I am writing to express my strong disagreement with the proposed “School Employee Firearm Possession Amendments” bill (HB0119), spearheaded by Rep. Tim Jimenez. This bill aims to establish a program to incentivize teachers to carry firearms on school grounds, which is a misguided approach to gun violence and school shootings for the following reasons:
Educators are expected to fund their classroom supplies from their own inadequate earnings, yet the state is proposing funds to promote having guns inside schools. The recently released Critical Incident Review from the Robb Elementary School shooting shows that the concept of arming teachers isn’t viable and expects the teacher to have the knowledge, training, and abilities of a law enforcement officer in an active shooter situation. Even highly trained law enforcement officers can struggle with operating firearms in a crisis, why would we force our educators into this position?
In addition, many organizations such as AFT, NEA, and even law enforcement sectors are against arming teachers. Teachers who chose their careers to educate young minds, not shoot people. Instead, evidence-based plans focused on gun violence prevention should be the state’s focus. Plans such as responsible gun storage laws, raising the minimum age for semi-automatic firearms purchases, background checks, and Extreme Risk laws must be enacted. By promoting and enacting these plans, a teacher wouldn’t need to worry about an active shooter in their school, and therefore would not need to have a firearm around children.
I encourage our lawmakers to please consider evidence-based findings, and to stop putting our teachers in harm’s way. The shield between active shooters and children should be gun violence prevention, not a teacher.
Ellie Otis, Cottonwood Heights
