Ryan Heber said the ordeal has really made him want to come home to his family.

The Taft shooting is the latest incident of gun violence that launched a fiery national debate over whether teachers should be armed.

Last month the National Rifle Association called on communities to arm teachers or place armed guards in schools as a solution following a Newtown, Connecticut, shooting spree in which a 20-year-old gunman killed seven adults and 20 children at an elementary school.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," said the NRA's Wayne LaPierre. The idea has been rejected by teacher's groups and mayors, including New York's Michael Bloomberg, Boston's Thomas Menino and Philadelphia's Michael Nutter.

The debate prompted CNN commenter Adika to weigh in Thursday, saying, "So let me get this straight. The NRA wants to have police officers in schools ... yet an unarmed teacher talked a student into surrendering his gun. Besides being one heck of a hero, that teacher just might have some advice for the NRA."

Another CNN commenter, Frank455444, countered: "Well if the schools are armed and another nut shows up HE GETS SHOT! PROBLEM SOLVED!"

In Utah it's been legal for a dozen years for teachers to be armed in class. Since the law took effect, there have been no school shootings in the state, nor accidents or incidents involving educators' firearms.

Immediately after the Taft shooting Thursday, amid the frenzy of desperate parents coming to the school to retrieve their children, parents expressed concern about school security.

"It just goes to show you that we're going to have to do a lot more to protect our students in this small town," an unidentified parent told KGET. "It might be a small environment, but there's always that one bad apple."