Should Virginia Teachers Carry Guns At School: Take Patch Survey

VIRGINIA — As school shootings become more frequent, lawmakers, community leaders and parents continue to seek solutions to keep students safe in the classrooms.

One of the more controversial proposals to address safety is arming teachers. Strong opinions are held by those for and against the idea.

Fill out Patch's survey at the bottom of this story to share your views on armed teachers in Virginia schools. By filling out our survey, you are giving Patch permission to publish your responses.

A results story will be shared after the survey closes at noon Monday, July 25. The survey is not meant to be a scientific poll, but it is only designed to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

To Arm Or Not To Arm

After school shootings, the idea of arming teachers is often circulated, invigorating a nationwide debate over whether the people responsible for teaching students should also be expected to carry firearms to protect them.

The idea of arming America's school teachers has both proponents and opponents.
It was proposed by former President Donald Trump during a 2018 meeting with survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The National Rifle Association quickly endorsed the idea of weapons in schools, and the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America signed on in support, as well. Gun-control lobbying groups such as Everytown USA, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Giffords Law Center all opposed it.

Arming teachers in schools almost gained traction in one Virginia school district. In 2018, the Lee County School Board tried to allow designated teachers and staff to be armed. However, Attorney General Mark Herring issued an advisory opinion that arming teachers was against the law. The opinion suggested the teachers and staff designated as "special conservators of the peace" would not be exempt from the ban on guns in school zones. Herring noted there was a difference between these "special conservators of the peace" and conservators of the peace, who hold state or federal positions such as judge, special agent and criminal investigators.

In the past, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has sidestepped questions on whether teachers should be armed. At a June news conference, Youngkin declined to discuss arming teachers but indicated he would not sign gun control legislation, according to VPM. During his campaign, Youngkin did not partake in a candidate questionnaire from the National Rifle Association and was not endorsed by the NRA.

After the Uvalde school shooting, the leader of Virginia Citizens Defense League expressed support for arming teachers and others in schools. VCDL is a group that has held gun rights rallies in Richmond. VCDL President Philip Van Cleave said in a newsletter that "teachers, staff, parents, visitors could all be carrying guns," according to VPM.

A new Politico/Morning Consult Poll taken after the Uvalde, Texas school shooting in which 19 children and two teachers were killed found that while a majority of Americans strongly support more restrictions on gun ownership, 54 percent think teachers and other staff should be equipped with concealed firearms.

In 2017, a year before the Parkland shooting, a Pew Research Center survey found 55 percent of U.S. adults opposed allowing teachers and other school officials to carry guns in K-12 schools, while 45 percent said they favored allowing teachers to carry guns in their classrooms.

Education Week, an independent news site that covers education, tracked 27 school shootings from Jan. 1 to May 31 in which 27 people were killed, 24 of them students or other children, and 53 people were injured.

Education Week defines a school shooting as one in which a firearm was discharged on a K-12 school property or bus while school is in session or during a school-sponsored event, injuring at least one person other than the perpetrator. These do not include incidents involving armed school resource officers. In 2021, there were 34 school shootings meeting the criteria, compared with 10 in 2020 and 24 each in 2019 and 2018.

Share Your Opinion

Do you think teachers or other school employees should be allowed to carry guns on campus to protect students and others against a potential threat? Let us know in the survey below. Your responses could be used for a follow-up story.

If you cannot see the form below, click here.