I appreciated your timely column last week about the recent tragedy at the school in Nashville. We are all asking “when will this stop” and “what can we do”?
I want to respond to one idea you mentioned in your column, namely: “Some schools have taken to arming their teachers to respond in an active shooter situation.”
I suspect that many people would consider “arming teachers” on the surface to be a bad idea. It sounds like a military deployment.
However, I believe that “arming teachers” is simply rhetoric - designed to alarm people and scare them.
Allow me to push away from the inflammatory rhetoric and offer an alternative that is based on facts.
Fact #1: in this country we are still governed by the Constitution that defines certain rights. Guaranteed in the Second Amendment is a right for ordinary citizens to bear arms. That is still the law of the land, and recently upheld by the Supreme Court. https://www.findlaw. com/legalblogs/supremecourt/ scotus-overturns-newyork- gun-law/ Fact #2: The right to bear arms is highly regulated in most jurisdictions, including in Pueblo County. Even more regulated is the right to carry a concealed weapon.
To exercise that right in Pueblo County, a citizen must make application to the Sheriff’s Department, submit to an extensive federal and state background check, and show proof of both completion of a firearm’s safety course and proficiency on the weapon applied for. https://www.sheriff.co.puebl o.co.us/DocumentCenter/Vi ew/225/Concealed-Handgun-Permit-Information-Packet-PDF Fact #3: As a class, concealed carry permit holders in this country are the MOST law abiding citizens, with fewer arrests, misdemeanor and felony charges than even law enforcement officers. https://www.dailywire. com/news/report-concealed- carry-permit-holdersare- most-law-aaron-bandler Fact #4: in the 20 states that allow teachers to exercise their 2nd amendment right, there have been NO school shootings. As well as no accidents or injuries caused by firearms possessed by teachers. https://spectator. org/mass-shootings-ingun- free-zones/ Fact #5: Under their state constitution, teachers in Utah have the right to carry with a valid permit. Schools in Utah are not gun free zones. Mass school shootings in Utah? There haven’t been any - ever! https://www.ksl.com/article/ 28390054/experts-speculate- on-why-utah-has-zeroschool- related-shootings In summary, “arming teachers” is simply rhetoric.
ALLOWING teachers who already have a valid and current concealed carry permit issued by the Pueblo County Sheriff can be a reasonable and effective potential deterrent and might possibly make schools less likely to be a soft target.
John Zondlo
Proud Pueblo County resident and avid reader of the Greenhorn Valley View John Zondlo lives in Pueblo with his wife of 43 years, Karen. He’s here because his grandkids live here (with their parents of course!). He is a retired Hospital Administrator.
He’s on the Safety Team at Aberdeen Baptist Church in Pueblo. One of his hobbies is to fact check political rhetoric.
