'It's my job to protect them': U.S. teachers train to carry guns in class

[David S.]

Philosophically I’m for removing “gun free zone” from schools, or at least giving individual districts or schools to do so, allowing teachers to carry based on their CHL.

If a higher level of training is required for political reasons, I’d look to the FFDO program (airline pilots with guns) as a training model.

[Wendell]

Where motivated teachers, whose employers permitted the program, could use their own money and three weeks of vacation time to fly to New Mexico to take the required training.

Oh yeah, that's practical.

[TGS]

Where motivated teachers, whose employers permitted the program, could use their own money and three weeks of vacation time to fly to New Mexico to take the required training.

Oh yeah, that's practical.

He wrote, "as a training model."

It could (and would) obviously be run at a state/county level.

Similar to many other programs available to teachers, it could be run nights/weekends as well across the school year for teachers who wouldn't have access to the program over a summer break.

In addition to the FFDO program, see the Texas School Marshal and Polk County Florida Sheriff's Sentinel programs for other examples of successful training models if increased scrutiny beyond a CHL is required.

[HCM]

If a higher level of training is required for political reasons, I’d look to the FFDO program (airline pilots with guns) as a training model.

That is pretty much what the TX School Marshal Program, though I would argue the TX School Marshal program is actually a better program and a higher level of training is require for practical reasons as well.

[Drang]

He's one of the few people in the U.S. qualified to train teachers to take their guns into classrooms.

[David S.]

Where motivated teachers, whose employers permitted the program, could use their own money and three weeks of vacation time to fly to New Mexico to take the required training.

Oh yeah, that's practical.

From the TSA website:
Held in Artesia, New Mexico, [initial] training is conducted in a state-of-the-art facility at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and consists of 56 hours of intense training over the course of six days. Upon successful completion, the pilot is deputized as a federal law enforcement officer and issued a TSA-approved firearm and federal flight deck officer credentials.

FFDO training is a one week course, not 3 weeks.

[David S.]

Article says "He's one of the first people..."

[Wendell]

FFDO training is a one week course, not 3 weeks.

Sorry, my mistake.

[Drang]

Article says "He's one of the first people..."

Honestly, even with that correction it still doesn't make sense. Unless it means he's one of the first certified instructors in the State of Texas for (what was the title?) "School Marshalls." Did the person responsible for that article do the research to determine that there are no other programs in the US training teachers to defend their students? (Do armed Israeli teachers not count?) What, exactly, does it take? What body governs training standards for arming teachers?

I don't actually expect an answer, because I don' actually expect a journalist, US or Canadian, to recognize the assumptions inherent in that statement.

[willie]

I spent 30 years in the teaching profession, and when I reflect on the huge sums of money that school districts blow, I say let them "blow" some of this money on hiring additional police officers to work in schools. In an inner city school, an armed teacher would run the risk of having students disarm him. Why? Just for the hell of it. Another situation would be having students surround him and chant bull shit. Why? Just so they could ridicule him. Allowing certain teachers to have firearms in their vehicles might work, or positioning secure gun storage areas throughout the facilities might be a good idea.