Iowa’s Spirit Lake Community School Board voted unanimously during a special meeting Monday to arm staff for classroom defense.
WHO13 reports that the vote means board superintendent David Smith can select up to ten staff member volunteers to be armed on school grounds to defend students should an attacker strike.
Iowa law makes clear there is no school/firearm violation for individuals armed at school if those individuals have been authorized by the school authorities.
Iowa Firearms Coalition president David Funk responded to the Spirit Lake Community School Board’s decision, saying, “The Spirit Lake School Board clearly loves their children enough to ensure, should tragedy strike, a threat can be addressed. We strongly encourage all other Iowa school districts to follow in the footsteps of Spirit Lake. Our children are worth protecting.”
Numerous school boards around the country have either chosen to arm staff or have bolstered the arms they already had, adding rifles to handguns, in the past weeks and month.
Breitbart News noted in July that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed legislation to allow school staff and teachers to be armed for classroom defense.
On August 6 Breitbart News reported that North Carolina’s Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood announced he was taking steps to be sure his school officers were ready, and one of those steps meant being sure there was an AR-15 in every county school for classroom defense.
Florida’s Indian River County School District added an AR-15 to every school so students returning to class in the fall will have school resource officers who can access rifles in the event of an attack, Breitbart News observed on August 15.
On August 16 Breitbart News pointed out that Texas’s Houston Independent School District designated over $2 million in funding for rifles, ballistic shields, ammunition, and communications devices for school resource officers throughout the district.
Breitbart News explained in May that Jacob Albarado, the off-duty Border Patrol agent who rushed into Robb Elementary School during the Uvalde attack to save his daughter, believes teachers should be trained and armed for classroom defense.
Albarado borrowed a shotgun from a local barber where he was about to get a haircut when he learned of the attack and charged into the school to save his daughter. He was able to get his daughter and numerous other children out of the building.
The New York Post observed that Albarado wrote of his frustration on Facebook after the attack, saying, “I’m so angry, saddened and grateful all at once. Only time will heal their pain and hopefully changes will be made at all schools in the U.S. and teachers will be trained & allowed to carry in order to protect themselves and students.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News 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 and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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