After passing legislation through the Tennessee House last Tuesday to allow teachers to carry firearms in school, Tennessee Republicans faced criticism from Democrat lawmakers and activists who have a track record of demonizing any “gun violence prevention” efforts that return self-defense authority to the people.
Their opposition to such a policy stems solely from the fear that it would underscore the belief that law-abiding Americans can safeguard themselves and others through the proper exercise of their Second Amendment rights, fundamentally undermining the left’s argument that the issue lies with the firearm instead of the individual. Rather than empowering law-abiding gun owners, who could serve as a strong deterrent against those seeking to misuse firearms, they opt for “gun-free zones” and continuous restrictions, seemingly granting criminals an advantage in violent scenarios.
We must move away from scapegoating firearms and instead shift our focus toward enabling law-abiding citizens to engage in positive actions that contribute to safety and well-being.
After all, this is what Americans want. According to a 2022 PDK International poll, 80 percent of respondents favored allowing preventative safety measures in schools, including armed police. Forty-five percent somewhat or strongly favored arming teachers as a “safety strategy.”
Currently, 32 states allow teachers to conceal-carry firearms, and others are working on joining this effort. Sadly, the “progressive” left is doing everything in its power to demonize this move, meaning children in the remaining 18 states and the District of Columbia are left to fend for themselves behind “gun-free zone” signs.
The left is also working to block Idaho teachers from protecting their students, calling the legislation “completely impractical” or the process “really troubling.”
“As far as we can see, no educators are actually asking for this,” said Paul Stark, the executive director of the Idaho Education Association.
In January, Idaho Republicans began taking steps to allow teachers to conceal carry firearms in schools. HB 415 — sponsored by GOP state Rep. Ted Hill — passed through the House and will grant school employees the right to carry guns in classrooms and provide legal protections for defensive fire.
“These select school employees will provide an armed force to protect children in the first minutes of an attack,” Hill said. “We don’t want to have a stack of 20 kids dead in a classroom because we didn’t do anything.”
One month later, state Sen. Jim Guthrie, R, introduced a similar bill in the Idaho Senate Affairs Committee co-sponsored by Rep. Ted Hill. The bill is a bit more flushed out, as it would require annual training for those who want to carry a gun in school and would require an enhanced carry license.
The bill would also require “’gun-free school zone’ signs to be accompanied by additional signage” notifying the public that the staff is armed. Letting an intruder know that the staff is armed and ready seems to be a better deterrent than telling intruders that no one in the area is carrying a gun.
But if you follow the leftist logic that labels the gun as the problem and not the intruder, then you are probably horrified that there is a gun on campus at all.
“Here, where we have the school boards that are not authorizing this, it’s for a reason…They think the gun is the problem,” said Aoibheann Cline, Idaho state director for the NRA.
Allowing teachers to carry firearms undoubtedly adds a layer of rapid protection that children deserve. The FBI reports that most active threat events — including mass shootings — are over within five minutes. Yet it takes law enforcement between five and 10 minutes (at best) to respond to a shooting. The situation is even more dire for rural schools that could be left stranded for over 20 minutes waiting for police response.
Honorable, well-trained, law-abiding teachers can effectively fill that gap and save countless lives.
“I still highly believe in arming staff,” Muskingum Valley Educational Service Center Superintendent Lori Snyder-Lowe told USCCA. “Especially in rural areas where access to law enforcement is limited.”
The left cannot be allowed to twist the narrative and place the blame on firearms. One thing that will never change is that law-abiding Americans with firearms are a powerful force against armed criminals.
After all, no matter what the left does to restrict law-abiding Americans, we must not forget that the bad guys don’t follow the law.
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