Again the question: Could armed teachers stop shootings?

Utah teacher Kasey Hansen says carrying a concealed weapon in school is “more of a solution” than hiding in a corner and waiting if an armed intruder enters the classroom. But Texas teacher Tara Bordeaux worries that she lacks “the instincts” of a law enforcement officer and can’t easily see herself carrying a gun in class.

Both say carrying a gun in school is a matter of personal preference. But in the aftermath of yet another mass school shooting, the idea of arming teachers continues to divide educators, parents and the public in search of a solution. Lawmakers in several states are wrestling with the contentious idea, including Florida, where the 17 victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland are being mourned.

President Donald Trump has weighed into the debate, saying during a listening session Wednesday with parents and survivors of school shootings that a teacher adept at firearms “could very well end the attack very quickly.” He followed that up with a tweet Thursday that “highly trained teachers would act as a deterrent to the cowards that do this.”

The president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, called arming teachers a horrible idea and said an educator’s handgun would be no match for the assault-style weapons often wielded by attackers.

“The solution is to ban these military weapons from people who shouldn’t have them,” Weingarten said.

Wayne LaPierre, vice-president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, said Thursday that reactions like Weingarten’s are expected after mass shootings.

“The whole idea from some of our opponents that armed security makes us less safe is completely ridiculous,” he told a conference of conservatives in Washington.

Calling schools “virtually wide-open soft targets,” LaPierre added, “It should not be easier for a mad man to shoot up a school than a bank or a jewelry store.”

In Florida, Republican state Sen. Greg Steube has proposed allowing specially trained educators with military or law enforcement backgrounds to be armed.

“Our most valuable, most precious resources are our children. Why in the world are we going to put them in a circumstance where there is nobody that is armed and trained at any of our schools to be able to respond quickly to an active shooter situation?” Steube told The Associated Press.

Similar discussions have taken place in Kentucky, Colorado, North Carolina and Alabama in recent days. In Wisconsin, the attorney general said he’s open to the idea.

“Our students do not need to be sitting ducks. Our teachers do not need to be defending themselves with a No. 2 pencil,” Alabama state Rep. Will Ainsworth, a Republican, said in proposing a bill days after the Valentine’s Day shooting in Florida.

The debate breaches statehouse walls. A poll released this week by ABC News/Washington Post says 42 per cent of Americans believe teachers with guns could have prevented the Florida shooting.

“I’m not here to tell all teachers that they have to carry a gun,” said Hansen, the Utah teacher, who’s from Salt Lake City. She said the idea to arm herself in school began with the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children and six adults died.

“It just really hit home that these teachers, all they could do was pile those kids in a corner and stand in front of them and hope for the best,” she said. “For me personally, I felt that it was more of a solution than just hiding in a corner and waiting.”