Should Teachers Be Allowed to Carry Guns?

Obviously with the horrific event at Sandy Hook the question of gun control and/or other solutions has been a topic of choice for a lot of people. I've heard both sides of the argument and I understand the concerns for both sides. While I understand both sides my opinion leans heavily  towards allowing Teachers to be able to carry weapons concealed (with a permit obviously).

I know some of you already are thinking "that's a terrible idea" probably because the fear of a Teacher going off the deep end, the fear a student accessing that gun and using it themselves, or students feeling uncomfortable.  I understand these fears and I am definitely not dismissive of them.  My thinking is as such if a teacher is going to go crazy they are going to go crazy regardless of their ability to carry a weapon to school legally. Have you ever seen on the news a mass shooting at a school that was done by one of the teachers? Yea.. Me either.  My suggestion is that the weapons be allowed to be carried but concealed therefore students wouldn't see the gun and be unaware of where any guns may be.  I was speaking to someone on Twitter about this and he said regarding their comfort that students shouldn't have to wake up and feel like they are going to prison and I understand this completely my response is students also shouldn't have to worry about someone coming into their school and shooting up an entire classroom with no one to PROTECT them. Which is the lesser of the two evils? The only person who can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!

I've spoken to my friends with kids and asked how their children would feel about teachers carrying guns. What I've found is the families that own guns and who have taught their kids about guns and gun safety these students are fine and fully support the idea. The parents who do not own guns those children do not have that same comfort level therefore they are hesitant. My suggestion is gun education in schools.Get police officers or vets in their to properly educate them. We CAN NOT ignore guns so we might as well educate them on guns!  Gun education should be no different than sex education.  I had a lady say "my son would be uncomfortable around a teacher with a gun" I asked if he is also uncomfortable around armed police officers. We must educate that NOT every person with a gun is a bad guy and in fact they are necessary to protect good people and the country. People kill people. Guns are controlled by people.

When it comes to automatic weapons I do think there needs to be tougher laws on who can obtain one. I mean realistically you do not need an automatic weapon to protect your home. A shot gun will do just fine. The right shot gun will take 2 or 3 people down at one time and you only need to aim in the general vicinity of that person. Anyone who knows me knows I love my guns. My husband and I collectively have several guns. Our guns are for protection. While an automatic weapon might be cool just for collecting purposes I know it would not be necessary to protect myself or my home. I am not expecting war in my house.  My only issue with tougher laws is that criminals don't care about laws. That's why they are criminals. They are going to get those guns regardless.

I also offer different solutions why not have armed guards in the schools or 2 to 3 assigned police officers to patrol the school grounds outside and inside. I work in a busy shopping mall and in addition to mall security they have several police officers contracted to work and patrol the mall. Why would schools not be equally as important or more important?  While I do have my opinions I am always open and want to hear the opinions of others. I always want to see things from different perspectives so that I can continue to form my opinion based on valid points. What do you think? Should teachers be allowed to carry guns? What is your solution for preventing as many horrific crimes as we can?