Dear Madam/Mr. President,

I believe that teachers should be armed in order to protect our children and prevent school shootings.

The people with the most expertise on this topic agree too. Jeff Cooper, gun expert and author of Art of the Rifle, said “The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.” He is saying that they're are more people with good intentions than there are with bad, so the smart thing to do would be to arm these good people (in this case, teachers). Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president and the founder of the Progressive Party, believed that the United States "should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes."

In 2014, Ashley Thacker, a junior at Blountville High School in Tennessee, was returning to school from a doctors appointement. As she was walking through the office to get back into school, she noticed a man in a chair waiting to be checked in. His name was Cowan, and he had a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol on him. Cowan saw her notice the gun and pulled it out. He started waving it around, pointing it at Ashley and staff members. He eventually trained his gun on the school principal, Mr. Riden. Fortunately, Carolyn Gudger, a teacher at Blountville High School was walking by the office at the time and noticed Cowan. She, having a gun of her own, shot and killed Cowan before he could fire a shot. What would have happened if Grudger wasn't armed? Would Cowan have shot the principal, or even worse, gotten into the school and killed students? Situations like that of the one at Blountville High School are too serious to take lightly.

A study conducted by the Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations shows that schools with armed officials on campus, on average, have less gang problems and overall violence. Likewise, those without armed officials have more violent crime. Also, the nations largest non-union teacher organization, the Association of American Educators, supports arming teachers. 61% of its members would prefer having a gun. Next, the constitution protects all American's, including teachers, right to keep and bear arms. Most certainly in this situation.

So, Mr./Madam President, I hope you will come to an agreement with the opposite party and encourage cooperation in congress to push through a bill on this issue and ensure our students safety.

Sincerely,

Mitch