(Photo: Moms Demand Action Florida Chapter)
The Florida Legislature voted to arm teachers as part of an existing school safety plan — and anti-gunners this week are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the bill.
Known as SB 7030, the bill would augment the voluntary Guardian Program passed in the wake of the mass killing at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Under the current Guardian Program, school staffers, coaches and other personnel whose primary job doesn’t involve teaching are allowed to bear arms during school hours provided they undergo extensive training (144 hours in total), pass a psychiatric evaluation and clear a drug screening.
SB 7030 gives the same option to full-time teachers, which anti-gunners argue is a “risky” proposition.
“Armed teachers have no place in our kids’ classrooms,” said Gay Valimont, a volunteer leader with the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, in a press release obtained by GunsAmerica.
“The risks of arming teachers are well documented, as is the research indicating there are much better ways to keep our kids safe in school, Valimont continued. “We implore Gov. DeSantis to listen to Floridians and veto this risky bill. We will remember which lawmakers stand on the side of public safety at this critical time.”
The Senate last week passed approved the bill by a vote of 22 to 17. The House followed suit Wednesday by a vote of 65 to 47.
Proponents say that expanding the program to include teachers creates a last line of defense against a would-be attacker.
“It allows the good guys to stop the bad. The bad guys will never know when the good guys are there to shoot back,” Rep. Chuck Brannan (Lake City), a retired law enforcement officer, told Time Magazine. “The guardian is the last line of defense. He or she will be there when a police officer is not.”
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Anti-gun student activists oppose the measure. Volunteer Jovanna Liuzzo, with the Florida chapter of Students Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said Wednesday upon learning that SB 7030 cleared the House, “Students across Florida sent a clear message to Tallahassee: We don’t want our teachers to be armed.”
“We are frustrated and angry that members of the House ignored that message today, and as we register to vote we won’t soon forget that they turned their backs on us,” Liuzzo added. “We call on Gov. DeSantis to veto this bill.”
All signs suggest that Gov. DeSantis, a Republican, will put pen to paper and enact SB 7030. Critics of the bill should not be too concerned, however. The Guardian Program is optional. School districts are not required to participate.
In other words, those who believe that gun-free zones are the best way to stop mass murderers from killing innocent school children are free to continue to test that theory. Sane folks, meanwhile, can adopt a strategy of armed resistance that is time-tested and utilized, ironically, by the very same people who are leading the charge to disarm the country — anti-gun politicians.
Feinstein and Schumer and Obama, et al., believe they need good guys with guns to ensure their safety. But when it comes to the safety of school children, they believe a sign on the wall that reads, “No Guns Allowed,” is good enough. Funny how that works.
I will never understand the level of ignorance anti gunners have,a majority of them know nothing whatsoever about firearms yet they always try to dictate to others what should happen to guns,sorry but We The People have the right to carry and ANY law going against the 2nd Amendment does NOT and should NOT be followed nor should it be prosecutable,thats my opinion.
If a teacher is not capable physically or mentally of carry a firearm and using it with proper training, it is time to get rid of that teacher!
The Bad Guys will always get guns no matter what the law says or does……by the way, there are more Bad Guys in our government than any where!
144 hours? At 8 hours a day, that’s 18 days of training. Seems a little long. Mothers what ever should be a terrorist group as they leave our most precious assets unguarded. A “gun free zone” simply means open season. Governor, please sign the bill and protect our children.
The moms have convinced themselves that it’s better to put their kids at risk than allow any action other than trying to ban guns. What horrible people they must be to pile up bodies of kids to sell gun free zones to the public. Kids in K-12 have a 1 in 10 million chance of being involved in a mass shooting, far less than the possibility of being killed by a drunk driver, yet I’m sure if the law were vetoed they’d all go out for a drink to celebrate and then drive home drunk.
Please DO sign it, Gov Ron…….let the whimpy libs cry.
Meanwhile, the children and teachers will have protection.
When seconds count, the police are minutes away.