Parkland, Florida School Massacre Panel Recommends Arming Teachers

The panel investigating the Florida high school massacre recommended Wednesday that teachers who volunteer and undergo extensive background checks and training be allowed to carry concealed guns on campus to stop future shootings.

Well dip me in fudge and call me a sundae, I’d never expect to see that.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission voted 13-1 to recommend the Legislature allow the arming of teachers, saying it’s not enough to have one or two police officers or armed guards on campus. Florida law adopted after the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead allows districts to arm non-teaching staff members such as principals, librarians and custodians — 13 of the 67 districts do, mostly in rural parts of the state.

As Miguel reported earlier today, Chicken Shit Coward Scot Peterson defended his inaction in court by claiming no duty to respond.

I disagree with Miguel that there is a slam dunk appeal in his favor, a judge could reason that the Special Relationship exception set about by SCOTUS could be between the SRO and the student body, i.e., his job was to protect students and he didn’t.  This is different than a cop who can’t be everywhere at once.  The Chicken Shit Coward Peterson’s one job was to protect students and he failed at that.

Regardless, if (and when) appealed, the Chicken Shit Coward Peterson must argue in court that despite the school board, school employees, students, and student’s parents trusting him with the security of the school, he had no obligation to do anything but run away and save his own ass and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

Just ask Joe Lozito, who was stabbed and nearly bled to death on a NYC subway by a serial killer the NYPD was actively searching for, while two chicken shit NYPD cops watched Lozito get stabbed through the glass window of the locked conductor’s cab, about no duty to respond.

That has always been one of the arguments for allowing concealed carry.  Why not apply it to schools.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the commission’s chairman, pushed the measure at the Tallahassee meeting. He said most deaths in school shootings happen within the first few minutes, before officers on and off campus can respond. He said suspect Nikolas Cruz stopped to reload his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle five times, all of which would have been opportunities for an armed teacher to shoot him.

“We have to give people a fighting chance, we have to give them an opportunity to protect themselves,” Gualtieri said. He said there aren’t enough officers or money to hire one for every school, but even then officers need backup. “One good guy with a gun on campus is not enough.”

Especially when the “good guy with a gun” is a chicken shit coward.

The state teachers union and PTA have previously expressed opposition, saying teachers are hired to educate, not be police officers.

This isn’t the same teachers union whose president just posted a picture to Twitter with her arms around Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory?

Teachers are there to teach, police officers are there to enforce the law, but protecting the students is everyone’s responsibility.

Would the teachers union and PTA defend a teacher who let a kid get run over by a car by saying “she’s a teacher, not a crossing guard.”  Probably, actually.

And what about everyone being their own last line of defense?  Leftist hate that idea too.

Commissioner Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex died in the massacre, cast the lone vote against the motion. He said the state should focus on hiring more police officers for campuses and allowing non-teaching staff to carry guns.

“We do need more good guys with a gun on campus — nobody understands that and wishes we had more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas than myself,” Schachter said. But arming teachers “creates a host of problems.” The father and wife of other victims, who are not on the commission, also spoke against arming teachers.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.  Nobody is suggesting arming teachers be mandatory.  Let those who want the training have it.  This is bullshit false dichotomy.

If Miss Wormwood doesn’t want to pack heat, don’t make her.

If I was a teacher, I’d volunteer to carry because I do it already.

Currently, teachers in 28 states can carry firearms, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center, a conservative nonprofit organization. District approval is required in most states and restrictions and training requirements vary.

The 15-member commission, which has been meeting periodically since April, will present a report to Gov. Rick Scott, incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature by Jan. 1.

Broward County is going to shit the bed over this.

Also Wednesday, a judge rejected former Stoneman Douglas campus deputy Scot Peterson’s contention that he had no obligation to confront Cruz.

Refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parent of a victim, Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning found after a hearing that Peterson did have a duty to protect those inside the school. Video and other evidence shows Peterson, the only armed officer at the school, remained outside while shots rang out.

The negligence lawsuit was filed by Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed. Pollack said it made no sense for Peterson’s attorneys to argue that a sworn law enforcement officer with a badge and a gun had no requirement to go inside.

“Then what is he doing there?” Pollack said after the ruling. “He had a duty. I’m not going to let this go. My daughter, her death is not going to be in vain.”

Peterson attorney Michael Piper said he understands that people might be offended or outraged at his client’s defense, but he argued that as a matter of law, the deputy had no duty to confront the shooter. Peterson did not attend the hearing.

“There is no legal duty that can be found,” Piper said. “At its very worst, Scot Peterson is accused of being a coward. That does not equate to bad faith.”

The British and American armies used to shoot cowards.  If you didn’t go over the top of the trench with the rest of your unit, the surviving members of your unit got to shoot you for cowardice and desertion.  So there’s that.

The commission voted Wednesday to condemn Peterson’s actions, calling him “derelict” in his duties.

Apparently “gutless, feckless, dickless, chicken shit coward” can’t be used in an official report.

For nearly a year, the anti-gun crowd has been arguing that arming teachers (letting teachers who want to carry) was the wrong way to go about this.  We need gun control.  As the information on Cruz poured in, it turns out that the bureaucracy of Broward County schools and law enforcement failed at every level and every gun control law proposed would have done nothing.

The commission appointed by the governor came to the conclusion, let teachers who want to shoot back have guns so they can shoot back.

It’s official now.

You just know that the commission will be accused of partisan hackery because it was appointed by a Republican governor or some crap like that.  But as Miguel likes to remind us, you can’t stop the signal.  When the Commission appointed by the governor as created by a law passed by the state legislature says “let teachers shoot back if they want” it’s hard to make that go away.