Every Dem In Florida House Ruled Against Allowing Teachers to Defend Themselves During Shootings
It’s safe to say that last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida has sparked a major debate. Every sane American wants to prevent the next tragedy, but everyone seems to disagree on how to do it.
The narrative being repeated by liberals is that we must do anything — and everything — that could possibly save a child’s life. When it comes to practical solutions to defending schools, however, the left has been shockingly stubborn … and the recent vote in the Florida legislature proves this point.
At the state capitol in Tallahassee, lawmakers proposed a measure that would almost certainly make schools less vulnerable targets: Allow school staff with appropriate training and background checks to carry concealed weapons on campus, in order to stop deadly threats before innocent people are killed.
It seems like common sense. After all, every other important part of our country is protected by trained personnel with guns, and one of the biggest problems in any shooting emergency is getting “good guys” on scene fast enough to make a difference.
What if the good guys, trained and prepared, were embedded in schools to begin with?
Democrats took that common-sense proposal and rejected it, even after demanding that every proposal that could save lives be considered.
“Perhaps the most contentious issue also remained intact even as the 41-member House Democratic caucus voted to unanimously oppose it: a provision that would allow school personnel to be trained as certified law enforcement officers and carry guns on campus to neutralize threats by active shooters,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.
No, not a single Democrat — not one — in the Florida state House voted to train and equip school staff to deal with an active shooter.
The proposal went on to pass anyway, no thanks to liberals. “The House voted 71-42 to leave the program intact,” the Times reported. However, only non-teaching staff such as coaches will be eligible for the program, and only if local law enforcement agrees.
Imagine for a moment that the problem being debated was arson instead of shootings. Say a rash of intentional fires was harming kids in schools, and local fire departments hadn’t been able to get there in time to battle the flames.
“Here’s an idea,” you might say. “We already have volunteer firefighters across the country. Why not take a few volunteers inside each school and train them to be firefighters in the event of an emergency?”
Make sure they have equipment to stop a fire inside a school. Train them to similar standards as any other firefighters, make sure they’re qualified, and let them work with local agencies to end these school fires as quickly as possible.
Now imagine that every Democrat voted against this. If not a single liberal supported having trained, prepared volunteer firefighters on staff to deal with fires that were taking the lives of children, what would your reaction be?
Democrats are doing essentially the same thing on school shootings, while pretending to hold the moral high ground and lecturing others about protecting kids.
In the Florida tragedy, coaches and other brave staff members used their bodies to shield students from harm. One party just voted to keep those same brave people unarmed and defenseless, left with only their bare hands to take on a violent murderer.
The unanimous rejection of armed staff members by the left in Florida shows that they aren’t serious about solutions. They aren’t genuine when they say that students must be protected by any means necessary.
It’s about pushing a specific agenda, namely one that disarms law-abiding Americans who had nothing to do with the crime.
Frustratingly, Broward County authorities and now left-leaning lawmakers both failed their citizens when it was time to act … and that’s worth keeping in mind during the next election.
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