Florida law to arm teachers advances
On February 27th , Florida Representative W. Gregory “Greg” Steube, filed HB 1097 – School Safety, which takes a hard look at safety in Florida’s schools. Rep. Steube, an Army paratrooper and Iraq War combat veteran, states, “The safety of our school children and the dedicated teachers and personnel who educate them is a paramount concern to all communities.”
“We are all deeply concerned about the well-being of our children and we must come to a consensus on how to prevent violent crimes from occurring on school grounds. As a father and a son of a teacher, I feel a responsibility to my community and my state to address the safety of our students and teaching personnel. With this bill, schools will be better equipped to protect their faculty and students,” notes Rep. Steube.
HB 1097 would allow a school principal to designate one or more members of school personnel to carry a concealed firearm or weapon while performing his or her official duties.
Joe Saunders from BizPac Review reports:
Armed teachers could be on their way to Florida school campuses.
A bill to allow school principals to designate school employees to carry concealed weapons for security passed the Florida House Judiciary Committee Tuesday to provide what its sponsor called a way to protect children from school violence when police aren’t able to.
“This is not something that’s a foreign concept to the defense of our children,” Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, told the committee.
Steube cited numerous other states that allow arms on campus, including Democratic bastions such as California and Hawaii.
The bill passed on a party-line vote, with Democrats opposing it after testimony from the Florida School Boards Association, the Florida Association of School Administrators, Florida PTA and other groups.
“This bill sends the wrong message … to our young people,” SBA Executive Director Wayne Blanton said. Allowing authority figures such as coaches, principals and teachers to be armed on school grounds would encourage students to want to be armed themselves,” he said.
Below, you can find more information regarding HB 1097.
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