My name is Andrew Pollack. My daughter, Meadow, was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I know what it means to send your child to school and never have her come home.

Every child deserves to be safe at school, and we must give teachers the tools they need to protect their students from violent attackers.

This is why I demand that state lawmakers and school officials across America take action now to protect our children by allowing armed teachers in schools, so they can respond immediately to violent attacks and defend themselves and their students when every second counts.

When a gunman attacked Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, police arrived just three minutes after the first 911 call, but the attacker had already murdered three children and a teacher and wounded two others before a father of two daughters at the school, who held a concealed handgun permit, intervened and stopped the killing.

Armed security officers cannot protect every classroom at every moment. Attackers can spot uniformed officers, wait until they leave, choose another target, or attack the officers first. Allowing trained teachers to carry concealed handguns eliminates that tactical advantage by leaving attackers uncertain about who might fight back.

More than 13,000 public schools across the United States allow teachers to carry firearms, some for decades. Crime Prevention Research Center research examining school shootings from 2000 through 2025 reports not a single shooting death or injury during school hours at schools that allowed teachers to carry firearms.

New research examining FBI active-shooter data from 2014 through 2024 finds that armed civilians stop attacks more frequently than responding police officers and face a lower risk of being killed or wounded. Attacks stopped by police averaged 9.9 victims shot, compared with just 1.47 in attacks stopped by armed civilians -- a 6.7 fold difference. These findings underscore the potential importance of having someone armed and ready to respond when an attack begins. 

Mass murderers have even explained in their diaries and manifestos that they deliberately target gun-free zones because they expect to encounter defenseless victims.

Americans increasingly recognize the need to protect our children. An August 2026 national survey by McLaughlin & Associates found that 51.4% of voters support allowing armed teachers, compared with 35.7% who oppose it. Parents with children in K–12 schools support the policy by an even larger margin, 57.3% to 30.2%.

I urge lawmakers and school boards to end school gun-free zone policies that leave children defenseless and allow qualified, properly trained, and vetted teachers and staff who voluntarily choose to carry concealed firearms to protect themselves and their students.  No parent should ever have to experience the heartbreak of losing a child when someone at the school might have been able to stop the killer.