This article, originally published by Al Zucaro on BocaWatch.org, is preserved for historical purposes by Massive Impressions Online Marketing in Boca Raton.
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County and State officials are claiming to act on behalf of school safety. Jack lifts the hood on the details and explains how it falls short.
Editor’s note:
This video has been corrected from the original version that cited the number of teachers in Palm Beach County as 1,200 as opposed to the correct figure: closer to 13,000. This error was pointed out to me by School Board Member Frank Barbieri. Many thanks go out to him for helping us stay accurate.
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We should arm teachers. Waiting on policemen to show up after a crisis has begun is not enough. We have a new law in Florida which will allow qualified teachers to protect their children with firearms. Don’t show up to a gunfight with a bucket of rocks (which is how some schools are protecting their kids). Arming teachers is a sensible way to protect kids from an active shooter.
Jack,
I’d love to talk to you about this topic. I am a retired cop now working private security for a private school.
Cops cost lots of money and need lots of specific training for lots of topics. I agree hire retired cops or former military types for private armed guards. They will need less training, have limited power and not be involved in mentoring and stuff. These guys would be involved in guarding the school like a military base. Their job is to stop bad guys from entering the “base” and if the threat is deadly their job is to neutralize it. We don’t need to waste cops time with these functions they have enough to worry about. They would obviously take up the after math investigation of the incident.
All you ever hear is “we need more cops” because that’s all they know. We need armed guards to protect the base.
You fight fire with water, not with fire. If you put guns in school by arming teachers you are potentially creating a situation in which a few angry students could outsmart or overwhelm a teacher to get their hands on a gun that’s already in a classroom… Then what?
Furthermore, what are the odds “an armed teacher” would even be in the right spot at the right time in the school to make their gun useful in a shooter situation? Schools are large, and it takes time to move from one place to another. And by then it’s too late.
One of the biggest problems with guns is the killing happens so fast. Even if we had Flash Gordon on our side, it might be unreasonable to think he could arrive in time to stop it once the first shot rang out.
And in such a situation (once shots are heard) it might not be so easy for the armed teacher to summon up the courage to rush into the line of fire, as it is. Even if they ran in, the teacher would likely be too late to the scene, just like the police (as you mentioned). Perhaps we’d be better off figuring out how to keep guns from ever entering a school in the first place?
With the exception of law enforcement, maybe we should take pride in making sure no gun ever finds its way into a school. We have the technology. And that would be fighting fire with water.
Concerned Parent, please try to understand. What are the chances an unarmed individual (teacher or other) will stop a criminal with a gun? Chances are slim to none. An armed teacher can potentially decrease the number of lives taken by an unstable individual. I am not asking that every teacher be armed. I am not asking that every teacher rush (as you mentioned like The Flash) to every shot heard. I am asking that we arm qualified teachers. Where is the harm in giving the ability of some teachers to protect their lives and student’s lives? Arming teachers will only increase the chances of survival during a shooting. Your point that you fight fire with water doesn’t make sense. What technology will stop a maniac from obtaining a gun and shooting it into a crowd of children? Moreover, what is going to stop an active shooter besides a policeman (or teacher) with a gun? An active shooter will most likely not stop just because you ask politely. Gun free zones are the number one spot for mass shootings and I say we abolish the “gun free (kill) zones”.
Timothy, I completely agree wit you. Teachers that want to carry a concealed weapon and are qualified should be allowed to protect their students and themselves while waiting for the police, etc. to arrive.
The sooner this happens, the safer students and teachers will be.
Dave, I would love to talk to you also. I can be reached at jack1mc@hotmail.com. In fact anyone out there send me a comment and if you have ideas on how to better protect our kids let me know and I will present in another video. My take is if for example boca high 3000 kds. 3 cops armed with AR 15’s in the school not out sitting in his car on the phone that can respond within 10 seconds to an active shooter. Folks, after yesterday in texas 10 killed we got to do something. Right now our politicians are failing us. We need to hire private security guards today until they can provide a solution. Right now there is no adequate protection for boca kids. Wake up parents. Don’t put up with lies.
Jack, if you want to wait for the school board to protect the students and teachers you may be waiting forever! One or two resource officers is not enough. The only answer is to put concealed weapons in the hands of qualified teachers who want to conceal carry and who are trained. They will protect the students and themselves and this can happen right away.
Donna and Tim, I don’t care whether we arm or have teachers with guns. Not enough. We need in every school to have 1 guard per 1k students who shows up for work knowing his job is to kill any shooter that comes into that school within 15 to 30 seconds. Anything less is unacceptable . Wake up we are in violent society and we need to do what is necessary to protect teachers,kids, and anyone from violence. This school board needs to be replaced along with people on boca city council that don’t take this issue serious . Enough is enough.