Today, Elon Poll released the results of a poll entitled "What North Carolina Teachers Think about Guns in Schools," which surveyed a large majority of K-12 teachers in North Carolina and was conducted jointly with The News & Observer, Raleigh's local newspaper, and Charlotte Observer.
The first question asked whether teachers thought it was a good or bad idea to arm teachers, and 78 percent of them responded that it was a bad idea.
At the end of the poll there was a section for open comments from the teachers surveyed for them share their thoughts about arming teachers and elaborate on their answers.
"I'm slowly watching the country I love turn into the wild west, and it frightens me to think of the type of future we're creating for our students," an anonymous teacher commented on the poll.
In addition to the first question, the poll questioned whether teachers would carry a gun, whether or not they thought it would affect the learning environment and whether they thought it would increase or decrease students deaths overall.
Approximately 74 percent of teachers said they wouldn’t carry a gun if allowed to do so, 65 percent believed it would harm the learning environment and 51 percent said it would increase deaths overall.
"I am open to carrying a weapon at school, but, honestly, I don't want to. If it would save lives and help protect my students and I, I am willing," An anonymous teacher comment, "I just don't know how I feel about students in that environment."
To see the full results of the poll, visit https://www.elon.edu/e/CmsFile/GetFile?FileID=1245.