Parkland, Florida, school district rejects funds to arm teachers

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...t-rejects-funds-to-arm-teachers-idUSKBN1HI2FL

(Reuters) - The Florida school district that includes the high school where a gunman massacred 17 people has rejected its share of new state funding to be used for arming teachers, county officials said on Wednesday.

The Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland ramped up a long-running U.S. debate on gun rights and sparked a youth movement led by survivors of the attack, many of whom have been critical of the idea of arming teachers.
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I think putting more guns into public schools is a bad idea. There's a shooting & the cops come in & shoot anyone with a gun. Or a student gets the gun. State funding for arming teachers shows how sick our society has become.

JacksinPA said:

There's a shooting & the cops come in & shoot anyone with a gun. Or a student gets the gun.

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Agreed. Far better to be unarmed when shot by the gunman. Also, I have no doubt the teacher with a gun wouldn't know to put a gun down when the cops come in. And we all know students can't get guns except from their teacher.

Well yes, in the event of a shooting, whoever is armed at the school will need to coordinate with police if it is to have any useful effect.

I'd prefer they be dedicated security guards, with someone monitoring the cameras and handling the police, and the rest trying to engage or isolate the shooter.

It is this separation of efforts that prevents the shooter from just shooting all the security guards and having free reign. The guard at the monitoring station will still be able to coordinate the police response.

P.S.:

It's hardly a surprise that the effort dies as soon as money come up. I hope the Parkland activists take note. They need this lesson.

Most school districts are opting for trained local LEO's patrolling the school.

School boards are discovering that insuring schools with armed teachers running around is becoming financially prohibitive.

While going for a walk through the 'hood after lunch with my wife, I saw a young woman neighbor who teaches middle school math. I asked her if she was going to have a gun & her reply was 'God, no!'

While I's a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and feel that everyone should be able to protect themselves & others, I think requiring a teacher to do two jobs at once is putting that teacher in a position so that they can do neither job well.

I feel the ideal solution is to have what have been called armed "Resource Officers" whose sole job is school security.

If teachers are to be armed, they should be only teachers who are well trained and/or military veterans and be able to access a small safe in which the firearm is stored. When that safe or strongbox is opened it sets off a school wide alarm similar to activating a fire alarm.

To avoid the possibility of an armed teacher being mistaken for the killer, another identifying, bright colored badge or necklace ID could be included in the same safe/strongbox to which only staff or other teachers have a key (or code)

JacksinPA said:

While going for a walk through the 'hood after lunch with my wife, I saw a young woman neighbor who teaches middle school math. I asked her if she was going to have a gun & her reply was 'God, no!'

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I'll see your anecdotal evidence with other anecdotal evidence:

After Florida High School Shooting, Hundreds of Teachers Sign Up to Arm Themselves

In the aftermath of last week’s deadly school shooting in Florida, hundreds of teachers and administrators have expressed interest in carrying a firearm to defend themselves and their students, according to one county sheriff from Ohio.

Screw them if they want to leave their students unprotected. I'm sure plenty of other schools in the state will be more than happy to use their portion of the money to secure their schools.

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The largest school districts in Florida also chose not to arm its teachers.

From the following:

Largest school districts may skip armed ‘guardians’ program, even if governor signs it

Officials in 10 of the state’s largest systems, which educate nearly 60 percent of all Florida school children, said they have no intention of giving teachers or other staff guns to carry into classrooms.

“I believe the people carrying weapons should be law enforcement officers and not our employees,” said Seminole County school superintendent Walt Griffin, echoing comments of his large-district peers. “I do not support our hard-working teachers having the responsibility of carrying a weapon.”

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Read more here: Florida's largest districts may not arm school staff | Miami Herald