Protecting schools will not be easy

This is the opinion of a retired deputy sheriff for Yuma County. I was the firearms instructor and retired as patrol commander. I received training from Arizona DPS, the FBI and the NRA. After retirement I was a buyer/salesman and a CCW instructor for a sporting goods business.

I am a believer that every person who can qualify through Arizona’s CCW course and the fingerprint check should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Arizona has laws that restrict where a person can carry a concealed weapon, as well as laws that restrict places of open carry, and restrict who can qualify for a permit.

Arizona’s system might well be a model for the rest of the nation to follow.

Let’s talk about “assault weapons.” To banish such a sale, lawmakers will have to give a definitive description of what an “assault weapon” is. As soon as a legal definition of an “assault weapon” is adopted, a manufacturer will develop one that is outside of this definition. I feel it is a waste of time to ban “assault weapons.”

The answers are to make sure NICS gets all the available information to make sure a correct decision is made on whether a person should be able to buy any firearm. Of course, this can’t cover all firearm sales because some of them are going to be sales not involving a licensed dealer.

Now let’s talk about arming school teachers. My opinion is this; Don’t! Even if the teacher is a retired police officer, or a retired military combat veteran. When responding police officers enter the school and observe someone in plain clothes brandishing a weapon, there is a good chance that teacher gets shot.

The answer is to provide schools with fully trained law enforcement officers.

Now, to implement these programs, we need a way to pay for these officers and their training. Congress must establish a long lasting federal grant program. Law enforcement agencies would work with their schools to determine how many officers are needed and apply to the grant program. Once the law enforcement agency gets its people on board, intensive training will begin. Each school will have unique needs, requiring special training primarily because of their designs. This will not be easy! Many other things to be considered need further discussion.