Should teachers be allowed to carry guns in schools? Michiana educators discuss national debate

BREMEN, Ind. -- Current and future educators in Michiana discussed President Donald Trump's proposal to arm teachers with handguns to prevent school shootings. It's a topic that has divided schools and educators across the nation and right here in Michiana. 

Rhonda Mcintyre is a first grade teacher at Bremen Elementary School. She's taught for over 23 years. Today, she’s teaching her students about time. One by one girls and boys tried to answer the question their teacher asked: what time is it? 

But today Mcintyre thinks it’s time to answer another question. Will arming teachers keep our students safe?

"It’s time we need to stop and address that issue," Mcintyre said. "Absolutely against. That’s not the answer. It would create more problems than it would help.”

She argued it would be hard to keep the gun safe and in an emergency, there wouldn’t be enough time or ammunition in a hand gun to protect students. 

But others like Kayla Borton, who is a senior studying education and a parent, think giving teachers a gun would help the problem. 

“As a teacher and as a parent, I would feel more comfortable if my son’s teacher could defend against a school shooter than just laying on the ground,” Borton said. 

Teachers say it’s like solving an equation. Some teachers think guns are the answer to keep our schools safe while others don’t feel that way, but one thing they can all agree upon is that there are underlying issues to this problem.

“Let’s look at the big picture, the culture. What do we have that we can use to support our schools?," said Mcintyre.

“People are the ones pulling the trigger and they’re pulling it for a specific reason," said Lauren Lambert. "A lot of these people are doing it because they have depression or bipolar disorder.”

These educators say at the end of the day though it’s about protecting students from a horrible tragedy that’s becoming more common in schools across the country.

“It makes you have a pause and think what could you do differently? Where are we going to stop this? Where are the changes going to be made?” said Mcintyre.

To hear more what undergraduate education students think about this issue click here. 

Bremen superintendent, Dr. Jim White, also spoke on this issue. Hear what he said here.