Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Arm Your Teachers



Arm Your Teachers
In the wake of mass shootings and gun control threats from some state legislators and’ the federal government, teachers themselves are going in the opposite direction.

By de Andréa
January 14, 2013 

School teachers in Texas, Ohio, Utah, and Florida and many other states are flocking to firearms classes in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in Newtown Connecticut, some vowing to protect their students with guns even at the risk of losing their jobs.

In Ohio, more than 900 teachers, administrators, and school employees asked to take part in the Buckeye Firearms Association’s newly created, gun training program.  In Texas, an $85 Concealed Handgun License (CHL) course offered at no cost to teachers filled 400 spots immediately, forcing the school to offer another class, one instructor said.  “Any teacher who is licensed and chooses to be armed should be able to be armed,” said Gerald Valentino, co-founder of the Buckeye Firearms Association.  “It should be every teacher’s choice.”  If you West Coasters are interested in self-defense training, try Valley Defense Consulting Inc.  

The Dec. 14 tragedy in Newtown, Conn., sparked a national debate about whether to arm teachers, prompting passionate arguments on both sides.  The deaths of 6- 7 and 8 year-old school children led President Barack Obama to promise so-called “meaningful action” meaning-more useless gun laws to increase  gun violence, while the National Rifle Association has advocated an interesting idea, arming teachers and/or placing trained guards in each of the country’s 100,000 schools. 

Just when I think I have figured out how the liberal mind works they surprise me once again with logic like “if a hundred gun laws don’t work maybe a few more will…”  Talk about more of the same failed ideas…  The liberal lawmakers actually believe what is depicted in the cartoon at right, despite the fact that it has never worked.  But if they keep on doing it often enough, won’t they eventually get a different result…well…No!

 Ohio and Texas are not the first to offer no-cost arms training to teachers.  Just days after the Connecticut mass murder, some 200 teachers in Utah underwent free instruction from defense training schools.

Brainwashed liberal critics ridicule arming teachers as a foolhardy idea promoted by overzealous gun enthusiasts, saying it would only add danger to the classroom while distracting teachers from their job of educating children.  All I can say about that is, one cannot educate dead children.  Oh, one more thing, arming teachers has worked wherever is has been tried.  But then liberals get confused with facts.

Some experts say an armed teacher could have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook; and an armed passenger could have stopped 9/11 as well.

“What we know is that these spree killers are looking for the highest death toll possible.  They look for no-gun zones like schools,” Valentino said.  “It doesn’t make sense that we guard our gold with guns and we guard our kids with hope,” or a paper sign that says come here because we are defenseless…

The Buckeye Firearms Association, which successfully lobbied for 2004 legislation allowing people to carry concealed handguns, is offering all eligible state educators free admission to what it calls “an intensive three-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by first responders.”

Guns And The Law
Despite Federal law, Ohio law does not expressly prohibit guns in schools and leaves it to each individual school board to set policy.  Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine referred to teachers as “first responders” after the Connecticut shootings and announced his office would expand safety training for Ohio school employees.

Texas state law allows teachers who have concealed handgun permits to carry weapons into public school classrooms as long as they have permission from the district superintendent.

Despite the hue and cry of some hysterical legislators measures introduced in the Texas legislature since the Sandy Hook shooting would make it easier’ to carry firearms onto college campuses and into schools and other public places where weapons are now banned.

Josh Felker, who teaches the firearms classes in suburban San Antonio, said many of the teachers have told him they plan to carry weapons into their classrooms, even at risk of losing their jobs.  “They are upset at what happened, and no one is going to hurt their kids,” said Felker, who offered the class to teachers for free over the holiday break.  “One teacher said flat out, ‘I don’t care if the law changes or not, I’m going to take it to school.’  Most of them just want to protect their kids.”

The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy will offer its first “Active Shooter Training Response for Educators Course,” which up to now has been reserved for police officers.

One Texas superintendent who since 2008 has given permission to teachers with handgun licenses to carry a gun in school is David Thweatt, who heads the rural Harrold Independent School District, about 175 miles (280 km) northwest of Dallas.
“First they have to have a concealed handgun license, they have to be approved to carry on our campus, they have to undergo additional training, and they are limited to ammunition which breaks apart when it hits a hard object,” Thweatt said.

He said he decided to allow teachers to carry weapons in class because in his rural district “law enforcement would never make it here on time” in case of an emergency.  “When seconds count, the police are minutes away”.

Although the names of teachers who carry weapons were meant to remain confidential, their identities were widely known in town, Thweatt said.
Valentino was adamant that Ohio’s armed teachers remain anonymous, citing concerns that local media might reveal who was taking the course.  “The idea is for no one to know what teachers might be carrying.  It would be very dangerous to identify these teachers.  We don’t want to put a target on them,” Valentino said.

Texas Republican State Rep. Debbie Riddle has introduced a measure to require school boards and superintendents to give permission to teachers who have completed the concealed handgun licensing course to carry weapons into the classroom.  “It would have a chilling effect on any copycats who wanted to replicate what was done at Sandy Hook,” Riddle said.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  Well there’s a capital idea!  The main reason the liberal Communists don’t like arming citizens, is that citizens would be in control.  You see, the purpose behind gun laws is not about controlling guns, it’s about controlling people.  Moreover they are deathly afraid that it would work, and that my friend, would be disastrous for the liberal Communist control freaks.

So if you are interested in keeping your children safe in schools or anywhere for that matter, then demand that they provide armed personel instead of hiding behind a paper sign that reads GUN FREE ZONE!

Thanks for listening – de Andréa

Copyright © 2013 by Bottom Line Publishing -  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

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