“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” – NRA
Recently, Tennessee became another state – joining 32 others – whose legislators voted to allow teachers in schools to conceal carry. The bill is on its way to Governor Bill Lee’s office, where it is expected to be signed and put into law.
Given how school shootings, which are actually very rare, play into the mental well-being of students and the concerns of parents, I often wonder why some schools continue to advertise they are a “gun-free zone?” Same as many other public places – like hospitals, movie theaters, libraries, grocery stores, etc. Plastering a decal of a gun crossed out in a circle at entrances (gun free zone), just seems to say to potential shooters: “we are unable to defend ourselves; we are sitting ducks.”
Arming school personnel seems like a common sense idea. Have a sign by the entry doors like some public places do: “Armed personnel on site.” No one knows who is armed. An excellent way to deter a potential shooter. Keep those monsters guessing.
Teachers or administrators who are willing to go through classes and become certified in weapons use and allowed to carry make sense. Keep kids safe. Have the ability to really defend against an assault. A school shooter does not need a lot of time to inflict damage – killing and wounding many – usually under three minutes from start to finish. Police, in many cases, take five minutes to respond.
Even those schools with a resource officer find a delay in response time.
Thirty-two states in the country right now allow teachers or school administration to conceal carry. South Dakota started the trend in 2013! Eleven years ago. Unfortunately, Wisconsin is not one of the states that allow teachers to defend their classrooms.
Given that we have a Democratic governor, even if the legislators were to pass a bill allowing teachers to carry, we know that Tony Evers would veto such. Get a Republican governor in office and such is possible.
Those states that do allow teachers and administrators to carry have not experienced any negative situations or concerns about being armed on campus. If they did, the mainstream media would be rushing all over each other to report on such. See? See? We told you! Teachers should not carry!!!! For the moment, there is no story out there that shows any dangerous situation of allowing teachers to be armed.
Those who do not want to have armed personnel on campus argue that a variety of problems could occur. Most mentioned are situations in which students could “grab a gun” from an armed teacher to kill fellow students. Or a teacher has emotional problems and attacks students. Hasn’t happened yet. Most schools that allow staff to carry require that the person have the gun on their body in a holster or in a safe that is identifiable by fingerprints or facial recognition.
And it is true that people bent on intending to kill many people tend to avoid those schools or places that advertise that they will fight back. Audrey Hale, who killed six people at a Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee, was said to have had another target, but chose not to go after such due to “too much security.”
“Too much security” in this case means Hale did not know who was armed and who was not at the alternative target.
As mentioned earlier, those who are trained to carry on school property in many cases, have to go through a rigorous training session and pass several tests. In addition, they have to periodically update their training. The FASTER program is used by many schools to train and allow concealed carry of staff. FASTER stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response. Their motto is: TIME is all that MATTERS! The protocol they follow is:
1st – Stop the killing. Use any and every means available.
2nd – Stop the dying. Have medical tools and training on site.
It takes many hours and training to receive the proper certification. The ability to carry a weapon in a school setting is not taken lightly. Only those who really wish to do so, pass rigorous tests, and are given permission to do so are allowed to be armed on campus. If one has ever been to a gun range as a civilian, there are a lot of protocols to follow. Such will be enforced by the employees of said range. Shooting a gun is not a joke. Nothing to be taken lightly. Learning to shoot a firearm correctly takes time and practice. Of course those who oppose firearms and want to see the government take away the right to bear arms do not realize how seriously the majority of gun owners take their responsibility.
In closing, a teacher called Mandi, (who does not want her last name published) summarized why she chose to train and carry a gun to protect her students. She said she had pulled out all the stops to keep her kids safe – barricades (locked doors), wasp spray to shoot at an attacker, a sock with a heavy item inside to throw, etc. She realized how pathetic such was if an attacker had an actual gun.
She trained with a gun and got certified to use such. Comments aimed at her on Facebook and other sites were rather nasty, with some saying they would not allow their children in her classroom and/or that she was “crazy.” REALLY? Ask yourself – if an armed shooter somehow got into your child’s school, would you want a teacher who had the means to protect your child or not?
I stand with the Mandi’s of the world. I totally support such and hope that more teachers – especially in Wisconsin – follow in her footsteps. Properly trained, armed, and able to defend their students!
