Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers against legislation that would arm teachers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A new bill in Harrisburg would allow teachers and staff to have guns in schools.
House Bill 2771 was introduced by Republican state Rep. Aaron Bernstine, R-10. It would allow a school employee who has a concealed carry permit to have their gun on school grounds.
"Our kids are sitting ducks and soft targets in school districts," Bernstine said.
He said he wants to make schools safer for everyone, adding criminals will not care about a "gun-free zone" sign if they intend to do harm.
"We need to make sure we have people on the front lines there in the case a tragic event would happen," Bernstine said.
The bill would allow staff to be voluntarily armed and require them to be trained properly.
"It's a ludicrous idea," Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Nina Esposito-Visgitis said.
She said there are other ways to protect students and staff, including adding more school police and school resource officers.
Her union also called for more funding for mental health services for students. That was echoed by the largest teachers union in the state, the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
"You cannot expect someone who is trained as a kindergarten teacher to be able to react in the same way as someone with the training and experience of a police officer would," assistant director of communications Chris Lilienthal said.
Both unions feel teachers have enough to tackle in the classroom, and a teacher shortage is not helping their workload.
"A lot of it is cockamamie, if I may use that word, crazy legislation like this," Esposito-Visgitis said.
Bernstine argues every second matters in an active shooter situation and if someone in the school has a gun, they could stop the shooter.
"We should be doing everything possible to give people the chance to protect themselves and their students if they so choose," he said.
Currently, the bill is in committee in the state House. It's not expected to have any impact on this school year. Similar legislation has been proposed in the state senate.
