K-12 schools any different? If police officers can be trained to handle firearms properly, then so can those teachers who are willing, capable and not afraid to be “that person.”

Passing more gun laws will not provide our children with a strong response to those unwilling to obey our laws, nor will they make the 320 million-plus guns in circulation miraculously disappear. Our children’s safety must be more important than our political views on guns.

Rod Guyton, Torrance

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To the editor: Let’s arm teachers! This may have prevented the mass killings at a theater in Aurora, Colo., or a workplace in San Bernardino.

One advantage is that most teachers are available during the summer break and could freelance as security guards at hotels in Las Vegas or churches in Texas.

Alternatively, Congress could just realize that the mass killings in this country are due to the easy availability of assault weapons, and take action to prevent their sales. The only conceivable use of an AR-15 is to kill a maximum number of people in the shortest possible time.

Betty C. Duckman, Long Beach

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