Teachers with guns: What could possibly go wrong?
This week a bill to arm classroom teachers cleared the Florida Senate Education Committee, making it likely to be the first bill to make it to the senate floor when this year’s legislative session begins on March 5th.
After 17 students and teachers were murdered at their high school in Parkland last year, thousands of demonstrators, including students who saw their classmates gunned down, flooded the state capitol building in Tallahassee for weeks, demanding common-sense gun control legislation, starting with a ban on military-style assault riles, the weapon of choice for mass shooters.
The resulting school safety bill raised the legal age for some gun purchases — which, by the way, looks like is going to be reversed this session — and created a “Guardian” program, requiring every public school to have some armed personnel. Public backlash forced lawmakers to include an amendment exempting classroom teachers. But this year’s SB7030 could reverse that amendment.
Despite the recent publicity on mass shootings, schools are actually the safest place for kids when it comes to gun violence. https://www.latimes.com/business/hilt... But putting guns in classrooms could replace a student’s trust in a teacher with fear.
Research shows that more guns mean more gun murders https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi... and that the presence of firearms escalates situations into deadly violence. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politi...
Even police officers who have extensive training and previous experience in shootings, have been shown not to respond adequately in high-stress situations, often missing their intended targets.
“Arming teachers is likely to result in even more shootings at schools, both intentional and accidental. Teachers attempting to take down an active shooter can harm bystanders and lead to casualties among police officers.
“Florida’s Stand Your Ground law could be cited in a school shooting, placing students of color at greater risk for racial injustice.” https://actionnetwork.org/letters/don...
Putting more guns in schools is not the solution to the growing gun violence epidemic. Even the bill’s own sponsors can’t cite a single credible study supporting this NRA-backed bill.
But closing the background check loophole will. So will requiring people to safely store their weapons, holding adults responsible when kids use their guns, red flag laws, and keeping the age limit on gun purchases. https://www.thetrace.org/2019/02/kids...
The vast body of evidence supports this. But Florida politicians aren’t known for using facts. That’s why it’s up to us to tell them.
https://act.everytown.org/letter/tell...
https://www.flsenate.gov/About/Contact
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/conten...
Teachers with guns: What could possibly go wrong? - YouTube
