Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones has recently proposed a plan to counter gun violence in schools across Georgia by adding guns to the classroom.
Modeled after a Texas proposition, this plan would expand existing state laws to give a $10,000 annual stipend for educators willing to undergo essential firearm training and carry a firearm in class.
During a press conference at Austin Road Elementary in Winder, Georgia Jones spoke of spending more money on school safety.
“We feel like this is the best way to prepare faculty but also prepare law enforcement and the system however we can,” Jones said.
This preventative measure comes at a fearful time in the United States because of the infamous 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas. For many, this event amplified the perceived possibility of school shootings. Jones himself considers the event to be an empirical warning for schools across the U.S. to bolster security and protection.
“It’s becoming more and more dangerous for schools,” Jones said. “Sad to say, schools have been a target.”
Relatedly, Jones’s plan would also include an uncompromising process of faculty selection, wherein, alongside police units, only selected teachers could possess firearms in classes.
State boards of education and local school boards will be involved in picking out who will undergo training if this plan is implemented.
Many critics of Jones’s plan recommend a different approach. They advocate that gun violence prevention can only be accomplished through the deterioration of gun use in general.
In a statement on Savannah TV station WJCL, Lisa Morgan, the president of the Georgia Association of Educators said that the funding would be better used to write legislation for hiring more counselors.
“Teachers should not be armed in the classroom,” Morgan said. “We are not there to serve as law enforcement and introducing more firearms into the school, as it is not a way to solve the problem of violence in our schools.”
Furthermore, the arguments for why firearms are needed can be contrasted with the sole purpose of teachers, which is to educate, foster a creative environment and provide a sheltered space for all students. Firearms, on the contrary, can be argued to oppose these philosophies diametrically.
“Georgia teachers should be armed with books and supplies, not guns,” said Georgia congresswoman Lucy McBath.
On-campus safety is an ethically and morally complex and sensitive issue; GC professors’ and students’ opinions on the matter vary.
“I am a registered concealed carry individual, member of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Volunteer Posse and properly trained, so I would carry if permitted,” said Joe Peters, an education professor and dean of the College of Education at GC. “Although I would feel safer with more campus police, but having select faculty carrying concealed weapons could also be a strong deterrent, given intruders would not know who is carrying.”
Some GC students find other solutions to be more promising.
“As much as I love my professors, I believe most of them won’t be able to effectively use a firearm at a moment’s notice,” said Sean Fulmer, a senior history major. “I would feel like that it is not good to be armed in the classroom, as it could get stolen and sometimes be difficult to safely secure it.”
