Florida Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County is just one of many who are calling for a program for armed school staff members who are specially trained to use firearms to protect students. It is readily apparent in this day and age that “Gun Free Zones” are placing our children in harm’s way.
“We have got to wake up, wake up and understand that we have to have… specially trained people that have concealed firearms that can run to the threat and protect our children.” Polk County Sheriff Judd to Fox News Insider
Do you agree with @PolkCoSheriff Grady Judd? https://t.co/yA46fR0qgX pic.twitter.com/3Wxw7r5nlr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 17, 2018
His idea is to “screen and select teachers with the skill and psychological requirements that are even tougher than the Florida State Police’s requirements for their officers.”
Polk County already has a voluntary program for that called the Sentinel program. Since Florida law says that you can’t carry a weapon on school grounds, (like that ever helped), the Sentinel Program calls participants “Special Deputies.”
Fox13 reported:
It allows highly trained faculty and staff to be stationed literally all over the campus,” said Southeastern University’s president, Dr. Kent Ingle. “They are carrying for the sole purpose, can engage an active shooter should he or she come on campus and try to create destruction.”
They are locked and loaded, ready to protect everyone on campus in those critical minutes after the first bullet is fired and before law enforcement gets on scene.
“You have to do everything you can to provide security and safety, and to me, this is really a no-brainer because this is really one of the only ways that you can begin to quickly respond,” Ingle said.
And Sheriff Judd’s not the only one calling for such a program.
Newt Gingrich also says that concealed carriers in the school environment is a good idea. Instead of uniformed personnel that are also a potential target, he suggested a program similar to the Federal Air Marshal Service. No one knows who they are because they are in plain clothes and their weapons are concealed. Staff members would be the same – no one would know who is carrying and who is not.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Gingrich wrote,
“Every school in America should have several teachers and administrators trained in firearms who are permitted to carry concealed weapons. The number of these “protectors of the innocent” in each school should be determined by the number of students…
Furthermore, because air marshals are unidentifiable (they wear plain clothes and their weapons are concealed), would-be terrorists don’t have a target to attack first.
If we are really serious about protecting our children, we must have trained and equipped protectors prepared to handle this type of situation whenever there are school activities. The Parkland school had an armed officer assigned to the campus, but the officer never encountered the shooter and was not able to respond in time.
Dramatically increasing the presence of uniformed, visibly-armed security guards, however, might create an environment ill-suited for learning.
Instead, teachers and administrators serving as protectors could complement and support the dedicated officer or security personnel who are already serving in many schools.”
Can we the people override the drivel of the left to get something like this implemented? If we do not do so, we may lose our 2nd Amendment for good. Then only the mentally deranged and criminals will have access to guns.
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