Is arming teachers popular?

Nearly Half of Americans Support Arming Teachers

Friday, September 02, 2022

Rasmussen Polling

Americans are worried about the danger of school shootings, and support has increased for arming teachers to defend their classrooms.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 76% of American Adults are worried about the possibility of mass shootings at schools, including 44% who are Very Worried. Only 21% are not worried about school shootings. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Ohio recently enacted a law to have teachers trained to carry firearms at schools. Forty-nine percent (49%) believe it’s a good idea to have teachers armed and trained to protect students against school shootings. That’s up from the 41% who supported such a policy in 2018. Thirty-seven percent (37%) now say it’s a bad idea to have trained teachers to carry firearms to protect students. Another 15% are not sure.

Seventy-four percent (74%) believe it’s likely that there will be a major school shooting in America during the current school year, including 31% who think it’s Very Likely. Sixteen percent (16%) don’t think a major school shooting is likely this year, while 10% are not sure.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it’s in the news, it’s in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 U.S. American Adults was conducted on August 21-22, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Upgrade to a Platinum Account

Get access to full demographic data, detailed polling information and more.

Democrats (57%) are more likely than Republicans (32%) or those not affiliated with either major party (41%) to be Very Worried about the possibility of mass shootings at schools. However, more Republicans (69%) than Democrats (35%) or the unaffiliated (45%) think it’s a good idea to have trained teachers with firearms to protect students.

A majority (57%) of Americans with children at home believe that arming teachers is a good idea, compared to 43% of those without children.

Majorities of every racial category are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of mass shootings, and believe it’s likely there will be a major school shooting during the current school year. However, Blacks (34%) are less likely than whites (50%) or other minorities (52%) to think it is a good idea to have trained teachers carry firearms to protect students against school shootings.

Women (49%) are more likely than men (40%) to be Very Worried about the possibility of mass shootings at schools, but men (55%) are more likely than women (43%) to believe that arming teachers to protect students is a good idea.

Americans under 40 are most likely to be Very Worried about school shootings, while those 65 and older are most likely to think it’s a bad idea to have trained teachers with firearms.

A majority (54%) of married Americans believe arming teachers to protect students is a good idea, but only 43% of the unmarried agree.

More government employees (51%) than private sector workers (46%) or retirees (43%) are Very Worried about the possibility of mass shootings at schools.

Americans with incomes between $30,000 and $50,000 are most likely to think it’s a good idea to have trained teachers carry firearms to protect students against school shootings, while those with incomes above $200,000 are most likely to think arming teachers is a bad idea.

As students return to the classroom this fall, more than four times as many Americans rate public schools poor as rate them excellent.

More than a decade after Barack Obama emphasized the need for “world-class education,” most Americans think U.S. schools are failing to deliver.