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I am retired LEO and spent a great deal of time studying the Columbine High School shooting as well as other incidents. I also conducted site surveys of dozens of schools and made recommendations to make them more secure.
You can have several motivated police officers, trained in Rapid Deployment, a few minutes away from the active shooting incident, but a lot can happen in just a few minutes before they arrive on scene.
I am in favor of authorizing a teacher who wants to carry a concealed firearm to protect students to carry inside the school. The program would have to strictly voluntary, and some firearm instruction should be provided to those who do volunteer. In my area, I can easily come up with a sufficient number of volunteer instructors, range supplies and a firearm range to use without any cost to a school district.
Additional training should be provided. A teacher does not have to be SWAT trained. A few simple techniques, that are easily remembered under stress, can be taught to the teachers. Protocol for interacting with responding law enforcement should also be covered.
Two important points for the naysayers: 1) If at any point during the training a teacher feels uncomfortable, they can walk away. 2) Maintaining physical control over the firearm at all times while on school grounds should be emphasized.
It took society over 50 years to devolve to the point that some feel that using a firearm to take innocent lives is somehow acceptable. It would take years to turn things around. Given our current climate, having a few armed teachers in every school is a good way to improve our chances to protect our children and minimize injury. At a minimum, it would be a deterrent to most potential active shooters, mentally unstable or not.
You can have several motivated police officers, trained in Rapid Deployment, a few minutes away from the active shooting incident, but a lot can happen in just a few minutes before they arrive on scene.
I am in favor of authorizing a teacher who wants to carry a concealed firearm to protect students to carry inside the school. The program would have to strictly voluntary, and some firearm instruction should be provided to those who do volunteer. In my area, I can easily come up with a sufficient number of volunteer instructors, range supplies and a firearm range to use without any cost to a school district.
Additional training should be provided. A teacher does not have to be SWAT trained. A few simple techniques, that are easily remembered under stress, can be taught to the teachers. Protocol for interacting with responding law enforcement should also be covered.
Two important points for the naysayers: 1) If at any point during the training a teacher feels uncomfortable, they can walk away. 2) Maintaining physical control over the firearm at all times while on school grounds should be emphasized.
It took society over 50 years to devolve to the point that some feel that using a firearm to take innocent lives is somehow acceptable. It would take years to turn things around. Given our current climate, having a few armed teachers in every school is a good way to improve our chances to protect our children and minimize injury. At a minimum, it would be a deterrent to most potential active shooters, mentally unstable or not.
