Cuomo Says No To Arming Teachers [POLL]

Though it's popular in some corners of the country, New York will not be among the states that allow public school employees — other than school resource officers, security guards and law enforcement — to carry guns on school property. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Wednesday that will keep school teachers unarmed.

Senate Bill S.101A passed at the end of January, after having been approved by the Assembly.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat representing District 9 on the South Shore of Long Island.

In addition to keeping firearms out of the hands of teachers, the bill also directs the state police to establish statewide regulations aimed at strengthening existing gun buyback programs and create new programs for the removal of illegal, unsecured, abandoned or unwanted firearms.

The states that already allow teachers to carry guns included Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and Texas, according to Vice News.

When he signed New York's legislation, Cuomo said, "The answer to the gun violence epidemic plaguing this country has never been and never will be more guns, and today we're expanding New York's nation-leading gun safety laws to further protect our children.

"These measures will help slow the proliferation of guns by keeping unneeded firearms out of school zones and helping to ensure unwanted or illegal guns don't fall into dangerous hands," he said.

Kaminsky said that New York was different from the hundreds of districts around the country that have decided to arm teachers in response to mass shootings.

"In New York, we said, 'not here.' Arming classroom teachers is dangerous and takes our focus off of getting weapons out of the hands of those who should not have them," he said.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he thought the decision to arm teachers should be left up to the school district — not the state, the New York Times reported.

"The Legislature and the politicians of New York State have done absolutely nothing to protect our kids in the schools," he told the Times.

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.