Greater Chattanooga area parents take on guns in schools

Read moreDavid Cook: The things they carried

WHAT THEY’RE SAYINGResidents across the Chattanooga region were asked how they would feel about proposals to arm teachers or other staff or have armed school resource officers or guards in schools. Here are their responses.”I’m OK with a resource officer, but just to let anyone inside the school have a gun makes me nervous.”– Annette Rojas, mother of two, teacher at Dalton’s Brookwood Elementary”That’s really not [teachers’] job.”– Savannah Woody, senior at Murray County High School”[Teachers] shouldn’t have that responsibility. Hire a patrolman, someone who’s experienced with it. [Teachers] don’t get paid to carry guns.”– Delores Strecker, Savannah Woody’s grandmother”I think it’s a really bad idea, because if kids get ahold of the [gun], they could shoot somebody.”– Mariela Rojas, a fifth-grader at Brookwood Elementary School in Dalton”It might be a good thing, but I want the teachers to be stable because we’ve got teachers that’s not stable … I think they should have training, and then I’d be OK with it.”– Ann Nunley, mother of a Grundy County High School student”I would be afraid older kids might could take down a teacher … I’m totally against teachers with guns.”– Trudy Fick, mother of preschooler at Sequatchie County’s Griffith Elementary”I’m not real crazy about the idea of the teachers carrying the weapons, but I think somebody should be there with a weapon, an officer, or you know somebody that’s had training. I feel like if the students knew, then you know they could possibly take it away from the teacher.”– Marsha Nunley, mother of a Grundy County High School student”I am not for gun control. The people who shouldn’t have them will have them anyway. Anytime you have any kind of weapons, you should have to have it locked up, though. The problem is, anytime you have a gun on you, it has to be loaded, and with children, it’s unsafe. We’ve got a really troubled society and these kids are troubled. If people can be in communities where people are really taking a stand and working to stabilize the families, I think we won’t need guns in schools.”– Sandy Culbertson, East Lake grandmother”I don’t like the idea of every teacher, but someone that was in the school I’d be OK with. Just because you go through training doesn’t mean you’re a good shooter. But definitely someone appropriately trained but not someone apparent.”– Melissa Bradham, mother of two Normal Park Museum Magnet School students”We’ve had crazy things happen. Some small child’s going to think it’s a toy and point it at somebody. Who’s to say that these teachers aren’t on pills that are going to make them flip out? But there should at least be metal detectors in all schools. Anybody could just walk in.”– Renee Fults, mother of student at Grundy County’s North Elementary School”I think they should have a police officer. Who’s to say a teacher’s not going to psych out? I think they need to do a lot of screening. An officer would be the best one. Of course, Altamont and Grundy County’s not a big city, but who’s to say it’s not going to happen here?”– Melissa Fults, mother of two students at Grundy County’s North Elementary School”I’m all for it. I have a handgun permit, I carry mine. I’m very careful with it, and I think that if they had the training that would be great because they don’t jump on the people they know has a gun. You notice it’s always kindergartens or someplace out in public where they think nobody’s got a gun. There’s been several times where if somebody had a gun, they would have saved a whole lot of lives. So I’m all for it if they’re trained.”– Violet Norris, grandmother of three students at McMinville Elementary”I’m all for it, too. I mean, I think they should have an officer on the premises at all times, you know someone that is trained or whatever. I’m not all for all the teachers having one, but I am for an armed guard.”– Kim Pickett, mother of two students at Grundy County’s North Elementary School”I don’t think teachers should carry guns, but armed guards would be fine.”– Kristi Byeres, mother of two students at Grundy County’s Coalmont Elementary School”I’m kind of debating that. I definitely would want them to have training. We have two armed officers at Grundy County High School. I definitely think they need that at every school. I can see the good and the bad side of it, though.”– Sherri Nance, mother of students at Grundy County High School and Swiss Elementary”I’d like to see more security. I don’t think just anybody should walk in. But a gun would be way more peace of mind.”– Carrie Garrison, mother of three, two of whom attend Tracy Elementary”They really need to lock it down to where they don’t have as many entrances into the school and you can have an armed guard at one entrance to check people when they come in. That’s what it’s coming to at every school. I think it would be safer.”– Matthew Meeks, father of three kids, who attend Swiss Memorial Elementary School and Grundy County High School”I don’t think that would solve anything. I don’t think that’s getting to the root of the problem. I think school counselors can be very powerful tools for [troubled] children. I believe in counseling — even more so than [psychiatric] drugs.””– Jennifer Purser, 24, of Calhoun, Ga.- Compiled by staff writers Kevin Hardy, Tim Omarzu and Lindsay Burkholder