[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 56 (Monday, April 1, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING ANNA SACCENTE OF ORANGE, CONNECTICUT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 1, 2019

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to rise today to submit to 
the Record a powerful statement by thirteen-year-old Ms. Anna Saccente 
of Orange, Connecticut. I have had the honor knowing Anna for her 
entire thirteen years and could not be more proud of the young woman 
she has become.
  Despite recent shootings at schools across the country, Congress has 
failed to pass meaningful reform to school safety and firearm 
regulations and has instead spent time debating arming teachers. As 
part of a school assignment, Anna chose to focus on this important 
issue--a policy that, as a student, would impact her directly.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House not to forget that 
at the core of this discussion is the fact that the lives of children 
like Anna are impacted every day by gun violence. It is with great 
pride that I include in the Record her poignant words.

                          Guns in Classrooms?

                         (By Ms. Anna Saccente)

       Many people in today's world think that putting guns in 
     classrooms would make them a safer and more productive 
     environment. The truth is that it will actually make the 
     classrooms more dangerous and make students more focused on 
     the guns just feet away from them. Many government officials 
     have brought up the idea of arming the staff in the nation's 
     schools. The teachers who agree to get trained and carry a 
     gun would receive a yearly bonus. The money they would be 
     receiving is not worth the dangers it would pose to the 
     students and staff in the schools. Teachers and other school 
     officials should not be armed with guns. Although some people 
     think arming teachers would be safer, teachers and other 
     school officials should not be armed, because getting the 
     proper training and firearms would be expensive, schools may 
     lose many talented teachers and possibly students due to 
     their beliefs about the guns, and it would also be more 
     dangerous.
       One reason why teachers and other staff should not be armed 
     is that it would cost the schools and government a very large 
     amount of money. Where would the funding for such a project 
     come from? An article written by a group of medical 
     professionals states that, ``Funding for any program is 
     imperative--quality firearms are expensive and we question 
     how this would be paid for when schools already struggle with 
     funding for basic educational resources'' (Rogers 1).
       This quote is significant because the schools and 
     government cannot expect the teachers to pay for all the guns 
     and training themselves. The government would need some way 
     to find the money, and so far they have not. There are about 
     3.6 million teachers in the United States as of 2018. A 
     company in Maryland charges you about one hundred dollars per 
     person for general training. In total it would cost about 360 
     million dollars. If you were to get them the more vigorous 
     training the price would shoot up to about one thousand 
     dollars per person. The total cost for that would be about 
     3.6 billion dollars. Then they would have to pay for the 
     guns. If they were to get the teachers the Glock G17, a very 
     popular gun, it would cost about 1.8 billion dollars (Bump 
     2). To get them all the guns and the advanced training it 
     would cost over 5 billion dollars. Why would the government 
     spend so much money on something that is not necessary and 
     would not help. Clearly putting guns in the classrooms is a 
     very pricey project.
       Along with being very dangerous many people do not believe 
     in using guns, including some parents and teachers. If a 
     school decides to make all of the teachers carry guns 
     teachers could quit, and parents could pull their kids out of 
     school. ``Teachers have to teach, and that's what they should 
     be doing,'' said Joel Myrick, a former assistant principal at 
     a high school in Mississippi. ``It doesn't matter what a 
     pistolero you are, or think you are. You don't need to be in 
     a school in charge of protecting children.'' Like Myrick, 
     many other people feel that if they give teachers the guns it 
     will take their minds off of teaching and defeat the whole 
     purpose of school. If this happens the talented teachers will 
     quit and go somewhere that does not allow such deadly 
     weapons. Then, as a result, the schools will start to loose 
     teachers and who will be left to teach?
       After the University of Texas decided to allow firearms on 
     campus multiple professors resigned (Rogers 1). This will 
     only keep happening. Because many people do not like guns, if 
     they permit them in the classrooms, then teachers may quit 
     and parents could pull their kids out of school.
       Many people argue that it would be a better, safer option 
     to put guns in teachers hands, but in reality it is more 
     dangerous. Putting guns in the classrooms brings up enormous 
     risk to the life and mental well-being of the students and 
     teachers in them. After the recent school shootings many kids 
     have gotten anxious or nervous that this would happen to 
     their school. Putting the guns in their classrooms will make 
     them more nervous. Improper storage of the guns could lead to 
     student access or someone else stealing it (Rogers 1). If the 
     teacher goes to leave the room for a minute and the gun is 
     left unattended, a student could gain access to the gun. This 
     could lead to someone getting seriously injured. Imagine if 
     this was a first grade classroom. Six and seven year olds do 
     not really know what a gun is, let alone how to use one. They 
     could pick it up, thinking it was a toy, and that would not 
     end well. In an article written by Michael Hansen, a Brown 
     University Chair and Director, states that, ``Professional 
     police officers hit their intended targets less than 20% of 
     the time in training situations. Armed teachers will have an 
     even lower accuracy rate, and where will all of those stray 
     bullets go?'' (Hansen 1). If a professional police officer is 
     having trouble hitting a target than the teachers are 
     certainly not going to be able to hit the target in a very 
     stressful situation. If they shoot a bullet at their intended 
     target and miss, and there was someone behind the target, 
     what would happen to that bullet? Because of the dangers 
     associated with putting guns in classrooms, they clearly 
     should not be in there in the first place.
       Imagine a world where you would not have to worry about 
     sending your child to a school that is not safe. The students 
     could attend their schools without the fear of guns on the 
     top of their minds. Instead of protecting them, the teachers 
     would only have to worry about teaching the students. For the 
     safety of the students and staff, it would not be a good 
     option to arm the staff in your children's schools. Many 
     people believe it would be safer, but in reality proper 
     training and quality firearms would cost a lot of money, 
     money that would be better spent elsewhere. Many people who 
     oppose them may leave the schools, and it would cause more 
     harm to the people in the schools. So go and do something 
     about it. Go and help make the schools a safer place for 
     everyone in them by contacting your elected officials and 
     opposing any effort to arm teachers.


                              works cited

       Bump, Philip. ``The Economics of Arming America's 
     Schools.'' The Washington Post, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 
     2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/22/the-
economics-of-arming-americas-schools/
?noredirect=on&utm_term=. ee50434394d1. Accessed 7 Mar. 2019.
       Hansen, Michael. ``There are ways to make schools safer and 
     teachers stronger--but they don't involve guns.'' Brown 
     Center Chalkboard, Brookings, 27 Feb. 2018, 
     www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/
 208/02/27/there-are-ways-to-make-
     schools-safer-and-teachers-stronger-but-they-dont-involve-
     guns/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2019.
       Proulx, Natalie. ``Should Teachers Be Armed With Guns?'' 
     The New York Times, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2018, 
     www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/learning/should-teachers-be-armed-
with-guns.html. Accessed 7 Mar. 2019.
       Rogers, Melanie. ``Is Arming Teachers Our Nation's Best 
     Response to Gun Violence? The Perspective of Public Health 
     Students.'' PMC, US National Library of Medicine National 
     Institutes of Health Search database, July 2018, 
     www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993415/. Accessed 7 
     Mar. 2019.

                          ____________________