Most Georgia Teachers Don't Want To Carry Guns: Survey

ATLANTA, GA — Most teachers in Georgia don't want to carry guns at school, according to results of a new survey. The idea is one that has become front and center during the debate over school safety in the wake of last month's deadly school shooting in Florida.

More than half of teachers, 53 percent, answered "no" when asked if they would carry a firearm at school if their district allowed it. Only 17.5 percent answered "yes," while 21 percent said "maybe" and about 9 percent said "probably."

In all, 7,683 teachers responded to the question, which was on a school-safety survey by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the state's largest educator advocacy group.

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A majority of teachers, about 56 percent, said they would feel "less secure" or "no difference" if teachers in their system were allowed to carry firearms, while about 43 percent said they would feel more secure.

Of the teachers who said they would not want to carry a gun at school, 70 percent of them said that opinion would not change if their school system offered them extra money to do so. Only about 16 percent said "yes."

Georgia teachers also seem doubtful that their elected officials are hearing their voices on the school-safety debate. Asked whether they think policymakers are listening to educators during the ongoing debate, about 45 percent said "no" and about 48 percent said "somewhat." Only a about 7 percent said "yes."

Pushed by the National Rifle Association, the concept of arming teachers has been championed by President Donald Trump and others in the wake of the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. That shooting killed 17 students and teachers and wounded 16 others.

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But a set of proposals Trump has released would leave the decision to states and local school districts.

Speaking to NBC on Monday, Secretary of Education Betsy Devos declined to say how many teachers should be armed.

"This is an issue that is best decided by local communities and by states," DeVos said on NBC. "It's not going to be appropriate in every location but it is going to be appropriate in some places."

Trumps proposal pledges to help states pay for firearms training for teachers.

Gun-control advocates have called Trump's proposals too weak and a sop to the NRA, which backed his candidacy. After meeting with NRA lobbyists, Trump has backed away from earlier comments he made supporting raising the minimum age to buy a firearm from 18 to 21.

Current Georgia law bans anyone from having a firearm on school property except under a handful of exemptions. Last year, lawmakers repealed a state law that similarly banned firearms on college and university campuses.

On Wednesday, students at high schools and middle schools across the nation — including many in metro Atlanta — walked out of class at 10 a.m. to mark the one-month anniversary of the Parkland shooting. At many of them, student organizers called for stiffer gun-control laws to combat school shootings and other violent crime.

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