Gun manufacturers and their chief lobbying group, the NRA, will be pleased with at least one provision of a larger gun bill passed Wednesday by a Florida House panel: arming teachers. Any effort that sells more guns is always the answer gun manufacturers crave in response to just about any gun catastrophe—mass shootings, school slaughters, the election of a Democrat. And on Wednesday, despite the objections of most Parkland students and parents (and 56-40 percent opposition among Floridians), the Gunshine State's Republican lawmakers continued the march toward putting more guns in schools. The Tampa Bay Times writes:
Voting along party lines, the House Appropriations Committee approved training teachers to carry guns in class under the direction of local law enforcement — if superintendents or school boards approve. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a similar bill later Tuesday.
The $67 million "school marshal" program is the most controversial aspect of a House bill that imposes a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, raises the age to buy any gun from 18 to 21 and gives police more power to seize guns from people who threaten themselves or others. Most of the money for the marshal program would be spent on training. [...]
The bill also calls for spending $400 million to put a school resource officer in every school, improve mental health counseling and make public school buildings safer. [...]
A Democratic effort to strip the school marshal program failed on an 18-9 party-line vote.
No, arming teachers won’t be the windfall for gun manufacturers that, say, the election of Barack Obama was. But it goes to a mindset—the answer is to arm more people not less. That's a big win for the gun lobby at a time when Parkland student shooting survivors have ignited a national movement to enact stricter gun laws, and particularly, to ban assault weapons. Somehow, such a ban didn't make it into the bill.
As for the armed teachers, let us the count the ways that it will only endanger more lives: 1) when the police arrive, they won't know whether the “school marshal” with the gun is the shooter; 2) any disgruntled “school marshal” could turn into a school shooter in seconds (not just a theory, given news of police taking a Georgia teacher into custody today); 3) teachers don't sign up to teach so they can turn into de facto undercover law enforcement officials; 3) many Parkland kids have said they wouldn't feel safer knowing their teachers have guns; 4) even trained police officers miss their mark most of the time in a firefight; 5) anyone who knows teachers, knows they are already overwhelmed (and underpaid) with the many responsibilities they carry—adding the decision of whether to use deadly force on anyone, let alone one of their own students, isn't a burden they should have to bear; 6) learning how to simply handle a weapon and learning to fight when someone is actively trying to kill you are two very different things—just ask combat vets.
Here’s the goal of the GOP’s armed teachers provision:
The goal: 10 marshals (teachers trained to carry a gun) in every school, which would equate to 37,000 statewide. The state would cover the costs of background checks, drug testing, psychological exams and 132 hours of training. The bill does provide a one-time $500 stipend for those who volunteer to have a gun.
Wow, Republicans are really focused on requiring a lot testing and scrutiny for school marshals that they apparently think is totally unnecessary for other gun owners—including those who buy assault weapons specifically designed by the U.S. military to slaughter people.
Did we mention that Florida already had a Safe Schools program to supply resource officers to schools that Florida's GOP-led legislature has been financially squeezing ever since it was put in place in 2007?
Some Democratic lawmakers ultimately voted against the overall bill Wednesday because of the armed teacher provision, but Republicans cut off debate in the chamber so Democrats couldn't explain their vote. Gov. Rick Scott does not support arming teachers but has not said how he would handle the bill.
Naturally, the NRA's chief lobbyist in Florida, Marion Hammer—who has spent decades making the state a mass shooter's dream—panned the bill with the exception of the provisions that result in more gun sales:
NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer unsuccessfully called for defeat of the bill. She said gun control provisions are unnecessary, ineffective and "won't stop massacres."
"These provisions are nothing more than an attack on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding people," Hammer testified, while adding that she supports the provisions in the bill that address security measures in schools, which includes arming teachers.
Apparently, the NRA doesn't have enough blood on its hands yet.