ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The debate on guns in schools has left many teachers across the nation divided on solutions, according to a survey conducted in October and November 2022.
The survey was conducted by RAND Corporation, which is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges, and revealed how K-12 teachers viewed safety in their schools. Results showed:
- 54% of teachers believe teachers carrying firearms would make schools less safe
- 20% believe teacher-carry would make schools safer
- 26% feel it would make schools neither more nor less safe
“Even with the unfortunate regularity of gun violence in U.S. schools, which often drives the policy debate around school safety, only five percent of teachers overall selected gun violence as their largest safety concern,” said Heather L. Schwartz, a report author and senior policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization said in part.
Despite the growing concerns surrounding gun violence in schools, teachers are more concerned with bullying, not active shooters, followed by fights and drugs, according to the report.
As of Tuesday, the 150th day of the year, there have been 263 mass shootings and 327 victims killed in the U.S. – both figures the highest ever recorded this early in a year, according to CBS News.
