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A Thought on Arming Teachers
Wednesday nights some of us gather around the campfire and pick each others' brains, usually something about firearms. Not besieging Yorktown, but hey how is that holster, ya like it? Nothing usually serious but here I have a topic. I posted our conclusions in the O-Club but the response seems to be out of sorts. I will try to recreate with additions: I was checking the topics on Wednesday when I came across Butler County Update: 250 Teachers Sign Up for 50 Seats at Concealed Carry Tng Session and the comment by trailing wife: #1 At some point one of these volunteer defenders will shoot back and accidentally hit an innocent bystander. How are they, the school district, and the county to be protected from the inevitable lawsuits that will follow? Great question, because this will happen. What we came up with is that there are pre-approved teachers/staff who will automatically be appointed Sheriff Deputy Pro Tem in the event of a shooting or other declared emergency. They will remain deputies until a ranking sheriff on-scene and/or incident commander relieves them of their temporary status. This will afford the teacher/staff legal, medical, and critical stress counseling benefits also afforded to the sheriff's department. The sheriff, an elected position, is a county authority and can override municipal ordinances, city police, homeowner associations, and so forth. Now, the sheriff is not going to like being exposed to said lawsuits, so there will need to be a certain degree of training required for said teachers/staff. At least the minimum conceal carry required by the state. I would suggest a marksmanship class. A first aid class with a focus on gunshot wounds would be good. Perhaps some time at one of those light gun places where they can run a trainee through real life scenarios. Deputy pro tems will be randomly drug tested, and after certification there will be refresher courses required. Also for the sheriff's department to shield itself from lawsuits, there will need to be an agreed standard operating procedure for the teacher/staff if/when a situation develops, and there are going to be hard questions:
Also, the Sheriff's Department could have a list of approved handgun and kit for teacher/staff, specifically a holster which is tamper proof so the firearm doesn't fall out or some student horseplay becomes tragic. Maybe actual restrictions on the firearm choice itself; no 1911s or Dirty Harry cannons. Deputy pro tems will be professionally reviewed after any incident, just like permanent LEOs are. I hear "If we can't afford crayons, how can we afford this!!11", a bullshit argument because out here parents purchase those school supplies. However, yes, this costs money. As far as training, there are a number of people who seem willing and able to provide pro bono training, if not at least a discount, to teachers/staff interested in such a thing. Our first thought is training and equipment could be written off as a business expense - firearm, 2 magazines, 200 rounds on time write off (addendum: have to pay that back if person leaves the profession). Another thought was philanthropy. Another was increased pay. I was against this at first, as I considered this should be an all-volunteer program with none of the people who would enroll just for the pay increase. I did concede that the added responsibility, the equipment, and the time involved in trained does call for an increase in pay. Also, the increase in participation is a deterrent as well. "Oh, but the budget is strapped anyway!" is a crock of shit. The money is there, it is just being used wrong or wasted. Equipment can be procured, perhaps with bake sales. Perhaps with reduced insurance rates. Perhaps a Safe School levy. Heck I have one just right over there I will likely never fire again, which would be perfect for such a deal. Guaranteed I'm not the only one. ****I think that covers the gist of the response. The rest is a post post post**** In light of that sheriff department being canvas bag full of snake shit, dunno, still an elected position yet subject to entrenchment. Now our Governor Brownback, among other things, standardized the firearm ownership laws so that every city and county has the exact same laws, eliminating the various city and county laws which in one way or another restricted firearm ownership. Another thing which would work, and I think they just did this in Texas, is pass a law in which all government property that could not implement a secure area would allow the legal profession of a firearm. Sure, the big city courthouses would have their guards and detectors so no gun, but you go to a state park you are good to go. This was tried some four years ago, and the educational organizations started shitting porcupines causing the bill to get held up in the state congress, where I think it still sits. Add this to constitutional carry, where a person can conceal carry without a license (training still highly advised, and being approved for a CC allows carry in reciprocity states), and we have all aspects except for legal protection, medical coverage if injured and stress counseling. A side effect of this law is local sheriffs could not automatically turn down conceal carry applications, which was happening. Standardize the sheriff departments within a state on firearm procedures. Figure procedures at the county level for deputy pro-tem. Crap load of paperwork and lawyer time, but doable. Please, this is an opinion piece by a circle of amateurs drinking decent scotch, and doesn't not represent the views of Rantburg or maybe even our own as we didn't break out the Big Chief notepad. If anything, this a conversation starter. Link is to the original article. Posted by: swksvolFF 2018-02-26 |
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