Posted on 05/16/2019 11:18:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
Well, the debate is over. The voting is done. And the bill has been signed into law. Florida will now permit armed teachers in the classroom. It’s a win for gun rights advocates. Florida is still reeling from the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland from last year, where shooter Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people. It’s the reality we live in, folks. Since we’re not going to repeal the Second Amendment or enact a policy of confiscation, everything must be on the table to keep schools safe. Also, we cannot forget that America is not a shooting gallery. Schools have never been safer. With proper training, a policy of arming teachers isn’t an extreme policy. Having armed guards staffed by former military veterans or the local police are also a fine alternative.
The fact of the matter is that Parkland was avoidable. The list of the times local, state, and federal authorities failed to act on Cruz, who was deeply disturbed, is lengthy and maddening. If the government had done its job, there is no doubt he would not have been able to purchase the AR-15 rifle he used to commit the shooting.
Well, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the legislation into law. On October 1, armed teachers goes into effect, with participation based on approval by the various school boards (via Tampa Bay Times):
[T]he 54-page Senate Bill 7030 sparked days of debate and was one of the most contentious bills of the 2019 legislative session, DeSantis drew as little attention as possible in making it law, holding no news conference or ceremony. Instead, his office blasted a late afternoon, two-paragraph email stating that he signed it at some point Wednesday, the same day that he had received it from the Legislature.
The law goes into effect Oct. 1.
For teachers and other staff to be armed, school districts must opt-in to the so-called “Guardian program,” which allows teachers and other staff to volunteer to carry a gun on campus after getting screened and trained by a sheriff’s office. That program was passed by state lawmakers last year in response to the Feb. 14 Parkland massacre, but it didn’t allow teachers who “exclusively perform classroom duties” to carry guns, partly on the urging of former Gov. Rick Scott.
There has to be more on mental health, but this is a good start.
No matter how well prepared the schools or wherever are, the attacker always has the advantage.
I am pretty sure that in my part of Florida some teachers have been carrying guns in school for a long time, the thought being that if they get fired and/or go to jail for having a gun after they have shot an armed classroom invader, they are at least alive.
He would have still found ways to buy it illegally. Which makes arming teachers and administrators all the more important.
Incoming leftard doom and gloom narratives in 3...2...1...
There will be less FL attacks.
This was also the viewpoint of the administrator of a major mental hospital that I met some months ago in a medium sized Florida city. Florida was, at the time I spoke with her, 50th per capita out of the 50th states in expenditures on public mental health. Patients were also being bumped out the door as quickly as possible in a false economy.
If any kind of socialized medicine is to exist at all, mental health should be important in it because if that goes to pot (not intending a pun here) the person will likely let his physical health go to pot too -- not to mention the possibility of going off one's nut and committing an atrocity like a school shooting.
But the spiritual side of life matters too. Good mental hygeine, which is encouraged by good spirituality, can forestall lapses into bad mental health. With Florida such a hotbed for Christian fundamentalist followings, I wonder why there are not more -- far more -- public ministries. I thought they would proliferate like the proverbial Hare Krishnas and Jehovah's Witnesses... but it's a "circle their own wagons" situation. This, I believe, sends the Holy Spirit into grieved doldrums.
Are all Florida schools complying?
I see you are bereft of historical military knowledge or assault tactics in general.
I hope so. I support the idea.
And what attacks there are will take less victims. At least in principle.
If it’s a state law and the teacher wants to do it and goes through whatever legal hoops the law prescribes — it doesn’t look like the school will get a choice.
It’s less likely to happen in more “liberal” areas, as fewer or maybe even no teachers will want to do that. Expect “This is not a ‘Make My Day’ school” signs and the like in such areas. Debates like this aren’t quashed quietly.
Huh? This comment looks like the skipping of one or more logical steps.
May the next FL school attacker RIP.
Make no mistake, the chief and primary concern of the educational establishment is maintaining control: NOT the safety of the students.
They cry poor mouth while legislating any armed individual on the campus be an employee of the school. Unpaid volunteers are always welcome...except for security.
I know leftards, and they will attempt to undermine this new policy at all costs, and it will be like “incoming”.
Wouldn't be much of an advantage if the attacker doesn't know the number of disposition of the defenders.
But I know the media. The first time a shooting happens at a school with an armed teacher they will point out the failure of the program.
Then they'll find a kid who was scared to go to school because of this.
It's too predictable.
These "attackers" are mentally ill and cowardly. If they know they may be shot they will look elsewhere seeking a "gun free" safe zone for them.
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