As liberals call for stricter gun control laws, one Utah teacher is speaking out in support of the Second Amendment and her right to carry in the classroom.
Kasey Hansen in a Friday interview on Fox News said that her firearm gives her the ability to protect her students.
A responsible gun owner, having completed a concealed carry class and who consistently practices with her handgun at a gun range, Hansen said that she would “take a bullet” for her students, but asked, “Why not give me the chance to also fight back in the process?”
"I became a teacher because I love children,” she said. “I love children, and I would do anything for them. And if that means taking a bullet, then yes, I will take a bullet for my children. But why not give me the chance to also fight back in the process?"
Hansen explained that she decided to carry a handgun at school shortly after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which took the lives of 20 children and six adults.
Hansen said that she has faced pushback for her decision to be armed in the classroom but said she knew she “needed a better option” than to “hunker down and just hope for the best.”
"The teachers just huddled their kids in the corner and stood in front of them and hoped for the best,” Hansen said. “They didn't have any defense for them, and all that they could do was hope that the bad guy didn't come in and shoot up their room.”
"For me, I needed a better option. I needed a better plan set in place rather than hunker down and just hope for the best," she said.
President Trump has suggested allowing teachers and other school personnel to carry concealed weapons on school property and eliminating schools as gun-free zones.
He said before his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday that “schools have to have some form of protection.”
“They can’t just be open-ended gun-free,” said Trump. “Gun-free is an invitation for these crazy people to just come in and shoot.”
Many oppose having armed teachers on school premises, arguing that teachers should be teachers and they should not be armed guards.
Those in favor argue that stripping teachers who are responsible gun owners of their right to bear arms renders them defenseless in the face of a crisis and that by the time first responders arrive on scene, it's often too late.
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