Illinois School District Moves to Arm Teachers to Ensure ‘Kids Are Safe’

Illinois’ Century School District is moving to arm teachers as a way to ensure “kids are safe” from an attack like the one witnessed in Florida on February 14.

WSIL quoted school district board member Keith Clark saying, “We arm our Brink’s trucks because we hold value in it. We appoint security to guard our legislators, to guard our movie stars, but yet our most valuable asset in our society are our children and we do nothing.”

Century’s superintendent, Landon Sommers, pointed out that the school has new doors, metal detectors, and cameras, but armed teachers would add another defensive layer to make sure that “kids are safe.”

Sommers said, “It’s disheartening being in education having this conversation, but with everything going on it’s a conversation we have to have.”

Parents expressed support for arming teachers but Illinois Education Association (IEA) President Kathi Griffin opposes arming teachers to defend their own lives and the lives of their students.

Griffin said, “We need to stop repeating history and tackle the school shooting epidemic head on, but arming our teachers is not the answer. Our teachers and support staff members did not sign up to carry guns! They are not law enforcement. They became teachers and support staff because they wanted to help students learn and succeed.”

Breitbart News reported that Broward County Sheriff’s deputy Scott Peterson, the law enforcement officer on scene during the Florida school shooting, was at the school at the attack occurred but never went in to confront the gunman. Unarmed teachers inside the building were defenseless.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.