[1]Last month, in response to the latest in a series of mass shootings in American schools, some lawmakers suggested arming North Carolina teachers [2]. Last week, pollsters at Elon University released the results of a poll in which they asked North Carolina teachers [3] about the issue.
Today, we present some numbers from that poll and gun-related numbers from the 2016 Uniform Crime Reporting Data report [4] of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
78 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said it was a bad idea to allow teachers to carry guns in schools.
74 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said they would not carry a gun in school if allowed.
61 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said allowing teachers to carry guns in school would make them feel less safe.
68 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said guns carried by teachers in school would be likely to fall into the wrong hands.
69 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said arming teachers would be a bad idea even if the number of teachers was limited and they underwent training.
99 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said they would favor ensuring background checks on all gun sales.
77 percent – The number of teachers in the Elon poll who said they would favor banning sales of sales of semi-automatic high capacity rifles.
92 percent – The number of teacher in the Elon poll who said they would favor increased support for mental health funding.
298 – The number of known murders committed with handguns in North Carolina in 2016, as recorded by the SBI.
13 percent – The increase in that number between 2015 and 2016.
128 – The number of known murders committed using unspecified or undetermined types of firearms in North Carolina in 2016, as recorded by the SBI.
47 percent – The increase in that number between 2015 and 2016.
10,827 – The number of aggravated assaults committed with a firearm in North Carolina in 2016, as recorded by the SBI in 2016.
12 percent – The increase in that number between 2015 and 2016.