Should Minnesota schools arm teachers? A look at the debate

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The fiery debate over whether teachers should be armed in schools nationwide is at the forefront of conversation once again after the tragedy in Parkland, Florida.

At least eight states already allow teachers to have guns in their classrooms, so could Minnesota be next?

“The number one priority from a security standpoint should be to make our schools sound like very challenging and interesting targets,” said Micheal Rozin, a security expert.

“As soon as anyone starts shooting back at these people they stop the murders—that’s happened in every single case,” said Joe Olson, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law.

Rozin is a security expert from Israel who had a hand in developing the strategies for keeping people on Nicollet Mall safe during the Super Bowl.

Olson teaches about the second amendment at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and has worked on behalf of gun-rights groups. He told Fox 9 teachers could start carrying firearms to class tomorrow if they got permission from a top administrator.

“Ever since the first guns in school bill was passed in the mid ‘90s has allowed school boards to permit anyone to carry a firearm in Minnesota schools,” said Olson.

But Rozin says arming teachers is a dangerous idea. He argues for trained security or law enforcement personnel to be the ones with the gun and he says there can't just be one resource officer per school. In fact, since the Parkland shooting, several local Twin Cities school districts have reached out to his group inquiring about armed guards.

“The only thing that’s going to make a difference tomorrow is better security—it’s tangible, it’s real and it can stop the next perpetrator,” said Rozin.

The National Association of School Resource Officers issued a statement Thursday adamantly opposing teachers carrying guns.