Four years ago we had a bill that would have beefed up school security in less than 12 months. But as usual, it dies in the Legislature because we have spineless and gutless Senators and Representatives.
I am reprinting part of a post from back then. It was common sense legislation, but it twisted the genital appendages of the Florida Intelligentsia, including our local bird-cage droppings catcher, The Miami Herald.
Fits of rage and despair are being thrown inside the secret editor’s room at the Miami Herald. Guns in Schools? Nooooooo!
An Abomination! says today’s editorial.
But as usual, they probably did not bother to read the law. The way they write it, it allows basically anybody to be walking around school with an M-60 and shoot the first kid that eats a pop-tart the wrong way. So, once again I take the extra bytes to link you to the proposed bill.
Before dissecting the editorial, let’s make a quick summary of what the bill states:
1) Leave to the local school boards the ability to decide for armed personnel on school grounds. It is not a mandatory thing.
2) The School Principal has also a say so in the matter as he/she has the authority to designate (or not) who can carry in the school.
3) The program is voluntary. If a teacher, employee or administrator does not want to carry, it is all fine.
4) Those allowed to carry on school property must be: a) Former Military or Police without a firearms disciplinary problem in his record, b) Active Military or Police without a firearms disciplinary problem in his record & c) Civilians with a valid Florida Concealed Carry Permit.
5) The person approved by the Principal “must submit to the authorizing principal or superintendent proof of completion of a minimum of 40 hours of a school safety program and annually complete 8 hours of active-shooting training and 4 hours of firearm proficiency training as such training programs are defined and administered by the Department of Law Enforcement.”
The Abomination According to the Miami Herald.
Imagine that. They were against teachers, retired police and military from being the first responders in cases like this. I guess they think they are too stupid to defend kids, but apparently they do confide their education somehow. I can’t figure out the contradiction.
And yes, the Miami Herald editorial staff is also complicit with the latest massacre in another Gun Free Zone in Florida.
Hat tip to Jeff H. for the reminder.
I suppose those proposed rules were an attempt to get something that could pass (even if the attempt ended up unsuccessful). But leaving basic human rights to the discretion of political animals such as school superintendents is only a small improvement over an outright ban. Is there any estimate of how many superintendents would have granted the approval in question — if any?
Members of school boards are elected animals and shit rolls downhill.
I remember that in Virginia there was an option for universities to allow campus carry. Virginia Tech decided to disallow it with an argument about student safety. After the VT massacre, they were asked to reconsider. They refused, again with an argument about student safety.
Replacement link for the Miami Herald editorial:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140315000000*/http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/11/3988761/guns-in-schools.html