Nearly One in Four U.S. Teachers Experienced Gun-Related Lockdowns Last School Year

About one in four public K-12 teachers in the U.S. said their schools went into a gun-related lockdown over the past school year, a new survey by the Pew Research Center shows.

The largest amount who experienced such a situations were high school teachers. 21% said it happened once and another 12% said it was on more than one occasion.

As for the area, 31% of teachers in urban schools experienced a shooting (13% did so more than once), compared with 19% of teachers in suburban areas and 20% in rural ones.

Almost 60% said they are at least somewhat concerned about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school, including 18% who are very or extremely worried.

31% said they are not too worried and just 7% said they are not worried at all.

Almost four in ten teachers said their schools have done a fair or poor job when providing training and resources to deal with a potential active shooter situation. 30% said their experience had been good in that area, while the remaining 30% said it was excellent.

Most teachers (69%) said that improving mental health screening and treatment for children and adults is very or extremely important to prevent shootings.

About half (59%) were in favor of having police officers or armed security stationed in schools, while only 13% supported allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools. 70% of all surveyed spoke against this measure.

School shootings reached a record high in 2023, with 82 recorded.

The survey was published on the same day as President Joe Biden approved the largest expansion of background checks for gun purchases since 1993.

The rule requires thousands of gun sellers to register as federally licensed firearms dealers and run criminal and mental health background checks on potential buyers. The rule is almost certain to be challenged in the courts.

Biden called on Congress to "finish the job" and pass universal background checks legislation.

According to a new ATF analysis, about 40% of illegal gun cases investigated in the country came from unlicensed firearm dealings by private persons.

Latino families and communities have been disproportionately impacted by gun violence in the U.S., according to a Center for American Progress (CAP) report.

"From 1999 to 2020, an estimated 74,522 Hispanic people in the United States died from gun violence, with violent homicides accounting for 60 percent of all gun deaths among Hispanic populations."

"From 2014 to 2020, the number of Hispanic people who died due to gun violence rose by 66 percent, increasing at nearly twice the rate of gun deaths nationally."