Point of view: Oklahoma Senate bill to arm teachers is a bad idea

Last year, I stood with a coalition of parents, students and other teachers against a bill that would have slashed Oklahoma’s training requirement for teachers carrying guns in schools. We stopped that bill from passing. But this session, instead of protecting our students by keeping guns out of schools, some Oklahoma lawmakers are trying to gut the training requirement again. These bills would put my students at risk, and our coalition will be standing against them Tuesday at Moms Demand Action’s Advocacy Day.

As a teacher, my job is to create a nurturing environment in which my students can learn and grow. That’s a full-time job (more like two full-time jobs, as teachers like me know) that requires every ounce of my attention — my students deserve nothing less. Teachers like me can’t do that vital job if we have to spend our time worrying about even more guns in our schools, in even more inadequately trained hands.

There is no evidence to suggest that arming teachers — even with existing training requirements — will do anything to stop active shooters or other forms of gun violence in schools. No training program that a teacher would go through comes close to matching the hands-on training that a law enforcement officer receives.

By slashing the training requirement from 240 hours to as few as eight, Oklahoma lawmakers would make a bad situation worse. Law enforcement officers receive an average of 840 hours of training, and even some of the most trained law enforcement officers in the world see their ability to shoot accurately decrease precipitously in crisis situations. Even with the current training requirements, expecting someone like me to safely respond to a crisis situation is a recipe for disaster.

Outside of a crisis situation, when there are more guns in classrooms, the chances of guns getting into the wrong hands increases. We’ve heard horror stories from across the country: In Alabama, a teacher’s handgun unintentionally discharged as he was teaching first-graders. In Texas, employees have left guns on school buses and in bathrooms. And in Oklahoma, a school employee left a gun unattended. Thankfully, no one was injured — but every student in those schools was at risk because of the irresponsible yet predictable actions of people carrying guns in schools.

There are evidence-tested approaches that we know help keep schools safe. We know that those who perpetrate gun violence in schools almost always access their gun from the home — so if we want to keep kids safe in school, we should start with encouraging everyone to securely store firearms in the home. Schools can also implement threat assessment programs and increase access to mental health services to get students the help they need before gun violence happens. Basic security upgrades, like access control and interior door locks, can help keep students safe in the instance of a threat. Emergency planning helps law enforcement respond effectively while keeping students and staff safe. And common-sense gun laws like red flag laws and legislation requiring background checks on all gun sales help keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

Teachers, on the other hand? Let’s let teachers teach.

Carnes teaches at an Oklahoma City-area public high school and is a volunteer with the Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action.