While Washington Uses the Sandy Hook Crisis to Blame Everything but Personal Responsibility, Florida is Removing the Victim Roll

Jan. 13, 2013

Now teachers in Florida are given free lessons on how to disarm a gunman and fire weapons ‘to protect students’ after Sandy Hook massacre

Free training session was offered by Veritas Training Academy to teachers in Sarasota, Florida

Similar programs are being offered nationwide as gun debate rages
Move comes after NRA called for armed guard in every school


By Tom Leonard and Snejana Farberov
PUBLISHED: 12:27 EST, 12 January 2013 | UPDATED: 13:02 EST, 12 January 2013


A group of teachers in Sarasota, Florida, put their markers and lesson plans aside on Friday to learn how to take down an armed gunman in hopes of preventing another tragic school shooting.

Under the tutelage of weapons instructor Michael Magowan, local public school teachers practiced drills on disarming an attacker holding a rubber gun to their head during a free class at the Veritas Training Academy.

During the class, teachers set behind desks, clutching fake handguns and intently watched Magowan as he demonstrated how to properly handle a firearm.

Jarring scene: A teacher in Sarasota, Florida, is learning how to disarm a gunman holding a plastic weapon to her head during a free training session

Risky business: Firearms instructor Mike Magowan (center) uses a rubber training pistol to demonstrate how to disarm a person holding a gun to one's head as he speaks to students

Drastic response: The December 14 tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has sparked a national debate about whether to arm teachers

Switching from theory to practice, the educators later took part in shooting exercises at a firing range on the premises of the learning center, firing at a target depicting a burly, moustachioed assailant holding a little boy hostage.

This is only the latest example of what has become a national trend of educators flocking to gun ranges and weapons training classes to learn how to defend their students in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre that has left 20 elementary school children and six adults dead.

In Texas, two concealed handgun classes graduated 460 teachers, while 1,100 signed up for a three-day gun course in Ohio. In Utah last month, 200 teachers volunteered for six hours of firearms training.

Aim, fire! Targets depicting an armed adult taking a child hostage are set out on the firing line

Controversial stance: Magowan (center) wields a rubber training pistol to demonstrate a shooting stance to his students at the Veritas Training Academy

Kudos: The firearms instructor, right, congratulates a woman named Christie, a teacher at a nearby high school, for her performance in shooting the depicted assailant

Uptick: There has been an influx of teachers flocking to gun ranges and applying for conceal gun permits nationwide

Gun ranges throughout the country have been reporting an increase in teachers coming in for weapons training, but not everyone is on board with this response to the Sandy hook tragedy, which is especially controversial in states like Florida where law prohibits teachers from carrying guns in school grounds, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Amid a contentious national debate about gun control and gun violence, images of educators learning to disarm gunmen and firing weapons have been met with both shock and words of praise.

Those who support the idea of weapons training for teachers believe that if another gunman targets a school he will face an armed response rather than classrooms full of defenseless staff and children.

‘I actually like the idea. I think it's better to be safe and cautious,' Chicago parent Jennifer Thompson told NECN.

Be prepared: Joanna Baginska, a fourth grade teacher at Odyssey Charter School in American Fork, Utah is shown how to handle a 40 cal. Sig Sauer by firearm instructor Clark Aposhian

However, Mandy Koehl disagreed, saying, ‘I think putting guns that close to children presents a risk in itself, so I'm not sure it sends the right message,’

During the training session in Utah last month, primary school teacher Jessica Fiveash said: ‘If we have the ability to stop something, we should do it.’

The basic training by the Utah Shooting Sports Council emphasized how teachers should show their gun, as well as taking cover, before trying to shoot. The teachers applied for a concealed weapons permit, submitting fingerprints and a mugshot for a criminal background check.

Cori Sorensen, a fourth grade teacher from Highland Elementary School in Highland, Utah, receives firearms training with a .357 magnum from personal defense instructor Jim McCarthy during concealed weapons training for 200 Utah teachers

Clark Aposhian, President of Utah Shooting Sport Council, holds a pistol during the concealed weapons training. The lobby group offered six hours free training

In Ohio, a firearms group said it was launching a scheme in firearms training for 24 teachers and Arizona is proposing a change to the law to allow a teacher in each school to carry a gun. Some parents have questioned the cost of arming and training school staff and also whether it will keep anyone safe.

Opponents list potential dangers such as teachers being overpowered for their weapons or students getting them and shooting classmates, either accidentally or on purpose.

The moves to train teachers come after the National Rifle Association proposed placing an armed officer at each of the nation's schools, though some schools already have police officers. Parents and educators have questioned how safe the proposal would keep children and whether it would be economically feasible.

Around 200 teachers watched intently and made notes as Mr Aposhian demonstrated with a plastic gun during concealed-weapons training offered free in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre

Adam Lanza killed his mother and then went on a rampage through the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself

Following the Connecticut tragedy, NRA's chief executive Wayne LaPierre famously claimed: 'The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.'

Larry Pratt, executive director advocacy group Gun Owners of America, also claimed that gun control supporters ‘have the blood of little children on their hands’ and the tragedy could have been prevented if the teachers were allowed to carry weapons.

Some educators say it is dangerous to allow guns on campus. Among the potential dangers they point to are teachers being overpowered for their weapons or students getting them and accidentally or purposely shooting classmates.

'It's a terrible idea,' said Carol Lear, a chief lawyer for the Utah Office of Education. 'It's a horrible, terrible, no-good, rotten idea.'

Mr Aposhian demonstrates with a plastic gun, rear, while Joanna Baginska, a 4th grade teacher from Odyssey Charted School, in American Fork, practices with a 40 cal. Sig Sauerr

Christine Caldwell, left, receives firearms training with a 9mm Glock from Mr McCarthy. It is the latest effort to arm teachers to confront school assailants

Kristen Rand, the legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy organisation, said to believe that a 'teacher would be successful in stopping someone who has made the decision to engage in a shootout is just not rationale'.

'No teacher is ever going to be as effective as a trained law enforcement officer,' Ms Rand said.

Even trained police officers don't always hit their targets, and arming teachers could put innocent students at risk of crossfire, she said.

Gun-rights advocates say teachers can act more quickly than law enforcement in the critical first few minutes to protect children from the kind of deadly shooting that took place in Connecticut. They emphasized the importance of reacting appropriately under pressure.

Mr Aposhian says that a gun gives teachers another option if a shooter breaks into a classroom

The teachers listened intently to the lessons. Some claimed they do not see anything wrong with arming educators

'We're not suggesting that teachers roam the halls looking for an armed intruder', said Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, the state's biggest gun lobby.

'They should lock down the classroom. But a gun is one more option if the shooter breaks into a classroom.'

They cautioned teachers about the liability that comes with packing a gun in public.

'I wouldn't hesitate to shoot if the danger was immediate,' said Ms Fiveash, adding that her laser sight would make shooting in tight quarters safer.

English teacher Kevin Leatherbarrow said he often felt threatened while working at an inner-city school in Buffalo, New York, where he got a license to carry a pistol.

He moved less than a year ago to Utah, where he feels safer. But he said gun violence can break out anywhere.

Mr Leatherbarrow said he was highly trained in handling guns - and was taking criticism from parents who don't appreciate his views on school safety.

Mr Aposhian, who demonstrated personally using plastic weapons during the six hour session, said that having a gun was a 'responsibility'

Stephen Pratt, a third grade teacher from Alpine, Utah, is fingerprinted for a gun carry permit by instructor Mr McCarthy, right

'I'm in agreement not everybody should be carrying firearms in school. They're not trained. But for some parents to think we're cowboys, that frustrates me,' he said.'I wish parents would understand.'

In the U.S. the number of homicides at schools of children, ages 5-18, have been lower year-by-year in the 2000s than they were in the mid- to late-1990s, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report on school crime released in 2012.

At 32 deaths, the 2006-2007 school year was the only one that reached the levels from the 1990s. The manner of death was not listed.

Utah is among a few states that let people carry licensed concealed weapons into public schools without exception, the National Conference of State Legislatures says in a 2012 compendium of state gun laws.

Utah educators say they would ban guns if they could, but legislators left them with no choice. State law forbids schools, districts or college campuses from imposing their own gun restrictions.


source: daily mail uk