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Lawmakers Could Allow Armed Teachers In Schools
February 23, 2018
Hurriedly crafted state legislation to address last week’s mass shooting at a Parkland high school will include a controversial element that would allow teachers who’ve undergone special training to bring guns to schools, a concept that has divided Republican politicians and faces opposition from Democrats and educators.
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron are both floating the idea, which President Donald Trump on Thursday said he endorsed. The House and Senate, along with Gov. Rick Scott, are expected to roll out their proposals Friday.
During a school safety summit at the White House, Trump said he wants something akin to a concealed weapons license for teachers to allow “certain highly adept people” who “understand weaponry, guns” to be able to carry firearms at schools.
State lawmakers are scrambling to propose broad packages focused on mental health and guns, following the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 14 students and three faculty members dead.
On Thursday, Trump also tossed out the idea of a “little bit of a bonus” for teachers who have a concealed-carry license, according to a pool media report of the event, attended by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“You can’t hire enough security guards. … But you could have concealed on the teachers,” he said.
But at a CNN town hall meeting Wednesday night in Broward County, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told an audience of teachers, students and parents affiliated with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School he thought arming educators was a bad idea.
“I don’t support that,” Rubio said.
Republican leaders in the state House and Senate on Thursday said their plans would go farther than a simple concealed weapons license for educators.
Teachers, administrators or other school personnel would have to participate in 132 hours of training, undergo mental-health screenings and be authorized by local sheriffs to serve as what would essentially be a school “marshal,” Sen. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican taking the lead on crafting the Senate measure, told The News Service of Florida.
“What we’re talking about is a program specifically designed and conducted through the sheriff’s office,” said Galvano, who is slated to take over as Senate president after the November elections.
The armed personnel would serve as supplements to school resource officers, Galvano said, and would operate under the auspices of the sheriff’s office.
“And their actions are going to be owned by that sheriff’s office. It’s not the bill that says. ‘let a teacher with a (concealed weapons) permit bring that gun to school.’ That’s a lot looser, and I don’t support that,” he said.
The proposal is based on a program initiated by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd that enables authorized and trained employees at the private Southeastern University in Lakeland to carry concealed firearms to respond to assailants on campus as a last step.
House Rules & Policy Chairman Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, told the News Service his chamber’s plan also will include a similar element.
“It isn’t nearly as ominous as it sounds. It is a tremendous deterrent for someone to go into a school knowing people are armed and they don’t know who is armed,” Oliva said, adding that the measure would require “extensive training” and “all sorts of screening.”
But U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who made the rounds in the state Capitol on Thursday after appearing at the town hall Wednesday with Rubio and Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch, said allowing guns in schools is a terrible idea.
“When a killer comes in with an assault rifle, that is not a fair fight. That is not a fair firefight from a pistol to a semi-automatic assault rifle,” Nelson, a Democrat who could face a re-election challenge from Scott this year, told reporters Thursday.
During Wednesday’s town hall meeting, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High teacher Ashley Kurth, who sheltered dozens of students during last week’s attack and is a gun owner, raised a number of concerns about the prospect, including the possibility of law enforcement confusing armed teachers with shooters.
The Florida Education Association teachers union also objects to the prospect, saying in a statement that it is committed to legislation that “ensures student safety and limits firearms on school campuses to highly trained professional law enforcement personnel.”
That doesn’t include deputized teachers, FEA spokeswoman Sharon Nesvig said in an email.
“More guns on campus will create more problems,” she said.
Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, also said he doesn’t want armed teachers at schools.
“I’m OK with using retired law enforcement or retired military, obviously with the right training and credentials, to make sure we secure our schools. But having our teachers to be armed, I don’t think that’s the right approach,” Garcia said in an interview.
Last week’s shooting has reopened the already highly charged debate over gun control, with students, parents and teachers from the Broward County high school demanding action. More than 100 students from the school visited the Capitol on Wednesday, meeting with Scott, Negron, Corcoran and dozens of lawmakers and holding a rally in which they pleaded for legislation that would make them feel safe again.
Nineteen-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the deaths, used an assault-style gun to shoot down students and faculty at the school, which he had attended in the past.
The fact that Cruz, who had a lengthy history of documented mental-health issues, was able at age 18 to legally purchase a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle to commit the murders — with no waiting period — has prompted survivors of the shooting, and their parents, to push lawmakers to ban assault weapons.
In Florida instead, lawmakers are focused on potentially raising the age to 21 and imposing a waiting period for the purchase of long guns. That would be similar to requirements for handguns.
The Republican-dominated Legislature has usually been aligned with the National Rifle Association on gun laws, but it could part ways with the gun-rights organization on the age limits, if the proposal ultimately passes.
“Passing a law that makes it illegal for a 20-year-old to purchase a shotgun for hunting or an adult single mother from purchasing the most effective self-defense rifle on the market punishes law-abiding citizens for the evil acts of criminals,” NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said in a statement Thursday.
Galvano said raising the age limit will be included in the Senate plan.
Packages now in development by the House, Senate and Scott are also likely to focus on early screening for mental health problems, increased funding for mental health services and better coordination between law enforcement, schools and mental health providers.
State officials also are exploring ways to keep guns away from people who have demonstrated they are dangerous to themselves or others. The Senate measure, for example, will include enhanced background screening for gun purchases, according to Galvano.
Nelson told Senate Democrats on Thursday to “get what they can get” as they continue to push for stricter gun laws.
But state Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon said the gun-related elements don’t go far enough.
“It’s such a big issue for us, and it has been for so many years,” Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, said. “It’s a little frustrating that I’m expected to give credit to Republican leadership for coming half, not even halfway, on an issue that we’ve been saying is a problem, for decades.”
by The News Service of Florida
Comments
16 Responses to “Lawmakers Could Allow Armed Teachers In Schools”
I need my rifle….with our military stretched thin all over the globe, we face increasing threats from China and Russia, and islamic terrorist. We may very well need our weapons more than ever before, and yes, if a teacher is able and willing let him or her carry.
Teachers get extra pay for advanced degrees to the benefit of a child’s education. Why not extra pay for the safety of those children to teachers who will take the time and have the mindset for advanced firearms training. Something like the FBI school only private. The Gunsite Academy or even the evil NRA come to mind. Just holding a CWL would not be sufficient in my opinion. Banning any firearm is not the answer, were there is a will there is a way.
I am sorry, it is like the old west, just give the teachers a gun and let them go at it. FDLE, local police and sheriff’s deputies go through many hours of training and they still accidently shoot the wrong people. Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean you can use in that kind of situation. It is not like hunting where the deer are running and your shooting. Totally different.
@Jimmy
Not just simple minds. Just like getting rid of anything Confederate or southern, they see the time is ripe to get what they can. Once they get their foot in the door with one law, they’ll chip away at that particular freedom a little at a time as they have our other individual freedoms. In 20 years you will not recognize this country even a little.
There are already plenty of teachers who own guns and have concealed carry permits. Just let them bring them to work.
I see the AR15 is the new boogeyman. Simple answers for simple minds. Let someone else do your thinking for you and remain slaves. So pathetic.
A well trained person can take a 6 shot revolver and a pocket full of speed loaders and kill as many people as this young man did.
reloading takes only a couple of seconds. People who are afraid would not try to take the gun, so reloading could be accomplished fairly easily. However, a trained person would find the opportunity to take out the threat. when eveliwalks into a place known not to have a defense, evil will always win. It really is not about a handgun against a rifle, it is about the element of the unknown response and where it might come from. Hard consequences sometimes alter decisions.
+
reloading takes only a couple of seconds.
People who commit horrible crimes like this pay no heed to laws on paper. I continue to hear how horrible it would be to have someone armed with a handgun face someone with an AR. I’m sure it was much worse for those who have already been through facing a gunman with an AR and NO gun. If you are familiar with the troops to teachers program you will know that a fair number of veterans are already part of your teaching population. There is a process to get even a concealed carry permit. This proposal is talking about responsibly training the willing. Not forcing teachers to carry. Many of the willing own their own gun. And those who are tasked with facing danger had best be ready to face danger, unlike the officer on 2/14. But many of those I know in the teaching field feel just like those who stepped forth in this latest incident – they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their students. I don’t disagree we could use some adjustments before this happens again. And I won’t say I have the answers. But we’re going to have to keep talking and listening to each other. Because what’s at stake is the lives of our precious children and loved ones. The loss of one is one too many. Together we can do more.
Who’s talking about a “fair fight, Senator Nelson. A shooter, supposedly wouldn’t know who is armed and, could be shot from any direction. In a school situation it would be foolish to confront a shooter head on. That’s the whole reason for a concealed carry on campus I think.
If you are a teacher or district employee who all ready has a CWP you most likely are a responsible person who has a clean record and is familiar with guns and how to handle them safely. If you are this teacher or district employee why would you not want to be armed if allowed by the state and your school district to be more capable of protecting your self and the kids under your care? You are going to be in that room hunkered down anyway so you might as well have a fighting chance at survival.
Good. Long past time, I’d say. I do agree with the idea that retired law enforcement and military would be the first picks for this idea, if it passes. 20 or more years of qualifications/use and training with firearms goes a long way towards the safe carry and use of a firearm in keeping a school safe.
I doubt this will pass, though. Too problematic in it’s inception and to much push back from those who would prefer to remain defenseless in a situation like an active shooter in a school.
As to the resource officer – no one knows what they would do in a situation like this – we’d all like to think we’d be heroes, but some people simply freeze. We can only pray that if this happens again, the responding defenders will be willing and able to defend – otherwise, they don’t need to be in that role.
What are the dangers to the life of young people?
Automobiles kill more young people than guns in the US. Should we make them wait until the age of 21 to drive?
Drivers licenses are to easy to get, I have personally seen a whole bus load of migrant workers being allowed to use an interperpater to take the written exam. Can they even read road signs, like one way signs?
Then there are drugs that ruin many lives and are illeagle. Would an additional law help reduce harmful drug use?
Senator Bill Nelson let the cat out of the bag when he said that, “get what they can get.” This indicates that safety is not important. Their goal is to get rid of all guns in the hands of civilians.
Senator Marco Rubio is again confused as to which way the wind blows. Politicians trying to appease all sides…….
Putting one or two armed gards in schools is not a sensible answer to preventing murderious acts. One or two gards could be nuteralized to easy, especially when everyone knows who they are. Armed staff in schools in larger numbers would be a larger deterant and also have a better chance of stopping a shooter.
I realize that arming teachers will go against the powerful Teacher’s Union’s stance.
Israel has been arming teachers for years drastickly reducing attacks on schools.
Gun free zones, speeding, stealing, drugs, etc. Yes everyone obeys the laws!
Who paid for the kids to travel, eat and lodge on the trip to Tallahassee?
When a veteran armed Sheriff’s deputy was at the school, exactly like they were at Columbine twenty years earlier, you think training people who chose to teach to kill somebody is an answer, yet a person who chose law enforcement and is trained and experienced failed again?
“Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.” The Supreme Court in HELLER.
It is time to focus on the gun. Under the second amendment every citizen has an unfettered right to possess a weapon in their home. They do NOT have an unfettered right to transport a weapon beyond their home, at which time the Supreme Court in HELLER congress may regulate. The enemy of good is perfect. It is time to open the floor to debate on common sense gun safety. That discussion should NEVER be about my guns in my home. As a nation can we do better even if those regulations are imperfect but improve gun safety?
You can’t hire enough security guards. … WHY NOT
Where is all the money generated by the FLORIDA LOTTERY that was supposed to go to and benefit education and the school system. Hire trained and armed security, secure the campus and doors, secure access, metal detectors, video surveillance. I read this morning that the armed school resource officer hid behind a concrete pillar and did not enter the building to engage the shooter. He resigned. It was his job to protect these children and teachers.
I don’ t understand that. There where so many people and agencies involved in this tragedy that did not do there jobs.
Wait!!! So this shooter was 19, he bought the rifle when he was 18. YES!! Let’s require a three day waiting period for rifles and shotguns. That should remedy the problem. Shaking my head. Do away with gun free zones, place armed veterans in the schools. They wont be afraid to face the devil with a firearm. Problem solved.
Concerned Citizen
INSANITY! a handgun is not going to accomplish anything against an AR15 except get a teacher killed. I totally believe in guns but NO ONE NEEDS AN AR
How about taking the assault weapons off the streets. These weapons are only needed for war. That would go a long way toward solving the problem.