Two weeks after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed nineteen children, Sheriff Lombardo’s solution to reduce violence is to bring more guns into schools by arming teachers–a proposal that studies have shown to be ineffective and that lacks support from teachers, parents, and students. Despite being the sheriff of Nevada’s largest county and claiming he wants to keep guns away from those who shouldn’t have one, Lombardo is instead pandering to his base and ignoring teachers.

Read more about Lombardo’s dangerous “solution” below.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada gubernatorial candidates share views on teachers being armed

Glenn Puit, Colton Lochhead, Lorraine Longhi

June 8, 2022

Key Points:

• On the heels of national conversations around mass shootings and as Clark County schools have seen an uptick in violence, Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Tuesday he supports allowing teachers to carry firearms on campus if they have received training on how to use them.

• While a 2018 Gallup poll found that nearly three-fourths of teachers oppose training teachers and staff to carry guns in schools, the debate over arming teachers has reopened in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

• John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, said Tuesday that educators in the county have not advocated for guns in classrooms.

• The campaign for Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, who is running for re-election, criticized the idea of arming teachers.

• “Teachers are overwhelmingly against having guns in the classroom — which is not an effective solution to reduce violence — and turning our schools into prisons is not the right answer to keep our students safe. This is another out-of-touch proposal from a failed Sheriff who has spent more time campaigning than protecting Nevadans from rising crime rates,” Sisolak’s campaign spokeswoman Reeves Oyster said in a statement.

• Afterward, parent Ashley Derosier said she did not know if she would be comfortable with the notion of armed teachers.

• “If you give them a weapon in the school, and something happens, who’s to say they’re going to make the right call?” said Derosier, the mother of a 7-year-old.

• Lombardo did not specify how Clark County schools could pay for more officers and security measures.

Read the full story here. 

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