An Examination of Texas K-12 Teachers’ Opinions on Teacher and Staff Gun Carrying

Abstract

ABSTRACT While previous studies have assessed public opinions for arming teachers in K-12 schools in the United States, comparatively less research has focused on understanding teachers’ opinions for such policies and assessed whether and to what extent school- and individual-level factors are associated with differences in support. The current study aims to address these voids in the current body of literature by analyzing self-report data from a large sample of Texas K-12 educators (N = 9,196) to assess relations between theoretical correlates of teacher and staff gun carrying, demographic as well as school characteristics, and support for carrying. A series of logistic regression models reveal that favorable views of an emergency operation plan in a school setting and general negative view of guns in school are associated with lower odds of support. The strength of these associations varies across teacher and school characteristics. The implications of the reported results for K-12 school policy is discussed.