Should schools have armed staff?

It is better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.

As it was said, it's better to have it and never need it, than never have it when you need it.

As long as the people who are armed are trained in their use. Personally, I don't care who was armed as long as they are responsible in their use. I don't care if it's the teachers, principal, or resource officers.

One caveat to add though. I believe they should be concealed carried certified. This way the students shouldn't know who is armed. We wouldn't want ill intent students using the teacher's firearms against them.

We are well informed of the consequences of not having them so, let's give the other side a try.

Gun free zones have been proven to not work. Having a trained staff (not neccesarily teachers, but dedicated security) who have access to a weapon would make a harder target. I would feel safer sending a child to a school with armed security than to a school without. I personally grew up on a school campus in the Philippines that had armed security. I never felt threatened and I was never attacked on campus.

YES! "Gun FREE Zones" do NOT work!

i say yes, to keep our children safe, but i do think they should have extensive training on all aspects of the subject. no loose canons

I agree with other posters; most schools do have a School Resource Officer who is a sworn (therefore armed) law enforcement officer. I also agree that what needs to be taken into consideration is how many SROs for each school. Giving this a quick thought, I think each school needs an SRO and then there should also be roving SROs, who move between schools in a given district, able to provide quick backup to the stationed SRO should something happen. That way you can have double the SROs on scene while the cavalry is on its way.

The school system in my city has School Resource Officers (SRO) who are part of the Police Department and specially trained for that position,

We shouldn't have government schools at all. They are just ridiculous pseudo-gulags at this point, and primarily just pump out incompetent mouthbreathers who are barely qualified to work the deep-fryer at the local burger joint.

They should be and the job should go to Retired Military Enlisted Law Enforcement.