As a high school teacher and a gun owner that has competed off-and-on over the years, I vehemently disagree.

The problems of my classroom mirror the problems of my community. This means that while the vast majority of my students are just wonderful young people, I also have my fair share of the chronically depressed, the trauma survivors, and the budding criminals. Are they a small minority? Of course.

But why should I open the window of “what’s possible” on any given day in my classroom to include deadly force by strapping a pistol to my hip. It is - in my opinion - reckless and foolish.

:/ or maybe just the option. Firearms are very safe in competent hands, not so much in the opposite case.

IMO, teachers who have guns and are interested in keeping the peace should go through a state licensing program, and have special badges (maybe brass) so we can identify them. They could be called peacekeepers.