- A Texas school union survey has found that 77% of school employees don't want to be armed.
- It received 5,100 responses from parents, school counselors, campus staff, and mostly teachers.
- The survey found that 96% support raising the minimum purchase age for guns to 21.
A survey of more than 5,000 school employees and parents in Texas has found that a significant majority do not want to be armed in the classroom or have to confront a shooter, the Texas American Federation of Teachers said Wednesday.
The survey interviewed 5,100 school employees and found that 76.7% of respondents answered "no" when asked: "Do you want to be armed?" Out of these responses, 3,600 were from K-12 schoolteachers, and the rest were from higher-ed employees, school counselors, parents, campus staff, and community leaders.
99% of those surveyed said they support comprehensive background checks for all gun purchases, 98% agreed with "red flag" gun laws, and 96% want to raise the minimum age for legal gun purchases to 21.
Overall, 83% supported an outright ban on assault weapons, and 82% said they wanted better gun storage laws to prevent children from accessing firearms illegally at home.
"Trying to arm teachers is risky and counterproductive," Texas AFT President Zeph Capo said in a statement accompanying the survey results. "Teachers can't be expected to become highly-trained law enforcement officers and use guns in a crisis without endangering students or themselves."
The survey comes in the wake of an elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas in which 19 children and two schoolteachers were killed by a gunman with an AR-15 style rifle. It was the deadliest elementary school shooting since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary, and together with a spate of other mass shootings in recent weeks, has prompted renewed national debate and concern over gun rights.
When asked about the Uvalde shooting, 42.4% of respondents said the attack might affect their decision to return to their schools in the fall. And 90% of respondents said they're worried that a school shooting may happen at their workplace.
"The Uvalde shooting has added another layer — outright fear — to the reasons why teachers are questioning their profession," Capo said.
Some Texas GOP officials have said that the solution to gun violence in schools is to provide more access to guns — a common response to calls for gun control after mass shootings occur. Senator Ted Cruz has suggested stationing more armed police in schools.
Former President Donald Trump dismissed the gun control movement as a political ploy, and said that those pushing for restrictions are trying to "exploit the tears of sobbing families" and punish law-abiding citizens. His son, Donald Trump Jr., has blamed the Uvalde attack on mental health, though authorities have said the gunman had no known mental health history.
"If our current leaders will not act, we must elect new ones in November," Capo said. "We must vote out any candidate or elected official who says they support public education but refuse to act against the murder of our schoolchildren and teachers."