Arming Teachers Introduces New Risks Into Schools
Introduction
During the 2023–2024 school year, there were 49 deaths from gunfire on US school grounds and an additional 116 injuries.1Everytown Research analysis of Everytown’s Gunfire on School Grounds database, accessed June 6, 2024. Parents, educators, and schoolchildren alike are frightened by the gun violence occurring in American schools and are seeking meaningful action to keep our communities safe. Lawmakers and schools are responding with a range of solutions—including the idea that arming teachers and school staff will make our schools safe. Decades of study of school shooting incidents and law enforcement responses, however, tell us that an armed teacher cannot, in a moment of extreme duress and confusion, be expected to transform into a specially trained law enforcement officer. An armed teacher is much more likely to shoot a student bystander or be shot by responding law enforcement than to be an effective solution to an active shooter in a school.2William Saletan, “Friendly Firearms: Gabrielle Giffords and the Perils of Guns: How an Armed Hero Nearly Shot the Wrong Man,” Slate, January 11, 2011, https://slate.com/technology/2011/01/joe-zamudio-and-the-gabrielle-giffords-shooting-how-an-armed-hero-nearly-shot-the-wrong-man.html; Katie Shepherd, “A ‘Hero’ Bystander Took Down a Gunman Who Killed a Cop. Then an Officer Shot Him by Mistake, Police Say,” Washington Post, June 28, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/28/john-hurley-hero-police-shooting/.
Further, those closest to these solutions oppose arming teachers. That includes the nation’s two largest teachers’ organizations, representing millions of educators and staff—the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.3Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “How To Stop Shootings and Gun Violence in Schools,” August 2022, everytownresearch.org/school-safety. And it includes the National Association of School Resource Officers, which opposes arming teachers due to the risk it poses to law enforcement and the armed teachers themselves.4National Association of School Resource Officers, “NASRO Opposes Arming Teachers,” news release, February 22, 2018, https://www.nasro.org/news/2018/02/22/news-releases/nasro-opposes-arming-teachers. Furthermore, the former president and executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing 75 police forces from large cities in the United States and Canada, agree that arming teachers is “not a good idea.”5Greg Toppo, “132 Hours to Train Teachers on Guns: Is It Enough?,” USA Today, March 8, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/08/132-hours-train-teachers-gunsenough/408525002; Brandon E. Patterson, “America’s Police Chiefs Call Bullshit on Arming Teachers,” Mother Jones, March 8, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/police-chiefs-call-bullshit-on-arming-teachers-sandy-hook-parkland-columbine/.
Instead, we need evidence-based solutions that address underlying causes of school gun violence and that prevent guns from coming into schools in the first place. For a full discussion of evidence-based school safety solutions, visit: everytownresearch.org/school-safety.
54%
In a 2022 survey of nearly 1,000 US teachers, 54 percent expressed the belief that allowing teachers to carry firearms for school security would decrease overall safety.
Brian A. Jackson et al., “Teachers’ Views on School Safety: Consensus on Many Security Measures, But Stark Division About Arming Teachers,” RAND Corporation, 2023, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2641-1.html.
3/4
An analysis of over five decades of active shooter incidents in K–12 schools found that in three in four of these incidents, the shooter or shooters were school-age and were current or former students.
New York City Police Department, “Active Shooter: Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation,” 2016, https://on.nyc.gov/2nWHM4O. The New York City Police Department defines an active shooter as “a person(s) actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.” Everytown limited its analysis of this data to incidents that took place in K–12 schools and defined school-age as under the age of 21.
Key Points
1. Teachers cannot and should not be expected to perform the job of trained law enforcement.
The notion of a “highly trained” teacher armed with a gun is a myth. Law enforcement officers across the country receive an average of 840 hours of basic training, including 168 hours of training on weapons, self-defense, and the use of force.6Brian A. Reaves, “State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2013,” US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 2016, https://bit.ly/2pg0whI. In states that have laws aimed at arming school personnel, school staff receive significantly less training. In some of these states, no minimum training is required for armed school staff whatsoever.7Greg Toppo, “132 Hours To Train Teachers On Guns: Is It Enough?” USA Today, March 8, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/08/132-hours-train-teachers-guns-enough/408525002/.
Even the most highly trained law enforcement officers in the country see their ability to shoot accurately decrease significantly in an active shooter situation.8Bernard D. Rostker et al., “Evaluation of the New York City Police Department Firearm Training and Firearm-Discharge Review Process,” RAND Corporation, 2008, https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG717.html.
In a study of the Dallas Police Department from 2003 to 2017, only 54 percent of firearm discharge events in an armed confrontation resulted in hits.9Christopher M. Donner and Nicole Popovich, “Hitting (or Missing) the Mark: An Examination of Police Shooting Accuracy in Officer-Involved Shooting Incidents,” Policing 42, no. 3 (2019): 474–89, https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2018-0060. Similar findings were reported by the Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas, where hit rate accuracy with a suspect ranged from 23 percent to 52 percent between 2008 and 2015.10Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Office of Internal Oversight, Critical Incident Review Team, “Use of Force Statistical Analysis 2011–2015, Deadly and Non-deadly Use of Force,” September 20, 2016, https://www.lvmpd.com/home/showpublisheddocument/86/638298539287030000; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Office of Internal Oversight, Critical Incident Review Team, “Deadly Force Statistical Analysis 2008–2012,” September 16, 2013, https://www.lvmpd.com/home/showpublisheddocument/60/638298539193270000.
These odds are undoubtedly lower for a schoolteacher with far less training and experience, leaving everyone around them exposed to the potential for grievous harm. Further, arming staff members can lead to chaos and confusion for law enforcement upon arrival, including enormous risk for an armed staff member.11Lana Bradstream, “Police Chief: Arming School District Teachers ‘A Bad Idea,’” Times-Republican, March 19, 2024, https://www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-news/2024/03/police-chief-arming-school-district-teachers-a-bad-idea/.
In states like Tennessee where arming teachers bills have passed, some major school districts have proactively rejected arming teachers and school staff.12Rachel Wegner, “Where Middle Tennessee Districts Stand on Allowing Teachers to Carry Guns,” The Tennessean, April 29, 2024, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2024/04/25/tennessee-teachers-gun-laws-where-middle-tennessee-districts-stand/73439939007/. The Knox County Board of Education has asserted that law enforcement officers are better equipped to ensure school security and that introducing firearms into educational environments poses significant safety risks and detracts from the learning environment.13Camruinn Morgan-Rumsey, “Knox County School Board Could Push Back on Arming Teachers Law,” WLVT, May 2, 2024, https://www.wvlt.tv/2024/05/02/knox-county-school-board-push-back-arming-teachers-law/.
“One of the most candid conversations we have with school districts is: When an officer shows up and doesn’t know if you’re the good guy or the bad guy, he’s not gonna ask questions.”
Kathy Martinez-Prather, director of the Texas School Safety Center14Juan Perez, Jr., “Arming Teachers is Hard, Even in Gun-loving Texas,” POLITICO, May 27, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/27/arming-teachers-hard-gun-loving-texas-00035794.
2. Asking teachers to potentially take the life of a current or former student is unrealistic.
Aside from the technical ability of an armed teacher to shoot accurately under extreme conditions, legislators must confront a harsh reality regarding those who typically perpetrate school shootings: they are most likely to be current or former students. An Everytown analysis of the New York City Police Department’s report on active shooter incidents in K–12 schools over five decades found that in three in four of these incidents, the shooter or shooters were current or former students.15New York City Police Department, “Active Shooter: Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation,” 2016, https://on.nyc.gov/2nWHM4O. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) defines an active shooter as “a person(s) actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.” In its definition, The Department of Homeland Security notes that, “in most cases, active shooters use firearm(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.” Everytown limited its analysis of this data to incidents that took place in K–12 schools. Similarly, researchers found that in the six mass school shootings and 39 attempted mass school shootings in the two decades between 1999 and 2019, more than 9 in 10 shooters were current or former students at the school.16Jillian Peterson and James Densley, “School Shooters Usually Show These Signs of Distress Long before They Open Fire, Our Database Shows,” The Conversation, February 8, 2019, https://bit.ly/2vBTA3J. Expecting teachers to take the life of a current or former student in such circumstances is both unrealistic and dangerous.
3. Arming teachers jeopardizes trusting school environments, which are essential for ensuring school safety.
We have all seen in the aftermath of school shootings that students too often come forward to say they knew a student was in crisis and had access to firearms. Yet in so many cases, no adult was warned. Why? Several steps we are taking in the name of safety—including costly technology that creates a fortress-like environment and repeated drills—chip away at the nurturing, trusting climate students need both for productive learning and for students’ willingness to ask an adult for help and to report destructive thoughts and behaviors. Armed teachers further undermine this emotionally safe school climate.
A Secret Service study from 2008 to 2017 found that 100 percent of the perpetrators of school shootings exhibited concerning behaviors and that in 77 percent of cases, at least one person, most often a peer, was aware of their plan.17National Threat Assessment Center, “Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Targeted School Violence,” US Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, 2019, https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/Protecting_Americas_Schools.pdf. The introduction of guns into the classroom adds to the strain students currently feel in school, a product of a gun violence epidemic that has students experiencing media coverage of deadly shootings, as well as drills, swatting incidents, and lockdowns in their schools regularly. All of these actions together are contributing to young people’s diminished sense of safety and well-being today. Young people who ruminate about these scenarios, especially those who have previously been victimized, experience higher levels of posttraumatic stress.18Pasha Dashtgard et al., “US Youth Attitudes on Guns,” (American University Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), Southern Poverty Law Center, and Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, 2023), https://www.splcenter.org/peril-youth-attitudes-guns-report; John Mahoney, Diane Kyle, and Gary Katz, “The Anticipation of Death by Violence: A Psychological Profile,” Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior 5, no. 2 (1975): 86–92, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1975.tb00315.x. And, high school students with lower levels of school connectedness, related to positive relationships with teachers, are more likely to engage in violence with a weapon on school property.19Teja Sai Pulavarthi et al., “Examining Associations Between School Connectedness, Social Support, Violence, and Firearm Carrying,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 39, no. 15–16 (2024): 3651–68, https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241233267. Students need a trusting and emotionally safe environment, not teachers carrying guns.
Anonymous tiplines to encourage students to share information about concerning behavior are an effective solution. In a study of the Sandy Hook Promise Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SS-ARS), over half of firearm-related tips were classified as “life safety” events, necessitating an immediate response from the school team and emergency services. The SS-ARS also identified tips related to interpersonal violence and suicide concerns, both of which can be relevant to firearm violence.20Elyse J. Thulin et al., “Firearm-Related Tips in a Statewide School Anonymous Reporting System,” Pediatrics 153, no. 4 (2024): e2023063861, https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-063861. Without students’ participation fostered by their trust in the school, such systems become ineffective, putting students who need support, and the entire school community, at risk.
4. Arming teachers introduces new liability risks.
When several districts in Kansas sought to arm teachers, insurance companies informed them that they would not insure such a dangerous practice.21Michael Hiltzik, “One Big Problem with the Idea of Arming Teachers: Insurance Companies Won’t Play Along, and for Good Reason,” Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-arming-teachers-20180226-story.html. Further, school policies may expose teachers to criminal liability in the event policies are not consistent with state law. It is also unlikely that insurance companies would indemnify schools from monetary claims in these cases.
State immunity laws cannot exempt schools from all legal liability, particularly federal civil rights liability.
“The more guns that are coming into the equation, the more volatility and the more risk there is of somebody getting hurt.”
J. Thomas Manger, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association22Brandon E. Patterson, “America’s police chiefs call BS on arming teachers,” Mother Jones, March 8, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/police-chiefs-call-bullshit-on-arming-teachers-sandy-hook-parkland-columbine/.
5. The multiple incidents of guns from armed staff being misplaced, fired inadvertently, or stolen from teachers remind us of the daily risk of bringing more guns into schools.
Both intentional and unintentional shootings, some perpetrated by armed nonsecurity personnel, have occurred:
- A maintenance department employee, who was approved to carry a concealed weapon on campus as part of the school guardian program, attempted to remove his sweater and his shoulder holster’s velcro came off, causing his 9mm pistol to discharge near a student.23“No Charges in Utopia School Gun Discharge,” Uvalde Leader-News, August 3, 2023, https://www.uvaldeleadernews.com/articles/no-charges-in-utopia-school-gun-discharge/.
- A Spanish teacher who was fired then returned to school with an AK-47 in a guitar case and used it to kill the school headmaster and then himself.24Ryan Nelson, “‘My School Shooter Was a Teacher,’ Jax School Shooting Survivor Speaks Out Against Arming Teachers,” Actions News Jax, February 14, 2019, https://bit.ly/2BAc0lg.
- Faculty and staff have died by firearm suicides at schools.25 Julianna Furfari, “Middlebury Schools Mourn Staff Member’s Suicide,” WSBT, March 27, 2023, https://wsbt.com/news/local/lockdown-lifted-following-emergency-at-northridge-middle-school-elkhart-county-developing-dismissal.
- School resource officers, teachers, and other school staff have accidentally discharged their firearms in school.26Mike Pescaro and Kristen Glavin, “Officer Pulled Gun from Holster, Accidentally Fired It in Cambridge School Bathroom, Police Say,” NBC Boston, April 12, 2024, https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/officer-pulled-gun-from-holster-accidentally-fired-it-in-cambridge-school-bathroom-police-say/3328023.
Recommendations
The best way to protect American schools from mass shootings and gun violence is to adopt an evidence-based intervention plan like the one proposed by Everytown, The American Federation of Teachers, and The National Education Association.
Using what we know about school gun violence, our organizations have put together a plan that focuses on intervening before violence occurs.
1. Enact Sensible Gun Laws
The first part of this plan focuses on preventing shooters from getting their hands on guns by enacting sensible laws including:
Extreme Risk laws
Extreme Risk laws, sometimes called “Red Flag” laws, empower family members, law enforcement, and in some states, educators, to petition a judge to temporarily prevent a person from having access to guns when they pose a serious risk to themselves or others. These laws allow family members and law enforcement to act on warning signs of violence, which most active shooters exhibit before shootings at schools.
Secure gun storage laws
Secure storage and child-access prevention laws hold gun owners accountable if a child or, in some cases, another unauthorized person gains access to unsecured firearms. These laws, along with building public awareness of secure storage practices, can address the most common source of guns used in school gun violence.
Laws requiring background checks on all gun sales
Under current federal law, background checks are only required for sales from licensed gun dealers, but not for sales between unlicensed individuals. In states that do not require background checks on all gun sales, this gap allows minors and people who are prohibited from possessing firearms to buy guns with no questions asked. Requiring a background check on all gun sales is the foundation of any comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy.
Laws raising the age to purchase semiautomatic firearms to 21
Most active shooters at schools are school-aged.27New York City Police Department, “Active Shooter: Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation,” 2016, https://on.nyc.gov/2nWHM4O. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) defines an active shooter as “a person(s) actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.” Everytown limited its analysis of this data to incidents that took place in K–12 schools and defined school-age as under the age of 21. Laws raising the age to purchase all semiautomatic firearms to 21, to match the age to purchase a handgun from a licensed gun dealer, can help prevent minors from easily obtaining assault weapons and other semiautomatic guns.
Laws prohibiting assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
Assault weapons are generally high-powered semi-automatic rifles specifically designed to allow shooters to wound and kill many people quickly. When combined with high-capacity magazines—commonly defined as magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition—a shooter is able to fire more rounds over a short period without pausing to reload. Prohibiting assault weapons and high-capacity magazines can prevent mass shooting injuries and deaths.
2. Protect Schools with Evidence-Based Actions
The second part of the plan focuses on evidence-based and expert-endorsed actions that schools can take to intervene and address warning signs of violence and keep shooters out of schools. Schools can do this by:
Establishing safe and equitable schools
Schools should strive to be “community schools,” schools that serve as neighborhood hubs that partner with community members to provide valuable services to the entire community.28National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, “School Climate Improvement,” accessed August 7, 2024, https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/school-climate-improvement. Schools should also promote effective partnerships between students and adults in order to keep schools safe and review school discipline practices and existing threat assessment programs to ensure they are not having a disproportionate impact on students of color.
Establishing crisis intervention programs
Trauma-informed crisis intervention programs are school programs to identify and manage potential threats of violence. These programs allow schools to understand and intervene when a student is a risk to themselves or others.29Jillian Peterson, James Densley, and Missy Dodds, “The R-Model: Ready–Respond–Refer–Revisit—K–12 School Crisis Response Teams,” off-ramp, https://off-ramp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/R-Model-Protocol-Final-2.pdf. To effectively support vulnerable students, these initiatives require adequate funding for mental health services and resources.
Ensuring sufficient mental health counselors
Schools need to ensure that students have adequate access to mental health services, and legislatures need to fund adequate mental health professionals in schools.
Informing parents about secure gun storage
School districts can help prevent shootings by notifying families about the critical importance of secure firearms storage.30Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, “How to Pass a Secure Storage Resolution at Your School,” December 17, 2021, https://studentsdemandaction.org/report/how-to-pass-a-secure-storage-resolution-at-your-school/. Public awareness campaigns like the Be SMART program, developed by Everytown, educate the school community on secure gun storage.
Implementing basic security enhancements
Basic security measures that prevent unauthorized access to school buildings, grounds, and classrooms, including access-control measures and interior door locks, can prevent a shooter from accessing a school and give law enforcement time to respond.31Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, “Final Report of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission: Presented to Governor Dannel P. Malloy, State of Connecticut,” March 6, 2015, https://tinyurl.com/yaufdwbp; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, “Initial Report Submitted to the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President,” January 2, 2019, https://bit.ly/37Gaoop.
Planning in advance for emergencies
Effective emergency planning, which facilitates communication between all community stakeholders, can empower staff to immediately lock down schools and allow law enforcement to respond quickly.32US Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students, “Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans,” 2013, https://bit.ly/2Gnz764. Emergency planning must be trauma-informed and schools should reconsider the use of active shooter drills to prevent lasting harm to students and staff.33Stacy Overstreet and Sandra M. Chafouleas, “Trauma-Informed Schools: Introduction to the Special Issue,” School Mental Health 8, no. 1 (March 2016): 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-016-9184-1.
For more information about evidence-based school safety solutions, visit: everytownresearch.org/school-safety
Everytown Research & Policy is a program of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to understanding and reducing gun violence. Everytown Research & Policy works to do so by conducting methodologically rigorous research, supporting evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public.
