As gun violence becomes more prevalent in the United States, the same question keeps getting asked after every major mass shooting:  How do we fix this problem? And it looks like there might be a change, but not one that regulates guns, like most people are calling for.  The discussion is whether teachers should be armed in the classroom.  

President Trump has been unusually vocal on making a change to stop mass shootings. Trump and the NRA (National Rifle Association) have talked about training and arming teachers with guns. But, teachers show no interest in having a gun strapped to their hip as they teach a room full of students.  

Teachers have been outraged with Trump’s proposal to arm teachers. A movement called #ArmMeWith has become widely popular where teachers voice their objections about having a gun during work. One of many responses that the HUFFPOST found on Twitter “#ArmMeWith a damn EPIPEN for my students with allergies. NOT A DAMN GUN”. Other teachers are calling for better school supplies, “excellent insurance…less testing”, and “action not just thoughts and prayers.” 

It’s not just teachers who are against having a gun in the classroom. Law enforcement officers have come out to say no to the reckless idea of arming teachers. “The more guns that are coming into the equation, the more volatility and the more risk there is of somebody getting hurt,” police chief J. Thomas Manger of Montgomery County, Maryland told Mother Jones.  

“Carrying a gun is not in my job description,” Baltimore City teacher Jill Cardarella said. “My job is to teach students. There’s nothing that says that I have to carry a gun around my classroom.” 

And carrying a gun shouldn’t be in a teacher’s job description. It shouldn’t even be a discussion. The NRA wants to get rid of gun violence in schools by putting more guns in schools. As a student, that wouldn’t make me feel safer in schools. It would only increase the fear of a shooting happening in a place that is supposed to be secure. 

As the discussion of gun violence continues to be a major topic, it seems more people want more regulations and even ban on guns and less people want to think about the idea of having a gun in reach of teachers and students in a classroom.