The latest U.S. debate: Should teachers carry guns?

In the small rural Harrold Independent School District in northwest Texas, some teachers are allowed to be armed with gunsa controversial policythat advocatesbelieve may prevent shooting rampages like the one in Newtown, Conn., and has gained traction among other U.S. lawmakers.

Superintendent David Thweattcreated the so-called Guardian Plan about four years ago in response to the2006 shooting in an Amishschoolhousein Pennsylvania and to the Virginia Techshooting spree of 2007. Teachers in this school district, who have undergonegun handling training and who have been approved by the school board, are given permission to carry concealed weapons.

"Were 18 miles and 30 minutes from the nearest police station,"Thweatt told FoxNews.com. "So we are our first responders.

"If something happened here, we would have to protect our children. You know, police officers are true, everyday heroes in my book, but one of them once told me something very revealing. He said, 'Ninety-five percent of the time, we get to the scene late.' I cant afford to let that happen."

In the wake of the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Friday,the idea of arming teachersappears to be gaining political momentum in some states. Though it's not without considerable push-back.

Just prior to the Newtown shooting, Michigan state senators voted to allowpeople with concealed carry permits, including teachers,to bring their weapons onto school property.

Butthe American Federation of Teachersis fighting back, trying to get the Michigan governor to veto the new law.

"Firearms have absolutely no place in our schools the Dec. 14, 2012, tragic massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is a chilling and heartbreaking reminder of this," AFT presidentRandi Weingarten and his Michigan counterpart, David Heckler,wroteGov. Rick Snyder, according to the Washington Examiner.

"Permitting firearms in schools visible or concealed enables a dangerous set of circumstances that can result in similar tragic outcomes," the two men wrote.

Still, this is not a debate that looks to be dying down.

TexasCongressman Louie Gohmert told Fox Newsover the weekendthat he wishedthe SandyHookElementary Schoolprincipal, who was reportedly killed after confronting the shooter, had an assault rifle inher office "locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it outshe takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids."

Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Tony Cornish, a former police chief from southern Minnesota, has said he plans to push legislation permitting teachers to have concealed weapons in schools.

South Dakota legislator Betty Olsois drafting a bill that would allow teachers, administrators and even janitors to bring guns toschool.

Two Oklahoma lawmakers,state Senator Ralph Shortey and state Representative Mark McCullough arepursuing similar legislation.

Shortey told CBC News that he's amazed more situationssimilar to theConnecticut school shootingdon't occur more often.

"If you're a crazy person that wants to inflict the greatest amount of havoc with the greatest amount of media attention then their first choice should be a school," he said.

"You're guaranteed the most innocent are going to be there so you're going to get the media attention you desire. You're also going to guarantee that there's going to be no security, no protection, because you're guaranteed a gun-free zone."

Under his proposal, teacherswould have to pass a background check, a certified firearms instruction program and beproficient with basic training in order to qualify to have a concealed weapon on school property,he said.

He added thathasreceived considerablefeedback from teachersboth from those who said they would like a gun to protect themselves and their students and from those whosaid they would never have a firearm at school.

Not surprisingly, gun-control advocates have slammed the idea. Dan Gross, president of the Brady campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has said the ideaof arming teachers is "insane" and that having additional weapons at the scenes of mass shootingsin recent years would have resulted in even"more carnage."

"Think about what that's saying,"he said of plans like Shortey's. "It's saying the only answer to violence is more violence. The only answer to guns is more guns," Gross said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was one of the first to urge President Barack Obama to press for a weapons ban, has particularly strong words for LouieGohmert'ssuggestion about having an assault rifle at the ready in the principal's office."You know, there are people who say dumb things and then there are people who say stupid things," Bloomberg said.

EvenGary Kleck, the noted Florida State University criminologist who argues that defensive gun use is an effective deterrent,said arming teachers goes too far.

"Notwithstanding these massacres, schools remain one of the safest places you can possibly be, safer than your own home," he told CBC News."We don't really know the effects gun-toting teachers wouldhave onchildren, so personally I think this is a pretty wacky idea."

'If we can't trust a teacher with a gun, why should we even trust a teacher with our kids' Oklahoma Senator Ralph Shortey

While Shortey acknowledged that a mass-shooting rampage occurring on a school campus is remote, he said it's better to be prepared.

"If a person wants to do bad, they're going to find a firearm or a knife or whatever and they're going to go and do harm," hesaid. "Thisproposal, you fight fire with fire."

He added,"some 99.999 per cent of the schools are not going to be affected. But that one that is, then at least one teacher, one administrator, one secretarywill have a firearm ready to respond."

Shortey also downplayed the risk that astudent could get caught in the potential crossfire, saying thatdoing nothing during a shooting is a worse option.

"There's never a situation where a 30-second shootout between an armed assailantand a legally law-abidingarmed citizen is worse than the armed assailant having free rein for five tosix minutes.

As for the possibility that a student might gethis hands on a teacher's gun and cause harm to either himself, staff or other students, Shortey said he believes teachers would be responsible in locking their weapons away ina safe place.

"The kids won't even know if there's a gun in the classroom, and it'll be locked in a way so the kids can't get to it," he said.

"We trust our teachers with the very lives of our children. If we can't trust a teacher with a gun, why should we even trusta teacher with our kids."