Veterans are already trained in the use and handling of firearms, as well as the use and handling of stun guns.
Veterans are already trained to recognize and deal with threats appropriately.
Veterans would be solely responsible for school safety, leaving teachers to be solely responsible for what they’ve been hired to do: teach.
It would be more cost-effective to hire veterans already trained in firearms and already trained to recognize and deal with threats, than it would be to train teachers to handle firearms, furnish teachers with firearms, plus establish training on how and when it’s appropriate to use firearms and establish secure facilities to house firearms for teachers.
There are undoubtedly plenty of veterans who could use such jobs and would welcome being employed to protect our nation’s students, teachers and school administrators.
It would be an extremely heavy burden to place on any teacher or school administrator, who already has a full time and stressful job of teaching, to also expect them to be on constant alert and responsible for the safety of their students and all co-workers.
This is not to say that teachers shouldn’t have their own guns for protection should the need arise, but they should not be depended on to use those guns as the sole safety factor to meet a threat.
Knowing that schools had the protection of armed veterans would be a deterrent to threats against school students and personnel, keeping schools safe so teachers can teach and students can learn.
Marilynn Eddy
Pocatello, Idaho