Texas has a great program call the Guardian program. What they did was allowed a select few teachers who agreed to go through additional training in order to be allowed to carry a concealed gun. Now the rest of the teachers don’t know who is and who is not allowed to carry. They don’t make a big deal out of it. Its just something that has been working since 2007.
Fast forward to 2013. My idea is pretty simple, we take a group of teachers and introduce them to the military for both training and leadership. Of course not all teachers would want to go, nor would they want to carry. Its a huge responsibility to be trusted with a gun around other people’s children.
We have combat experienced Men and Women who could run a week long leadership and firearms training program. As a bonus both the teachers and the military would get exposure to the other side. What I mean by that is when a teacher is teaching they seldom are able to think about the Men and Women who provide for our freedoms. I am not saying they do not think about it or teach about it, I am saying that as they go about their day they are dealing with the children…. Which is full time job and then some. The military personal get introduced to what civilians are thinking or not thinking of.
So what’s the plan you might ask? Simple, a group of Military or former military hold a workshop on leadership and urban survival. Leadership is what those teachers did in Connecticut shielding their Students and placing their safety before their own. Now if we build on that, and give the teachers the knowledge of both the do’s and don’ts on surviving an attack like what just happened, It might just prevent another tragic event. A friend of mine told me the most important thing for him no matter where he is, is situational awareness. He was in Iraq twice and Afghanistan twice, so I would say he knows what he is talking about.
The next part of the workshop would deal with guns, keep in mind I am not saying give the teachers a week long workshop and turn them lose with a gun in the classroom, what I am saying is teach them the basic’s of firearms. Once they have finished the workshop those teachers that would like to apply to carry a firearm would get additional training from both the Military and local law. After passing whatever types of classes get set up, they then can apply to carry. Just because they apply does not mean automatic approval, they would still need to pass all the state and federal background checks. Get certified and then and only then would they be allowed to carry a gun around kids.
If we set up a program that is well thought out by both law enforcement, military trainers and teachers themselves we will end up with a few teachers in each school that could try and prevent another school massacre