In the aftermath of seventeen people shot to death in Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School while police officers waited outside listening to the carnage, the push to arm teachers and administrators in schools has gained new momentum. President Trump has indicated his support for teachers having the option to carry in order to protect themselves and their students. And despite the cries of shock an horror at the idea, hundreds of districts across the country already give their employees that option.
But some are taking their opposition to teachers carrying guns up a notch.
Teachers are prepared to take drastic action across the state, nearly a month after the shooting in Parkland, Florida.
The Baltimore City Teachers Union aren’t the only ones expressing concern. Across the county, some teachers say they will walk off the job if teachers are allowed to carry guns in schools.
Yep. They’d rather walk out than work in a school in which teachers or administrators carry firearms.
In Baltimore County, the teachers’ union says the majority of its members reject the idea of teachers carrying guns in class.
“Our teachers did not sign up to be armed guards in school and most teachers do not want to go anywhere near having guns,” said Abby Beytin of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County.
Never mind the fact that in all cases, the decision to carrying a gun would be up to the individual. Completely voluntary. No one will be compelled to carry a firearm who doesn’t want to.
You might think the fact that these distinguished educators work in the most dangerous city in America would make them even more amenable to having colleagues in the building who are prepared to defend them should the worst happen. But you’d be wrong.
The Baltimore City Teachers Union says “guns should not be in our classrooms, period.”
Here’s a bulletin for the union and its members: there are already guns in your schools. They’re in lockers, backpacks and students’ waistbands. And given the 343 murders that took place in Baltimore last year, teachers would be putting themselves in even more danger by walking out of their schools and picketing than they would by working in the same buildings with armed, trained individuals. Not that facts like that will matter one bit.