Is it realistic to believe that a teacher could effectively defend against an active shooter, using an AR-15, armed with only a handgun?

A pistol will kill you just as dead as a rifle. The AR-15 has a much greater range than a pistol, but that's really only a factor outside the maximum effective range of the pistol. Inside a school building, having a pistol is not a significant disadvantage.

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Schools are soft targets, I just don't see any reasonable, legitimate argument against arming teachers or putting multiple guards/officers in schools.

Your point about training and preparedness is well taken, and of course there's a risk that a less-trained person won't handle a crisis as well as they should. But that risk is much, much lower than the risks being taken by making it well known a school is a soft target in which an active shooter is unlikely to face any significant resistance. And besides, the most likely effect of arming teachers is deterrence, not a shootout between teachers and active shooter.

Thanks. Well said. Some folks want to believe it's a numbers game. How many armed administrators, educators, teachers, staffers would it take to pacify an armed active shooter with semi-automatic rifle? Like the deputy, we don't know who will panic, who will be calm and collective, who will hesitate, who will be accurate with their fire, who won't mistakenly shoot a hostage or bystander, who is willing to kill another human being? Human nature is unpredictable. Trained professionals hesitate, make bad judgments, or panic and I'm to assume an amateur with a gun is going to do a better job at protecting my kid. First time in combat, I didn't know how I'd react; four long deployments later, I was on automatic response. I want my kids' teachers to educate first, safeguard them in a crisis, put themselves between my kid and the threat; not run into the hallways chasing the threat down. If we do arm them then they should play defense not offense.

I believe someone who is trained and disciplined stands a good chance of defeating the types of attackers we see executing these mass school shootings.
The attackers are not counting on being exposed to counter fire and in the case of the disgruntled student shooters none of the reports I've read have identified them as having any training that would enable them to execute fire and maneuver if engaged. These cats are counting on reaping havoc on unarmed folks.
It takes training and discipline to throw rounds back and forth and I just don't see these folks being ready to go if confronted.
There are rounds that are made that will reduce the chances of folks being hit by rounds that miss the mark. I have an S&W Governor with a laser and one of the types of rounds is a .410 shell with a mix of frangible disks and pellets so If I have to hammer a home invader any rounds that miss the mark will not penetrate the walls of the house. Granted it's a hog but it's extremely accurate.

Teachers do not go into teaching to carry a weapon and kill student threats - outside Israel where many teachers have mandatory military training in their background. I would not expect teachers to do this job - nor would I want to see many teachers touch a weapon. How about also issuing them some decent body armor or ceramic chicken plate as well? Warmest Regards, Sandy :)\

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You make some very valid points that should certainly be considered. It would greatly depend on the training, experience, and dedication of the teacher/administrator/worker. Numerous individuals have put themselves between children and a shooter empty handed. Someone like that would most likely have the temperment to complete some basic training. I taught part-time after retiring and would have felt confident to carry concealed. There are many out there that are familiar enough with weapon use and strategy that they would at least distract the shooter and get him/her ducking instead of just killing. Again I stress if they are gonna put themselves in the line of fire at least let then have a fighting chance. Another very important consideration is that there are many people (teachers, administrators, workers) out there that really have no business ever touching a weapon let alone carrying one at a school.

You are mixing skills and issues. The intent of arming teachers is not to have them conduct CQB to hunt down a shooter in an active scenario but be able to do exactly what you demonstrated shooters have done, ie defend a position.

As you stated one shooter was able to shoot 11 police officers and kill 6 more by bunkering. That is the intent of arming a teacher to have them defend / bunker their classrooms. Yes, I am sure there are people out there who think they should get into a gun fight, but you are right in a real scenario not only is that a bad idea for teachers who aren't prepared for it, it is highly unlikely they would be willing to do so. It is much more likely and practical that they would be able to defend their classroom full of children.
As a Marine you should know the most difficult and dangerous point in CQB is opening a door because the defender has nearly all the advantage, ie angle/position they are in to the door, understanding of the room and its arrangement, etc. This is the position arming teachers puts a shooter in, to have to make that door entry into an armed teacher.

I think statistically its been noted that the sooner a shooter is confronted, the more likely they are to kill themselves. Maybe someone in law enforcement can back me up on that..... not sure but if so, let the shooter take himself out sooner. Sad but, they stop killing then. So if a teacher is willing and able to confron a shooter, why on earth would I discourage that?

I am an old marine and while this question really isn't easy to answer I will try. not all teachers are made equal and neither are the threats they face. There is a reason to think that the principle and her assistant a Sandy Hook would have been successful in stopping Adam Lanza had they been armed, they obviously had the courage. We just had several policemen fire 64 rounds at a subject in California without hitting the subject so let's not get too excited about training it has more to do with willingness to engage than being "Highly trained". We have good reason to believe bringing the threat under fire would cause the retreat of the threat and hopefully into the arriving police response. Depending on the teacher we would be more comfortable with the teacher as our defender than the police because the teacher has more combat experience. It would be amazing if any Cop were to win a gunfight with my late father so let's be a little circumspect about how this plays out. The hardening of the target through legitimate access control backed up by credible armed response is the foundation of school security, we must be understanding that the threats faced by our schools are not the same. Each threat has it's unique perimeters. We have 2 times a day when our kids are most at risk, when they are arriving and departing school We might consider additional police presence at these times. Domestic disputes are another especially when you have children being abducted by the non-custodial parent. Law enforcement needs to notify schools of these issues. It's hard to respond to a threat you aren't aware of. Security is only as good as the armed response to any threat. Any breach needs to be contained as quickly as possible, any securing of the perimeter and or awaiting backup when children are being shot at and killed is simply unacceptable. As far as the question of taking on a AR-15 with a pistol this shooter killed 17 wounded 14 well over 100 rounds fired not much of a shot I'd like my chances at ranges of 50 meters or less. Semper Fi

If having armed teachers in schools were to become a reality my guidance would be herd your charges to a secure area, barricade your entrance/exit. If the shooter appears, no hesitation, drop them. But don't, DON'T!! Leave your charges unprotected.