Several weeks after the Evergreen High School shootings, our thoughts remain with the victims, students and the community, who will be dealing with the aftermath of the events of Sept. 10 for the rest of their lives.
We also have been waiting for more details of what happened — what did the shooter do or say beforehand? And, most critically, where did the 16-year-old boy obtain the gun he used? We continue to await these and other answers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
One group, however, didn’t wait to decide what happened in Evergreen, or what we should do about it: the gun lobby. Within days, local editorials appeared telling us that the only solution to Colorado’s (and America’s) gun problem is still more guns. “Arm teachers” has become the standard post-school shooting refrain from gunmakers, gun sellers, and the politicians and pundits who carry their water.
It’s a lousy, dangerous idea — and we already know it doesn’t work.
First, the idea of an armed teacher, responding as would trained law enforcement, is a fantasy. Officers receive hundreds of hours of training — but armed school staff receive much less.
To become a Denver Police Officer, a candidate must complete 1,000 hours of academy training plus 3.5 months of field training. The Aurora Police Department requires 1,040 academy hours. Colorado Springs has a 26-week police academy.
The highest level of certification from FASTER Colorado, a 2016-founded teacher-gun-training offshoot of the right-wing Independence Institute (the leadership of which has received millions in National Rifle Association funding over the years), requires that a teacher complete just 72 hours of classroom and range instruction. And that teacher is supposed to be ready for armed combat?
Notably, there has not been — ever, anywhere — a student shooter stopped by an armed school employee. Even the FASTER website says, “To our knowledge, there has never been a situation where a killer came onto a K-12 campus with the intent of committing a mass killing, who was then stopped by an armed school employee.”
Further, when a gun is in the classroom, students can get access to it. There have been multiple incidents of students and teachers finding misplaced firearms, including in bathrooms and locker rooms. Estimates vary, but between 200,000 and 500,000 guns are stolen in the U.S. every year, and people who carry their guns are three times more likely to have those guns stolen.
Stolen weapons constitute their own criminal pipeline: A Pittsburgh study found that 30% of guns recovered from crime scenes were stolen. When even gun enthusiasts can’t always be trusted to handle their guns responsibly — for example, at the Colorado State Capitol — why would we ask teachers and school staff to do so?
Speaking of asking teachers, maybe we should. In fact, we have — and it’s a hard “no, thanks.” A 2019 California State University Northridge survey of more than 2,900 U.S. teachers found that 95% believed teachers should not be allowed to carry guns in the classroom.
The nation’s two largest teachers’ organizations, representing millions of educators and staff — the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association — agree. So does the National Association of School Resource Officers, citing the risk it poses to students, law enforcement and the armed teachers themselves.
So what do we need? Sadly for the gun lobby, nothing that will further line their pockets. The answer is evidence-based intervention plans, focused on stopping school gun violence before it starts.
Step One is sensible gun laws, including universal background checks, red flag laws and secure storage laws. And just as important as the passage of these laws is the willingness of local officials to enforce them.
Step Two is evidence-based actions that schools can take upon warning signs. This includes crisis intervention programs, enabling schools to intervene when a student poses a risk. This also requires legislatures willing to fund adequate mental health services in schools.
Step Three is school districts notifying families about the critical importance of secure firearms storage. Public awareness campaigns, like the Be SMART program and Colorado Ceasefire’s secure storage workshops, make schools and communities safer.
Finally, schools need to implement basic security measures and emergency planning to ensure fast, orderly lockdowns. We saw the value of such planning in Evergreen, where school staff implemented their well-practiced version of the I Love You Guys protocol. Staff and students’ quick action, along with the swift response of law enforcement, undoubtedly saved lives.
There is a lot we can do to make our schools safer. The facts show “even more guns” is not the solution in our schools — any more than it is the answer to the rest of America’s gun crisis.
Laney Sheffel, of Denver, is interim executive director of Colorado Ceasefire, Colorado’s oldest gun violence-prevention group.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
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