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Kasey Hansen did not grow up with guns around the house, never mind owning one. By 2012, she was a new teacher and had maybe only fired a gun twice in her entire life. That all changed after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“It broke my heart to think that all the teachers could do was huddle their kids in a corner, stand in front of them and pray that nothing was going to come through that classroom door,” Hansen told ABC News’ “Nightline.”

Today, Hansen, who teaches special education, brings her gun to school where she works in Utah, a state where carrying a concealed firearm is legal with a permit.

“I have different holsters that go on different parts. And so depending on my outfit is where the gun goes,” Hansen said.

Questions about whether teachers should be armed in schools have surfaced on the national debate stage, following the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.

A beloved football coach and college-bound high school seniors were among the 17 people killed, and more than a dozen others were injured. The suspect, a former student, was arrested and charged with premeditated murder. Now many of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students have channeled their grief to anger and anger into activism. Protests have sprung up in cities from Florida to Washington, D.C., with many calling on lawmakers to make significant changes to gun laws.

According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 42 percent of people surveyed say the Parkland shooting could have been prevented if teachers carried guns.

But 58 percent of those polled said stricter gun laws could have stopped the killings.

In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) made a statement saying that “gun violence represents a public health crisis which requires a comprehensive public health response and solution.” The AMA also supports bans on the possession and use of firearms and ammunition by unsupervised youths under the age of 18 and the mandatory inclusion of safety devices on all firearms, whether manufactured or imported into the United States.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a policy statement on firearm-related injuries affecting children, which states that the “absence of guns from children’s homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents.” According to the AAP, the U.S. has the highest rates of firearm-related deaths among high-income countries, and 84.5 percent of all homicides of people ages 15 to 19 were firearm-related in 2009. The AAP also noted that for kids ages 10 to 17, guns are the method used for 40 percent of suicides.

The AAP supports stronger gun laws, including stronger background checks, banning assaults weapons and addressing firearm trafficking. In their priorities for gun violence prevention, the AAP advocates for violence prevention programs, more funding for gun violence prevention research, physician counseling on the health hazards of firearms and mental health access for children and their families, particularly to address the effects of exposure to violence.

At a listening session with high school shooting survivors and students at the White House on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said concealed carrying “only works when you have people adept at using firearms.” And in a recent tweet, Trump wrote, “Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive.”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/utah-...ls/story?id=53287677

PHOTO: Kasey Hansen, a special education teacher in Utah, is seen here practicing at a gun range with a video simulation.

 

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