Commission Investigating Parkland Votes 13-1 to Arm Teachers

The commission investigating the February 14 Parkland school shooting voted 13 to 1 Wednesday to arm teachers.

The Associated Press reports that the commission recommended allowing “teachers who volunteer and undergo extensive background checks and training…to carry concealed guns on campus to stop future shootings.”

The vote comes just weeks after Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, lead investigator on the commission, announced that he wanted to see teachers armed in Florida.

On November 21, Breitbart News reported that Gualtieri said the investigation into the Parkland shooting had changed his views on armed teachers; that he went from opposing it to supporting it. He noted, “People need to keep an open mind to it as the reality is that if someone else in that school had a gun it could have saved kids’ lives.”

Gualtieri’s observation is poignant in light of the fact that Parkland shooter paused five times to reload during his attack, but no teachers or staff were armed to take advantage of the lull in attack.

Constitutional attorney and author Mark W. Smith spoke to Breitbart News about the commission vote, saying:

The Parkland Commission’s decision in favor of arming teachers is rational and founded in common sense. While many commissions often come to feel good, but ineffective, conclusions, the Parkland commission here came to very effective, clear and definitive recommendations that if adopted will make a major improvement in protecting the lives of the children and teachers in Florida. And it is worth mentioning that this conclusion was reached by the overwhelming majority of this commission by a 13 to 1 vote. Hopefully, other states will look at this commission’s recommendations and adopt their very sensible recommendation.

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.