Mass shootings in any venue are unspeakable tragedies, but mass shootings that take place in schools are extra heinous and have a profound impact on each and every one of us.
While we can disagree about the means and methodologies for keeping kids safe while they’re in school, there is one principle upon which people of good will can agree: That children must be protected while they are in school. When parents drop their kids off at school (or say goodbye when they leave the house) they expect them to be safe while they’re gone and to arrive back at home safe and sound.
How do we keep kids safe in school? There seems to be two prevailing ideas around this. One, that schools should be “gun-free zones”, with nobody except uniformed and licensed law enforcement officers allowed to carry guns on school grounds. This concept was enshrined into federal law in the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.
Fortunately, since that law was enacted, there have been zero incidents involving guns on school grounds because everybody obeys the law. Oh, wait, that’s not true. In fact, since 1990, there have been over two hundred incidents of gun-related crimes on school and university grounds, with about 175 incidents involving K-12 schools. Of these, 13 were mass-shooting incidents with the worst 3 involving K-12 schools being Columbine, Sandy Hook and Parkland. Several of the 175 incidents were gang-related, many involved adults attacking other adults over personal issues and in several incidents the shooters were restrained by teachers.
The other prong of the so-called “gun-free world” is ever stricter gun control laws, with students walking out of classes on March 14, 2018 to call for banning “assault rifles” and raising the age for gun purchases to 21 years old.
Neither of these approaches will work.
It should be obvious to even the most ardent gun control supporter that gun-free zones are in fact “free-fire zones”. That GFZs are in fact MORE dangerous places to be. That our kids are MORE at risk of being victims of evil perpetrators than not. Hoping that evil monsters intent on harming others will comply with gun-free zone designations is naïve and dangerous.
With over 300 million guns in circulation and over 100 million gun owners in America, most of whom will not surrender their guns under any circumstances, calls for civilian disarmament and gun confiscations are not realistic, practical, achievable or desirable.
No. The realistic approach to improving school safety is three-fold: hardening the target, increasing armed and uniformed security, and allowing legally qualified school staff to conceal carry on the job.
There’s a second school of thought on keeping kids safe in a broken world – that of armed defenders. That’s where FASTER comes in.
FASTER stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response. The program was initially developed by the board of the Buckeye Firearms Association in the immediate aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting on December 14, 2012. The directors of BFA had a phone conversation that evening to talk about what they could do to make schools safer.
FASTER is what they came up with. FASTER is a three-day intensive training program for school staff who are already legally qualified to carry concealed weapons and who answered the call of their school districts to carry while at work to protect the young lives in their care.
During the three days of training, school staff learn about mindset, combat triage and first aid, and develop skills relating to stopping the bad guy and various active shooter scenarios.
Class participants use live fire and simulations to train on stopping the threat and save lives. They learn about how to manage the 9-1-1 call to ensure that first responders know who the “good guy (or gal)” is and how the situation is evolving. There is more depth to this topic, but it is not publicly disclosed. FASTER Colorado’s instructors, all of whom have SWAT experience, know how to make sure that doesn’t happen.
FASTER training also comes in two levels, Level One which is for people who already have legally qualified to be concealed carry holders and who most likely carry firearms in their everyday lives (except at work, where they are disarmed). The skills they learn in Level One qualify them to be armed defenders in their schools, and the firearms qualifications they must pass meet or exceed comparable law enforcement qualifications in their states.
Level 2 training, which is not yet offered in Colorado, takes it to the next level and typically is for armed defenders who have been through FASTER One and have been carrying concealed for at least a year.
Not surprisingly, there are many objections to the concept of “armed teachers”. Here are some of them and the responses.
- “I don’t want my kid’s teacher carrying a gun”. OK, so you trust the teacher with your child’s mind, but not with his/her safety? There’s a value disconnect there.
- “Teachers can’t afford the training. Neither can the school district. Our schools don’t have enough money”. That’s why FASTER training is entirely funded by private donations. Teachers who apply are already bearing the cost of owning firearms and obtaining concealed carry permits on their own. Here’s how you can donate to help put a Colorado school employee through the program: https://secure.anedot.com/coloradans-for-civil-liberties/main-donation-form
- “What if a teacher gets mad and shoots a kid?”. Any teacher known to have anger management issues or other personality disorders probably would not be approved by school administration to be an armed defender. The fact is, in the hundreds of school districts across America with armed defenders over several years, nothing like this has ever happened.
- “How can a teacher with a handgun go up against a guy with an assault weapon?” Would you rather have them go up against them with their body only? Which is what has been the case in several school shootings. In some incidents, unarmed teachers have taken the shooter down. Why not give them a fighting chance?
- “What happens if the cops show up and they don’t know who the bad guy is?” That’s why FASTER includes training for the 9-1-1 call. And it can take law enforcement many minutes to arrive. In these incidents, someone can be getting shot up to every 15 seconds. The faster you can stop the bad guy, the more lives can be saved.
- “We shouldn’t make teachers carry guns”. Nobody is “making” anybody do anything. Armed defenders are selected from people who volunteer to the call. Those who don’t want to carry guns are not required to, and probably shouldn’t.
It is clear from recent events that gun control laws do not stop mass casualty incidents. Despite ever increasing laws and barriers, those who would inflict harm on others always seem to find a way. And while I do not doubt for a second the good intentions of those who don’t want armed school staff and think that schools being gun-free zones is a good idea, the facts of the matter are: gun control does not work. Gun-free zones do not work. The only thing that can stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. The time to allow armed staff to protect our kids is now.
Talk to your neighbors and friends. Talk to your child’s teacher. Ask your school board about their district’s security plan. And ask if they will allow armed staff members to protect your children while they are in school.
The time for FASTER has come.
Richard D. Turnquist
March 18, 2018
Other information and stories:
Keeping Kids Safe in a Broken World by Laura Carno
Armed Heroes in Teacher’s Clothing by Rob Morse
How to become a concealed carry licensee:
Concealed Carry 101 by Richard Turnquist
Armed Teachers: Their Time Has Come by Laura Carno
