DeKALB | The recent school shootings in Wisconsin, Colorado and Pennsylvania have caused many to rethink the safety measures taken in schools.

After the Oct. 1 shooting in Colorado, Rep. Frank Lasee (R-Wis.) announced he would attempt to work against a federal law banning guns on school grounds in order to introduce legislation allowing school personnel to carry weapons in schools. As part of the legislation, Lasee said he would require teachers to undergo training in the use of firearms.

Measures like these bring up the many sides of gun control and gun safety that play throughout society.

Teacher Certification – Marksmanship

Aaron Lockhart, DeKalb Police School Resource Officer, works with DeKalb schools as both a deterrent against violence and as someone who takes preventative measures to reduce circumstances that may cause it.

Lockhart said putting guns in the hands of teachers would not help to make the situation for students any safer.

“I think that would probably cause more problems because kids would then have access to weapons,” Lockhart said. “The solution is to talk to the kids.”

Lockhart said his role in preventing violence is to develop trust between students and himself.

“I try to make students aware that I’m approachable,” Lockhart said. “If one kid knows that another kid is going to do something, they can come to me.”

Lockhart said teachers should only be concerned with teaching their students.

“[A] teacher’s main responsibilities are to teach students and make them learn,” Lockhart said. “It’s not their responsibility to enforce the law. That’s what law enforcement does.”

“A discipline and a sport”

Junior philosophy major Reid Bruce is a licensed gun owner and has several handguns and a shotgun. He keeps them in a large locker with the ammunition separate. His .45 automatic, a Colt M1911A1, has bright nail polish on the front sight so that it is easier to see when he fires at the black cardboard targets at the firing range.

He handles his weapons with the care and ease of somebody intimately familiar with their handling and upkeep.

Bruce said he learned marksmanship and safe gun handling over many years and that shooting range personnel were always happy to give him lessons and safety tips.

“It’s kind of a social thing to shoot and practice and stay sharp,” Bruce said. “Self-defense is the most obvious reason for owning a handgun, but it’s also a discipline and a sport.”

Bruce said some gun-control laws, such as Illinois’ lack of a concealed weapon permit, take away self-defense options from law-abiding citizens.

“You have people who have guns and are willing to use them to commit crimes, and then you have law-abiding citizens like me who are disarmed,” Bruce said. “I think the gun control we have right now disarms responsible people, like I try to be, but leaves weapons in the hands of [criminals].”

Bruce said he feels many people in support of stricter gun control aren’t considering all sides of the issue.

“I don’t think gun-control people have been exposed to the positive things about guns,” Bruce said.