Friday, August 22, 2008

Texas governor supports armed teachers

Texas Governor Rick Perry has been a staunch supporter of the right to keep and bear arms. On Monday he voiced support for the small East Texas school district that will allow armed teachers to protect their students:
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicated Monday that he supports a school district's decision to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes start this month.

Trustees of the Harrold Independent School District approved a policy change last year to allow employees to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings.

"There's a lot of incidents where that would have saved a number of lives," Perry said after a news conference in Austin.

Article here.

Another article:
After the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech University, Perry expressed support for allowing licensed Texans to carry concealed handguns anywhere, including churches, courthouses and college campuses.

Those premises are now off limits by state law to concealed handgun license holders.

The chairman of the House Law Enforcement Committee said he plans to introduce legislation next year to allow concealed weapons at universities.

Article here. I wouldn't be surprised to see more and more states begin to legalize school and college carry by permit holders in the coming years. Every school massacre will continue to build the case for empowering law-abiding teachers and adult students to have the tools necessary to defend themselves from would-be mass murderers. Sadly, many more kids will likely die, their deaths facilitated by the anti-self defense gun control policies now in place, before common sense prevails and the law-abiding victims gain the legal right to carry effective tools to defend themselves.

Meanwhile, in Arizona:
An Arizona state senator is watching closely what happens in a small school district outside Fort Worth, Texas, which is the first in the nation to allow teachers to carry guns on campus.

Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, fought for a similar bill during the last Arizona legislative session, but it never reached the Senate floor.

Johnson still believes guns on campus are necessary.
...
Although her proposal failed to pass in Arizona, Johnson said it had a lot of support from educators.

``They felt it was just really important to have this ability to defend themselves and their students if in fact something terrible happens, like happened back in Virginia Tech, happened there in Illinois."

Article here.

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