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US Report: Commission advises Florida to arm teachers

By Eric Mack From Newsmax

Outside view of Sunrise Tactical Supply store in Coral Springs, Florida on February 16, 2018 where school shooter Nikolas Cruz bought his AR-15 to gun down students at Marjory Stoneman High School. The heavily armed teenager who gunned down students and adults at a Florida high school was charged Thursday with 17 counts of premeditated murder, court documents showed.Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed fifteen people in a hail of gunfire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Two others died of their wounds later in hospital, the sheriff’s office said. / AFP PHOTO / Michele Eve Sandberg (Photo credit should read MICHELE EVE SANDBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

The state-commissioned report of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has made a number of school safety recommendations, including arming teachers, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.

“There needs to be a sense of urgency,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chaired the commission, told the paper. “And people need to understand that there’s an expectation and a rightful expectation on the part of parents: When you send your kids to school in the morning, there’s an expectation they’re going to come home alive in the afternoon and there are very basic things.

“There’s a money issue, I grant you that. And there’s challenges with money, but there’s a whole bunch of things that don’t cost anything and the Legislature, if these districts won’t do it, should mandate that they implement these things and that they implement them immediately.”

Gualtieri’s report was 458 pages and outlines the errors made during last February’s mass shooting of 17 students and staff at the Parkland, Florida, high school, including failed security and safety policies, according to the paper.

Proposals to permit some teaches to carry guns and increase school security spending will be reviewed by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, incoming Gov. Ron DeSantis, Senate President Bill Galvano, and House Speaker José Oliva, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Gualtieri forcefully backed the proposal to arm teachers, reminding that the shooter had to reload, presenting pauses to stop him.

“So what are we saying to people — we’re not going to allow you to defend yourself, we’re not going to allow you to defend the kids — why? Because of some ideology that we don’t like guns?” Gualtieri said, per the Sun-Sentinel. “Anyone who thinks they’re going to get rid of guns is crazy. It isn’t going to happen. We’ve got to do something differently and people should be able to protect themselves.”

Broward School Board member Robin Bartleman is reportedly willing to revisit arming teachers, despite hesitation for it.

“I am very concerned about arming teachers,” Bartleman told the Sun-Sentinel. “I think it’s a discussion we need to have with the community. I have not found many people in favor of this. The overwhelming response I get is people don’t want teachers with guns.”

Board member Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was killed by the Parkland shooter, is against arming teachers, she told the paper.

“Teachers went to school to teach,” she said. “That is their expertise. Law enforcement, their expertise is supposed to be to engage a threat. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen on 2/14, but I still think we should leave it in the hands of law enforcement.”Related Stories:

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For more on this story go to: https://www.newsmax.com/us/schoolshooting-armingteachers-security/2019/01/02/id/896642/?ns_mail_uid=6952f1f9-507d-4a20-8cc0-0a1db158d76e&ns_mail_job=DM11658_01032019&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010504gf6l33

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