Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation Wednesday that will allow teachers to be armed for classroom defense.
Fox News reports that the bill was an expansion of the state’s “Guardian” program and opens the door for any teacher “to carry a weapon if his or her school district approves.” Teachers wishing to carry a weapon will have to complete “at least 144 hours of police-style training, psychiatric evaluation and drug screening.”
Breitbart News reported that Florida’s House and Senate passed the legislation in response to the findings of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. That investigatory commission found armed teachers could have made a difference in the February 14, 2018, Parkland shooting.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri headed the commission and spoke out in favor of arming teachers as the investigation concluded. The Associated Press quoted Gualtieri saying, “People need to keep an open mind to it as the reality is that if someone else in that school had a gun it could have saved kids’ lives.”
The Parkland attacker paused to reload five times. Each pause represented an opportunity in which an armed teacher could have taken the gunman out.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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