School districts across America consider arming teachers in aftermath of Nashville school shooting

A month after six people died in the Nashville school shooting, districts across the country are considering arming staff members, but critics worry it will cause more harm than good.

In Spirit Lake, Iowa, the school board voted in late November 2022 to allow 10 non-teaching staff members to carry a handgun on campus – a policy that went into effect after staff completed hours of training with Peterson Firearms Training. Mills Hayes joined Fox News in 2022 as a multimedia reporter in Minneapolis.

"When people drop their kids off at our school, they expect them to come home safely," Spirit Lake Superintendent David Smith said. "And with the rise in violence in schools, you know, you have to really think outside the box."

Smith agrees that when he started as a superintendent in Spirit Lake 13 years ago, he never thought he would be discussing arming school staff, but he says times have changed.