Given the rare opportunity to use this space as their personal forum, six Nevada teachers weighed in on the idea of allowing teachers to carry guns on campus. The offer I extended Monday was meant to provide a voice for teachers who, if Sen. Bob Beers' idea became law, would be given a choice to train in gun safety and then carry a concealed weapon.

The final teacher tally: Two said yes, four said no.

Let's give the pro voices first shot, so to speak.

Gregory Grant, who teaches at a Summerlin high school, writes that he is philosophically opposed to the idea of arming teachers, but the former weapons-trained driver of an armored car says he wants a gun accessible in a locked gun safe in his locked filing cabinet for one situation: Lockdown.

"I want a gun in my classroom when someone breaks the glass, puts his hand through the window and reaches for the door handle. When the lives of my kids ... are at stake, I want to be able to do more than watch them die."

A man who teaches night classes at UNR, and asks that his name not be used, writes: "A teacher carrying a firearm is a great responsibility and not one to be taken lightly. However, it's worthy of real consideration when you imagine how differently a situation like Columbine might have ended if one or more teachers had been able to defend the students. ... Don't you think someone who wanted to commit mass mayhem at a school would think twice if they knew the teachers could defend the students?"

Coach John Wise, a football and baseball coach who has been at Basic High School for 26 years, and a hunter himself, says, "If we're arming teachers, we're going to shoot a kid. Are we teaching or are we trying to run a military camp?"

Wise was involved in a crisis about 10 years ago when a student threatened Basic wrestling coach Jim Duschen with a meat cleaver. Wise told another student to go find a school district police officer and kept talking to the student and Duschen. Officer Vic Jones responded and was prepared to shoot when the student backed down. Wise says the officer's gun made a difference, but he wants that gun in the hands of a trained police officer.

Substitute teacher Duane DeMay, a retired state parole and probation officer, says he is confident in his own training but opposed to others with less training being armed. He says that when students know he was a law enforcement officer, they behave differently, as if they want to show him up. Having a weapon in a classroom "is an opportunity for mischief. It contaminates the teaching environment."

Karen Ackerman, a teacher at Cashman Middle School, says she does not want to carry a gun but doesn't feel safe because the police officer's position there has been vacant since the fall. Cashman has had two lockdowns this year.

"I would not carry a gun and I would not want most of my peers to carry a gun and therefore would have to stand against the legislation. But still, someone of authority should carry a gun, someone should keep my students and my workplace safe," Ackerman writes.

She says she wants every middle school to have an officer on campus. The current standard: Middle schools with enrollments of 1,575 can request an officer. High schools are supposed to have two full-time school district police officers.

Sandra Vicksta says she was "offended that you would even think that teachers actually want to bring guns to class. Mr. Beers did not survey Nevada educators nor did he seek CCEA (Clark County Education Association) opinion. Had he done so, Mr. Beers would have been told what he already knows: Nevada schools are underfunded. More dollars are needed to support after-school activities and other interventions for at-risk children."

These teachers say the keys are trust and judgment. Even some who trust their own ability with a gun aren't sure they trust their peers. And there are some who trust themselves fully to do the right thing in a crisis if they had a gun, so they want one.

It's an academic debate because chances of Beers' bill becoming law are as good as me becoming a sharpshooter.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.