Pro-gun
By Calder Stenn, Editor-in-Chief
Arming teachers in schools isn’t necessarily a black-and-white issue. It should go without saying that members of the Vashon-Maury community all want to do what they can to save the lives of students, teachers and administrators.
It might surprise some, however, to hear the wide variation in perspectives across the island.
Many of my sources had nuanced opinions unadulterated by mainstream partisan politics — a good sign of civic engagement on an island that often feels repressive of non-liberal viewpoints.
Take, for example, clinical psychologist and Lutheran Church minister Jeff Larsen’s view on the urgency of gun violence in schools.
“The carnage has to be stopped,” Larsen wrote via email. “In the context of school shootings[,] we have to be able to provide an immediate response to violent threats. And while recognizing that fighting ‘fire with fire’ carries its own inherent risks[,] I would currently support having [well-]trained, armed security personnel on campuses.”
While arming teachers isn’t the most ideal solution to community members such as longtime Vashon resident and Sportsmen’s Club member Jan Stephens, it is worth considering when more practical ones — such as increased background checks — may take more time to develop and implement.
“Background checks only go so far,” Stephens said. “The background checks [right now] are run through a federal database. Linking background checks to mental health issues is weak or non-existent, and in particular, follow-up actions to prevent access to firearms need a lot more development. It’s going to take time.”
Another concern in this area is the fact that, regardless of an increase in regulations, there are still ways to purchase firearms via the black market or private sellers, which can be exploited by underage buyers.
According to a statistical overview by gun.laws.com, 86 percent of juveniles in correctional facilities have owned a gun at some point, and 65 percent of these offenders owned three or more illegal weapons or firearms.
Although there may not be direct solutions to dealing with the illegal acquisition of firearms by youth, there are preventive measures that those who are experienced with guns can implement to ensure underaged people are being safe around these weapons.
“In terms of what we can do, we can up the punishment scale, but those punishments only go so far,” Larsen said. “I think it really goes back to training, so people who want a gun can really have an understanding of that, yes, you can possibly have a gun, but it comes with conditions.”
This idea of training has been a popular part of the discussion of arming teachers, yet there is also the aspect of educating youth.
Regardless of whether teachers end up becoming armed, advocates for proper gun safety believe that preparing students for handling future situations with firearms could be instrumental towards ensuring a safer environment.
“I think [educating students regarding gun safety] would probably be a good idea, considering how often shootings have been happening,” sophomore Catherine Ghigleri wrote via text message.
Ghigleri noted that, while educating students around gun safety would surely be helpful, it’s not something the community should have to resort to.
In taking a step back from gun education and security, it is also important to recognize that not every solution — short-term and long-term — is derived from government regulations or in-school initiatives.
“Some of the prevention starts in the home,” Stephens said. “So many times we hear about a kid who has got [their] mother’s gun, or father’s, or uncle’s. All firearms in the home should be properly secured.”
Larsen attributes this lack of prevention to parenting — particularly, a decline in parental oversight.
“I think there needs to be better modeling [by parents because] there’s been a real breakdown,” he said.
In addition to poor modeling in the home setting, Larsen is also concerned about the little attention given to the importance of the first responders tasked with providing mental help and counseling to victims and witnesses of shootings, and their role in preventing further incidents.
“One of the most difficult battles for people to overcome is when they feel like an object, abandoned, devalued and flawed with no real hope that things can get better; kind of like an outsider looking in on a party with no hope for an invitation,” Larsen said. “An occasional pep talk telling students and staff how to deal with a crisis may be a step forward but the value of a caring relationship can crack open doors of hope.”
Most agreed that mental health needs to be addressed. Some, however, believed that it should be tackled in parallel with gun control and gun safety, while others, such as senior Cody Whitman, who attends Running Start at Tacoma Community College, think that mental health should be the primary focus.
“I believe mental health issues are the problem and not the gun,” Whitman wrote via email. “Guns are a tool that can only operate when someone pulls the trigger. Guns cannot stand up and shoot without an individual behind them. Most of the school shooters have had mental health issues, and unfortunately were able to get ahold of a gun and carry out what they did.”
And because these mentally-ill or unstable people have gotten ahold of firearms in order to carry out these horrendous acts, community members such as junior Jess Leysath think that arming teachers is the logical next step.
In Leysath’s mind, if teachers were properly trained and qualified, he would trust the teachers at VHS to protect students against any potential shooters.
The debate then opens up to whether students should be aware of the teachers that are armed.
“I believe that [a teacher] shouldn’t tell the students if they [are] armed,” Leysath wrote via Snapchat. “That way there wouldn’t be a different environment and also school shooters wouldn’t be able to specifically target teachers with guns[.]”
However, Ghigleri had quite a different view regarding the topic.
“I do believe [students] should know, and I believe it’s their right to know if they decide they want that knowledge,” she said. “But this also poses a safety issue … Where are the teachers going to keep the guns[?] If it’s kept on them, then … students [will] constantly be reminded of the guns.”
The issue of whether or not to arm teachers is also an issue of trust between them and students. Would a student be willing to entrust their own life in the hands of a teacher?
“In a situation like that, you never know what someone is going to do,” Ghigleri said. “In some cases the teachers might do more harm than good.”
On the other hand, some may view the teacher as a last resort — there might not be another option.
“If I were a student, I[‘d] have nothing to protect myself, and [the teachers] may be the only ones standing between me and the armed threat,” Stephens said.
One alternative to arming teachers is assigning security guards to the school campus.
There are certainly a couple factors to consider, specifically concerning the difference in location between a potential security guard and a teacher on the campus.
“In the unlikely event of a serious threat, in terms of your first line of defense, it would be better if both teachers and the guard were armed,” Stephens said. “If it’s just a security guard and not the teachers and something bad happens, [then the question becomes] how big is the school and how long is it going to take that guard to address the threat? If you have a few teachers around the campus who are capable… [then] your response might be more effective.”
Regardless of whether teachers or security guards are armed in the foreseeable future — or even armed at all — it is imperative that the Vashon-Maury community be cognizant of any potential indicators that may lead to a student shooting.
One way to do this is simply speaking up.
“I think there are some simple methods [for improving this problem] that most everyone would think of,” Larsen said.
Larsen provided the example of facilitating with people around you whom you observe to be having a difficult time.
“I think that [it is important to have] a certain amount of training for the students in terms of what people need to thrive and survive… [In turn,] I think there [will be] room for more vulnerability among the students and more trust — hopefully — in the system.”