The tragic and deadly shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, have renewed the debate over gun control measures, but another policy idea also has been thrust back to the forefront: arming teachers.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2013, Texas passed a law allowing teachers to sign up as firearm-carrying “marshals.” The program has not had widespread adoption. Several other states have laws allowing teachers to carry firearms on school grounds.

Now, Ohio may follow suit with its own plan to allow teachers to carry guns.

The tragic and deadly shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, have renewed the debate over gun control measures, but another policy idea also has been thrust back to the forefront: arming teachers.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2013, Texas passed a law allowing teachers to sign up as firearm-carrying “marshals.” The program has not had widespread adoption. Several other states have laws allowing teachers to carry firearms on school grounds.

Now, Ohio may follow suit with its own plan to allow teachers to carry guns.

Notably, younger Americans were most supportive, with 61.8% of 18-24 year-olds saying that prohibiting properly trained teachers from carrying guns would make schools less safe.

Polling of teachers suggests they are not as supportive. A Gallup poll from 2019 found that 73% of surveyed teachers “oppose teachers and staff carrying guns in schools” and 58% said “carrying guns in schools would make schools less safe.”