Defending the school kids

NEWS RELEASE

www.ccrkba.org
HARROLD, TX SCHOOL OFFICIALS RIGHT ON CHANGE IN CAMPUS GUN POLICY, SAYS CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA – Harrold, Tex. School district trustees and Supt. David Thweatt deserve accolades for changing school policy to allow staff and teachers to carry concealed handguns to protect against school shootings, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“When classes open August 25 in Harrold, school buildings will be safer than normal, thanks to this decision,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Critics of the plan will argue about liability, or suggest that the school could have hired a security officer or off-duty policeman. But we all know that such officers can’t be everywhere, and in an emergency, every second counts.

Gottlieb, co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age, noted that a full chapter of the book is devoted to the folly of gun free zones, including public schools. He said such places are magnets for cowardly mass killers who have nothing to fear because the victims cannot fight back.

“Gun control extremists despise this kind of common-sense approach to the potential of school violence,” Gottlieb observed. “But the time has come to challenge their head-in-the-sand philosophy. How many lives have been lost on public school and college campuses because of these insane victim disarmament measures? How many students and teachers might be alive today if only lawmakers and school officials had acted as responsibly as the Harrold administration?”

Under this new policy, school employees who have a state-issued concealed carry permit, and permission from the school administration, may carry their guns on campus. They must be trained in crisis management and use ammunition designed to minimize ricochet inside school buildings.

“Allowing armed staff and teachers will provide a last line of defense if other security measures at the school fail,” Gottlieb said. “No doubt the school board and Mr. Thweatt will suffer some slings and arrows, but if this decision one day saves the life of even one child, it will have been worthwhile.”

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Related:

North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns

AP
HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Superintendent David Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff’s office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district’s lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.

“When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can’t defend themselves? That’s like saying ’sic ‘em’ to a dog,” Thweatt said in Friday’s online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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