But, in a nod to the NRA and President Trump's call to arm teachers, the act also now allows Florida schools to choose to arm their teachers and staff. It's a provision that is vocally opposed by teaching organizations, child advocacy groups, Florida school students, and even the families of school shooting victims.
Nevermind that no school shooting was ever stopped by an armed civilian who wasn't law enforcement. And, as I've pointed out in a prior post, at least 23 incidents have been CAUSED on school grounds by armed individuals, including guards, who were supposed to be the sort the NRA claims will protect our children.
The Parkland school district isn't playing along -- the very school district where the shooting occurred -- and is refusing to arm their staff:
“I have not met one teacher or one student who is in favor of arming teachers in Broward County,” board member Laurie Levinson said.
The school board instead wants the allotted money from the bill to go toward armed school resource officers, CBS Miami reported.
“We should definitely launch a campaign to persuade the governor, for those districts who do not want to arm their employees, that they give us the money to keep kids safe in other ways,” board member Robin Bartleman said.
(And they aren't the only Florida school board to reject the notion).
Well, actually, there was one teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was open to the idea of packing heat on campus. Science teacher Sean Simpson supported his students in their calls to bring tighter gun regulations, but he also stated about arming teachers:
"I know there are some of us that are willing to take the training if it was offered and probably be another line of defense."
He was on campus when the shots rang out and the shooter killed 17 and injured 15. So why aren't the gun nuts trumpeting his assertion to arm himself on campus? Probably because he promptly had an accident with his loaded gun:
[Simpson] told deputies he accidentally left the gun in a stall at the bathroom at the Deerfield Beach Pier during a visit to the beach Sunday. While going back to retrieve it, he heard a gunshot and once back inside the bathroom, saw 69-year-old Joseph Spataro holding the gun.
He left his loaded gun unattended in a public bathroom and a homeless man found it and fired it "to see if it was loaded." Luckily no one was injured. Oopsie! So much for that NRA poster child! According to responding deputies:
"There was a reasonable likelihood that the firearm could have ended up in the hands of a child or the discharge of the firearm could have wounded another person or child."
Imagine if he had left that gun in the school bathroom instead! It's happened before, again, and again, and again.
Both Simpson and the homeless person are facing charges, but so far Simpson hasn't lost his job as a teacher. I can only wonder what his students are thinking of him as they deal with their shooting-induced PTSD. At least they can rest assured that neither he nor any of the other teachers will be allowed to carry on campus!
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