Which teachers get guns? Where will the guns be stored? Who decides when guns can be brandished? What penalties will apply if teachers mishandle a weapon? Will teachers volunteer for gun duty? Can teachers refuse it? Who will audit their adherence to regulations?
Will students know which teachers have weapons? Who will be liable if the teacher with the gun becomes the shooter? What will be the consequences when students are accidentally shot by a teacher? How will armed teachers communicate in a tactical situation?
Will teachers with a history of mental illness be allowed to use weapons? Will teachers be required to disclose any history of mental illness? Will teachers be issued a weapon? Reimbursed for purchase? For ammunition?
How will administrators conduct non-weapon-related discipline against a teacher? Will there be armed assistance available to deter workplace shootings? Who will shepherd the armed teacher’s classroom while the teacher is attempting to locate the active shooter?
What happens when a teacher misidentifies a student as a threat in good faith? Will teachers who do not carry lethal weapons be offered non lethal alternatives? If an armed teacher is shot, can another teacher employ his or her weapon?
How will armed teachers identify themselves to arriving first responders? Will armed teachers be required to learn how to give first-response medicine? Will armed teachers be required to attempt an arrest before using lethal force? Under what circumstances?
Will proficiency training on weapons count for teachers’ continuing education and professional development? How will insurers adjust health and other rates to account for the presence of armed employees? Will teachers receive additional pay for being armed?
How often will armed teachers be re-evaluated for licensing purposes? Will armed teachers leading field trips deposit their weapons in a personally owned vehicle or school-owned transport? Will one teacher per wing of a school building receive weapons? Two? Three?
Exactly which standards will count for proficiency—greater than a big-city police department, State Police, FBI, hobbyist, marksman? In training scenarios, how will using force against innocents be penalized? Will racial sensitivity courses be required?
Do parents have a right to refuse to send their kids to schools with guns? Will students have to sign waivers? Will parents? What if a parent signs a waiver for a minor student who, when that student turns 18, refuses to abide by its provisions?
Will teachers on probation be allowed to carry weapons? What about teachers with active union grievances? Complaints about sexual harassment? Anger management? Divorce proceedings?
Will armed teachers wear holsters? Will they be stationed strategically during pep rallies or other gatherings? Will they participate in lockdown drills as if they were armed or unarmed?
Will funding for the policies outlined above be distributed according to local budgets, statewide formulas, or national formulas? Will schools in high-risk neighborhoods receive more or less funding? Suburban schools?
What is the right ratio of armed:unarmed teachers by grade level? What is the procedure for debriefing and assessing armed teachers’ performance during a crisis? Can an armed teacher who flinches be fired? Can an armed teacher who breaks protocol be rewarded?
Will preschool teachers have guns? Will teachers in “juvie” (high risk) schools have guns? Will the teacher or the school be liable if their gun is stolen? Can administrators carry weapons? Can they do so in disciplinary situations?
For the more ‘sophisticated’ respondents, the point is not that these questions *can’t* be answered, but that the answers make clear exactly what kind of a society you want to live in — one that resembles an armed camp monitored by quasi-military figures at all time.
