While Americans in general may be divided on the prospect of allowing teachers to carry guns in schools, it looks like the majority of parents agree: more guns are a good thing.
According to a new Rasmussen poll, 48 percent of American adults -- both those who have kids and those who don't -- say they aren’t in favor of allowing trained teachers and faculty to carry guns in schools, while a slightly fewer 43 percent say they like that plan.
But among parents of school-aged kids, the majority say they support arming teachers, and nearly three-in-four parents say they’d feel a lot better sending their kids to a school that at least has armed security guards.
Rasmussen found that:
Among adults with children of elementary or secondary school age, 59% support a proposal that incentivizes teachers to carry guns in school. Fifty-four percent (54%) of adults without children of those ages are not on board with that proposal.
Twenty-one percent (21%) of adults with school-aged children say they would feel safer if their child attended a school where no adults were allowed to own a gun. Seventy-three percent (73%) of those adults say they would feel safer if their child attended a school with an armed security guard.
Only a third of Americans (32 percent, to be exact) say it’s possible to make schools entirely safe against violence.
Given the near-complete uselessness of the Broward County Sheriff's Office to protect its own students against gun violence, perhaps the fact that many parents support armed teachers as a second line of defense shouldn't come as a shock.
On Wednesday, CNN talked to one dad whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting just two weeks ago, and who now says he supports a Florida bill that would establish a statewide program for training and arming teachers who want to carry a gun in school. Here's his take:
Father of Florida school shooting victim Meadow Pollack to people against arming teachers: "This is America and it's freedom of choice... if you don't want a teacher... with a gun at your school, you go to a gun-free school zone." https://t.co/zso2H16u9U pic.twitter.com/BBD8xAyJ4x
— CNN (@CNN) February 28, 2018
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