Image by Boch. Base image via X.

Newsweek breathlessly reports on a Christian School in Iowa that’s training up some of its teachers to pack heat in their schools. The purpose, of course, is to provide an active response to a murderous lunatic, terrorist or criminal until law enforcement can arrive. In other words, give teachers and staffers the ability to use guns in self-defense at the schools.

Given what happened days ago at Perry High School in Iowa when a transgendered misfit and LBGTQ activist murdered two and wounded six in the seven minutes it took law-enforcement to arrive, the Siouxland Christian School had opted to take security seriously.

From Newsweek:

A school in Sioux City, Iowa, has told parents that it is now arming teachers so they can actively respond to a gunman in the event of a school shooting.

In a letter from Siouxland Christian School, published in full by local news channel KTIV on January 6, superintendent Lindsay Laurich said armed staff “are trained to go directly to the threat” and would “allow teachers and students to get to safe positions and will provide an active response until law enforcement is able to arrive.”

It came just days after a deadly shooting elsewhere in the state. Two people—including the principal—were killed and six others injured after gunfire broke out at Perry High School. Authorities identified 17-year-old student Dylan Butler as the shooter, who also died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

Laurich referenced the shooting in Perry in her letter, writing that it was “an unfortunate reality that schools have become the target of those who wish to do evil.”…

Laurich told parents that the decision to arm staff had been “a difficult one,” but in the event a shooting were to occur at the school, “I need to be able to stand in front of you and say that we have done all that we can do. This is a necessary step we must take…”

Arming staff in private institutions like Siouxland Christian School is an easier process as they do not require the approval of local lawmakers, as public schools do.

Kudos to Laurich and the leadership of that Iowa school.

Not everyone feels quite as warm and fuzzy about protecting defenseless children.

Yes, Giffords. Why do we think teachers will have better marksmanship that police?

Rob Romano from FPC had a great answer. “Because they don’t have qualified immunity.”  But not only that, those teachers know who they are defending by name. Why those teachers and staffers might even have their own children in that school.

We’ve covered how parents must become proactive with their kids’ and grandkids’ school security. By prodding school officials to take steps to keep the kids safe, including locked doors and screening visitors, are two big steps all districts can take to start hardening their facilities and saving lives if the wolf shows up at the door.

Yes, the life you save might be that of your child.

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71 COMMENTS

  1. When Giffords and her ilk, allow their hatred of guns and gun owners Trump the safety of their kids it crosses over into clinical psychosis!!

    • also a good idea to post signs saying some of the staff may be armed…the type of sign that actually works as a deterrence…not so sure i’d advise them to leave their kids and go looking for trouble though…just stay put and defend your classroom….

      • not so sure i’d advise them to leave their kids and go looking for trouble though…just stay put and defend your classroom….

        That is exactly what happened at Uvalde…

        • “just stay put and defend your classroom….”

          Yes, that is the duty of armed teachers, not clearing the building of threats.

      • Here is the sign in front of the school.

        We are armed, we don’t dial 911 and you will be removed in a body bag.

        Enough with the bullshit already.

        I love our children, I live in Colorado and I hate that I can’t do more to protect our children.

        Stupid douchebag voters…stupid results.

  3. Armed teacher here. Most of the bullet holes in the floor and ceiling of my LGR are from cops, not teachers.
    I’m aware of one officer on the local PD who can outshoot me. We train together, and I’m (slowly) closing the gap.
    If there were an active shooter situation in my classroom right now: I’m on-site, trained, armed, and have the appropriate mentality to ensure student safety… Which may or may not involve shooting.
    Stepping off my self-aggrandized 2-bit soap-box now 🙂

    • “Armed teacher here.”

      Thank you — please tell us why you decided to carry at the school where you work.

      Does your school system have a program in place to arm school staff?

      • Hi Alien,

        I carry to protect me and mine. I’m a gun guy and have always carried. It would feel weird not to carry and weird to go more than two weeks without hitting the range.

        My school has no plan to arm staff. We have a full time SRO on site, but he isn’t a gun guy. Our school’s security measures are definitely on the soft side.

        • “SRO” are almost always those of the hug a bunny type who are not able/qualified as a beat cop (so mostly quote cop chicks). IE useless overhead as the school police “chief” at Uvalde.

        • Appreciate the answer.

          I “assume” that you’re carrying “without the support (or knowledge) of school administration.” I approve.

    • Good speech, but ineffective. A few days after Roy’s speech, Congress passed the Safer Communities Act, the most sweeping gun-control legislation passed in 30 years.

      The law further restricts the rights of law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to curb criminal violence.

  5. Does it really matter whether they have armed teachers or not? The focus needs to be on keeping those feckless fucks OUT of the building… Once they are in all they need to do is walk into a group and start shooting… Boom, hero teacher kills the bad “whatever”, but how much death and damage has been accomplished before that good “whatever” can get there… If EVERY teacher in Perry had been armed that outcome would have been the same, possibly Uvalde, Nashville and others could have been minimized, but unless steps are taken to “harden” schools all the armed teachers on the planet won’t stop those nutjobs… A good start would be to do away with Braindeads Gun Free School Zone Act since apparently those freaks that want to kill children (and/or suicide by cop) either do not know about the law or just don’t give a damn (my money is on the later)…

    • As we all know from many instances in the past, just knowing that those one site are, or may be armed, that’s enough for them to bypass that site and look for another target.

      • One instance where a shooter passed on one target because the other was easier? Do you know what kind of security the other target had? Was it an armed cop at the door? Tenn didn’t have armed teachers so THAT was not the reason… One instance out of dozens is hardly a compelling argument but argue some people must… OBTW: there WERE armed teachers in the Uvalde school, didn’t do much good locked down in their own classrooms with their students… WITHOUT adequately securing the building and FIRING the first dumbass that fails to follow proper protocols like that moron teacher that propped the “exit” only door open in Uvalde it will not matter how many teachers are packing heat unless they are ALL clairvoyant…

        • of course it matters. you will never hear of a event at this school, and if the armed teachers at uvaldes locked rooms had been breached, fighting chance,

        • “OBTW: there WERE armed teachers in the Uvalde school, didn’t do much good locked down in their own classrooms with their students.”

          Could you cite your source? I’ve read that the Uvalde school district prohibited staff from carrying and declared it a “gun free zone.”

    • “The focus needs to be on keeping those feckless fucks OUT of the building…”

      I’ve worked construction for a large part of my life. I know that I can pass through most residential and commercial doors, with almost no effort. I can pass through “security doors” with little effort. That tranz shooter in Tennessee demonstrated how easy it is to get through a locked security door. Half a magazine of ammo, and the frigging glass door disintegrated in front of her.

      Impregnable forts and prisons fall quickly, unless the walls are manned. Armed teachers are the security, the walls are not.

      You need to think more like a Marine, less like a spineless progressive.

  6. I’m reminded of a cop that shoots at the range I go to. I find it both scary and amusing that his target never seems to have a recognizable grouping. I get that many cops are not gun people, but shouldn’t they at least be able to out shoot some one like me? I was under the impression that law enforcement firearm qualifications were somewhat rigorous.
    Guess I was wrong…

    • some are…some aren’t…i’ve had cops tell me you wouldn’t believe how bad some of their co-workers shoot…silly to assume they’re superior to civilians…..

  7. It’s a shame that so many leftists shoot up schools. Maybe if they’d police themselves the rest of us wouldn’t need to go strapped.

    • In the cities and states where they do police themselves they abolish bail and plea everything down to misdemeanors.

      Like the entitled, spoiled and petulant children they are they cannot be trusted to police themselves.

  9. Was informed long ago that Christians are supposed to love everyone, turn the other cheek, and have been called as sheep to the slaughter.

    Who is supporting this vigilante justice against trouble people who are simply crying for help with their plans and attacks on schools, especially a Christian school. The obvious solution is improving police response times (“defund the police”), not carrying out cowboy justice, shooting anyone they don’t like.

    Self-defense is violence, an Christians should not be engaging in violent action of any kind. Next, we will see enemies lists circulating at Christian schools, and elsewhere, putting gender benders at risk of assassination by teachers triggered by people who are different. All we need is love, and every category of crime will be naturally reduced to near nothing.

    If you want to eliminate crime, permanently, abolish all law; no law, no crime.

      • “A masterfully executed statement of derision. Well done!”

        As I age, I get better and better at writing Leftist crapola.

        Should I be concerned about the constant improvement?

        • Sam and alien,

          No, Sam, you shouldn’t be concerned, boredom is just one of the signs of your cynicism. Alien, he doesn’t even need to compete with AI, all he needs to do is read the occasional MajorLiar or dacian the demented post, take a few shots to lower his functional IQ, and fly his freak flag high.

          Sam, I enjoy your forays into cynical parody (and you’ve caught me, a time or two!), so don’t stop on my account. Of course, if you feel like mimicking that level of stupid kills brain cells, you might want to ease up a little.

        • “…take a few shots to lower his functional IQ …”

          Is it possible to drink that much without passing out?

      • “Just leg@ lized drugs and all the crime will go away.”
        “It’s just that easy.”

        Zackly. I saw it in a move, once. Law is the root of all crime. Give peace a chance.

        • Sam, you read that wrong. It’s “give Chance a piece.”

          My high-school buddy Chance wasn’t very successful with the ladies.

  10. @alien
    “No. You won’t be able to compete with AI-generated crapola.”

    Dang. Another failed dream.

  11. Every man, woman and age-appropriate young person needs to know how to use a firearm because this Government primarily Democrats don’t care about your protection but only their own. Many have their own private security or Government paid security who carry guns and with the open borders and lack of vetting every American Citizen is in jeopardy not only from the illegals who are criminals but our own Federal Law Enforcement Agencies almost all of whom have been corrupted. Non-compliance with Democrat promoted gun control is mandatory if you wish to survive in this Country. Arm yourself and defend yourself if need be from anyone and everyone. You are entitled to self-defense against law breakers no matter who they are.

  12. If my magazine holds 17 rounds and I shute 6 how many rounds do I have?
    If Mary has 13 bullets and gives 3 to Johnny and 7 to Billy how many bullets does Mary have left?
    If a bullet from a Creedmore travels at the speed of light and the Sun is 93million miles away how long will it take the Creedmoore bullet to reach the Sun?
    Learning can be fun.

      • Yeah, but a Creedmoor bullet cannot travel at the speed of light. Only light can do that. But then, possum already knows that. (Snicker.)

    • “If Mary has 13 bullets and gives 3 to Johnny and 7 to Billy how many bullets does Mary have left?”

      Nothing, because Johnny and Bill now have actual ammo, and took Mary’s rounds by force.

      “Learning can be fun.”

      Kinda depends on who is being taught, and who is giving the lesson, don’t you think?… 🙂

  14. I look forward to TTAG writer and proud liberal gun owner Elaine D. Writing a post here explaining why, it’s a bad idea to arm teachers. Who volunteer to carry and be trained.

    Since she said just that a couple of years ago.

    • No need; just use your search engine and type in:

      no shootings at schools that have armed staff

      You’ll be inundated with articles on why arming teachers is wrong, why it doesn’t work, how it’s an impractical solution offered by gun-rights advocates, “proof” that more guns equal more shootings, et cetera, ad nauseum.

  15. i wish people would stop saying
    “arming teachers”
    its not “arming teachers”
    its “no longer continuing the practice of disarming teachers”
    and yes
    it matters
    it really really does

    • An example of my post immediately preceding:

      https://duckduckgo.com/?q=arming+teachers&atb=v314-1&ia=web

      The Effects of Laws Allowing Armed Staff in K-12 Schools (Rand study; “inconclusive”)

      Trained, Armed and Ready. To Teach Kindergarten. (NY Slimes; paywalled)

      Stop Arming Teachers | Everytown

      Two states aim to arm teachers despite opposition from educators and experts (NBC — “Teachers not enthusiastic”)

      Arming Teachers: Good or Bad Idea? (Psychology Today: “The answer to gun violence is not to arm teachers but rather to reduce accessibility to guns, particularly large capacity, semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15.”)

      Arming Schoolteachers: What Do We Know? (AJPH: “the efficiency and return-on-investment for this kind of costly effort, with little if any existing evidence, are unclear.”)

      Arming teachers – an effective security measure or a false sense of security? (The Conversation: “researchers have not found evidence that arming teachers increases school safety.”)

      Get the picture?

    • I completely understand. But this is the logical response to the failure of our Federal government to get rid of gun free school zones (which really is the solution to this). Biden failing to protect American citizens will translate to Americans protecting themselves. THAT is the difference between those two phrases.

  16. @Lamp
    “Of course, if you feel like mimicking that level of stupid kills brain cells, you might want to ease up a little.”

    No worries. Champipple will get me through.

  19. “Trained police officers fail to strike an intended target over 50% of the time”

    Now that’s funny. And that doesn’t even account for where the 50+% of those rounds went.

    I always laugh when the left holds up LE as “highly trained” gun (ex) Spurts. So funny.
    Most are forced to carry a gun none of us would ever choose to carry. The triggers are atrocious; like the NYC 17 pound Glocks. Geeze, no wonder they hit more bystanders than perps.

  20. Concealed carry means CONCEALED. My beretta 21a and extra magazines were NEVER seen when I was in school teaching. Also, my Henry AR-7 was never seen in all the years I was in college.

    People need to start being more humble out there. Practice and train. And then shut up about it.
    If you never need to use your defensive tools then that’s okay. And it’s also okay if no one ever finds out about it.

    Be that quiet sheet dog.

  21. @alien
    “Is it possible to drink that much without passing out?”

    Don’t know, yet; I keep passing out.

  22. @alien
    “Sam, you read that wrong. It’s “give Chance a piece.” ”

    Peace, any peace but Katie’s piece

  23. This statement by Newsweek is not true: “Arming staff in private institutions like Siouxland Christian School is an easier process as they do not require the approval of local lawmakers, as public schools do.”

    Iowa Code 724.4B, which was enacted in 1995 and which generally prohibits possessing a loaded firearm on the property of a public or private school, has several exceptions. These include not only law enforcement, military, etc., but also “A person who has been specifically authorized by the school to go armed with, carry, or transport a firearm on the school grounds for any lawful purpose.”

    Thus, no school requires the approval of local lawmakers. A principal could provide the authorization, but would typically defer to the superintendent, who would defer to the school board. Legally, the school board needs NO approval from any other party. However, EMC Insurance, which has a near monopoly on public school liability insurance in Iowa, has thus far refused coverage to any school that selects, trains, and arms staff members. Iowa legislative leaders are considering solutions to this roadblock.

    Private schools in Iowa have access to other insurance carriers.

Comments are closed.