Tennessee – -(Ammoland.com)- John Harris, Executive Director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, is encouraging Tennessee’s candidates for Governor to LISTEN to more teachers before they speak FOR teachers.
Harris was referring to the issue of whether teachers who have been issued a civilian handgun carry permit would be willing to get additional training and carry on campus in order to protect themselves, their students and their colleagues in the event of a school shooting situation.
During the gubernatorial forum on May 15, 2018, three of the five major candidates participating (Congresswoman Diane Black was absent) indicated that they opposed allowing trained and permitted teachers to carry their weapons on school grounds as an additional line of protection in the event of a shooting incident on campus. Democrats Craig Fitzhugh and Karl Dean joined Republican Beth Harwell as all indicated that they did not support allowing teachers to be armed.
Republicans Bill Lee and Randy Boyd both supported allowing teachers who wished to do so, and were certified and trained, to carry firearms into their schools.
“What was disturbing, aside from their unwillingness to increase security in our schools, was that at least two of the candidates indicated that they didn’t know of ANY teachers willing to be armed on their campuses,” Harris pointed out. “Both Boyd and Dean claimed that they had not met or talked to any teacher willing to carry a weapon on school grounds — despite the fact that many teachers across the state already legally carry in some counties and more are willing to do so if the law permitted them to do so.”
Harris pointed out that a Professional Educators of Tennessee, PET, (www.proedtn.org) conducted a survey of over 1400 Tennessee teachers earlier this year. That survey indicated that over half the teachers had carry permits and 47% were willing to undergo additional training and carry their weapons on campus if allowed to do so.
J.C. Bowman, Executive Director of PET said that there are a large number of teachers across the state who have already been issued handgun carry permits, with many of them being former military or former law enforcement personnel.
“We sent our survey results to every candidate for Governor, Republican and Democrat, and they should all be aware that there are hundreds of teachers who are in fact willing and able to do what it takes to increase the safety of our schools, including carrying their own weapons on campus,” Bowman noted.
“Instead of listening to education bureaucrats and politically correct anti-2d Amendment advisors, we encourage all of the candidates to talk to more of the rank and file teachers and regular citizens across the state as they develop their public policy positions,” Harris concluded. “TFA would be happy to host a meeting for any of these candidate with gun owning teachers and citizens to help them better understand the reality of what Tennesseans really think and believe when it comes to the Second Amendment and protecting ourselves and our families.”
Tennessee Firearms Association
The Tennessee Firearms Association is a Tennessee not-for-profit corporation formed to promote the right to keep and bear arms, restoring government to citizen control and giving full effect to the original intent of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution as well as to the provisions of the Tennessee Constitution with an emphasis on the 2nd and 10th Amendments to the United States Constitution. www.tennesseefirearms.com
Being suicidal is a mental illness. School teachers who are mentally ill should not be allowed in the classroom, Classrooms should be made defensible, with a bullet-proof desk, Kevlar curtains and an armed teacher with a GLOCK 43 or similar handgun on their person and an AR SBR suppressed in 300BLK and a 30 round magazine in the desk. So far in the USA al the school shootings have been horny teens unable to get any girl to like him. That’s because he is crazy and the girls had some standards. But worldwide terrorists do attack schools and have killed… Read more »
What needs to happen os for the teachers who want to protect against violence in their schools need to learn where every governor candidate will be appearing, and show up with as many as possible, bearing signs saying “don’t disarm us teachers in school”. After the first such meeting for each candidate, none will then be able to truthfully claim they’ve never met a teacher willing to carry in school. If they persist in repeating that lie, then everyone will now they are liars into the bargain. Perhaps a petition or survey results shuold be sent to every candidate. Of… Read more »
So here’s another person the believes it illegal,to defend yourself. Not thinking before speaking us a liberal all over. They never use their minds. There’s an old day that fits them. The have diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain. We see it every time Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer talk.
Teachers! Stay alert. Stay armed. Practice. Do it and keep your mouth shut. Your liberal administrators will only try to look mournful at your funeral and make excuses for the loss of students when some idiot invades your class room. And police will only show up AFTER your dead. And unlike those nay sayers I did spend 20 years in the classroom. If I were still teaching I would be armed every day for the safety of my students and myself.
As long as the colleges remain bastions of liberalism the number of mind dead liberals will continue to increase. Young brains are being washed and turned into “true believers” by the socialist professors there. Unless there is an overthrow of the current college system all else we do matters little.
So, what else is new ? Teacher preferences have ALWAYS been ignored. And not
just in Tennessee.
@AJ: You can bet the teachers’ unions in all states are telling teachers not to support the carrying of firearms in classrooms. It’s a form of gun-control, and remember, teachers’ unions are ultra-liberal and always support Democrats…..no matter what!
Unfortunately that is happening in Texas… already in many southern cities. They leave left-wing liberal states because of violence and taxes…. BUT, these idiots keep voting the same way they did in the states they ruined. VA was once a southern state….. Baloney… not any more. Just look who is getting elected..! Even Wyoming is being over taken by liberal RINOS. People with $$$$$ are moving to that state from NY state and other high tax east cost states. Labor unions and teacher unions and mid west farmers who are afraid the ethanol gravy train will be eliminated vote as… Read more »
The fact that Harwell has voiced a negative opinion about allowing teachers who are willing to undergo additional training to protect our most precious of assets in what has become the choice targets of the deranged minds, shows me that I DO NOT want her leading our state. Black is not much better & Boyd has his Haslam ties that cause me concern. I would be all for a parley with ALL the candidates, specifically focusing on these fundamental & necessary, natural rights to defend. Roads will get fixed, gas taxes will do whatever they do, we already have the… Read more »
Tennessee, my beloved home state, is on the verge of collapse as a liberty loving bastion. Nashville has become overrun with transplanted liberals and I fear it will not be long until Tennessee becomes the likes of OR or CT.
I was talking to a teacher friend that I shoot with some and he has his permit. He said he would prefer to be able to carry opposed to the idea of pepper spray. He, kiddingly said, he would be too tempted to use the pepper spray on some of the kids. The school where he teaches is in a rural community, in Tennessee, and the police are at least ten minutes away unless they are on patrol or something. Hopefully, the new governor will get off the pedestal and do something sensible. I agree that we are sinking into… Read more »
Tennessee, my beloved home state, is on the verge of collapse as a liberty loving ibastion. Nashville has become overrun with transplanted liberals and I fear it will not be long until Tennessee becomes the likes of OR or CT.
@Capn Dad, If what you write is true, then you and the patriots of Tennessee had better get busy and set your State statutory Rights in cement. Find the “not corrupted yet” candidate and throw a barbecue for him. If time is short, don’t mind the cost. The money, now a days, is just paper with pretty pictures on it or electronic notations that the government could seize at any time.
@WB- Man, you must really be into barbecues! I’m in. Lol
The only problem here is finding a non-corrupt candidate. We have several that talk from both sides of their mouths. As much as I hate to admit it, if none show a desire to uphold the Constitution, I’ll not just “vote” to be voting. i don’t subscribe to the lesser of two (or more) evils theory. But I do love a good BBQ! Bring em on…we’ll woo em!