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South Carolina legislator moves to have public school employees armed

An idea other states should consider. Via WCNC [1]:

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new bill introduced Tuesday in the South Carolina House of Representatives aims to arm public school employees on campuses throughout the state.

Republican Rep. Phillip D. Lowe (District 60) wants to amend the code by adding a section “to provide a public school employee who has a concealed weapons permit may possess a firearm on the premises of his employer.”

Click here to read the bill [2]

An amendment on Section 1, Article 5, Chapter 1, Title 59 of the 1976 Code was referred to the Committee on Judiciary on Tuesday.

Lowe [3], a father of three, represents Darlington and Florence counties and is a member of the NRA.  He has been in the SC House since 2007.

I don’t want to speak with certainty here since I’m not 100% sure, but I believe Texas already gives local school districts the option to do this.  Can anyone confirm/clarify this for me please?

I think this is an idea whose time has long since come, and I’m honestly shocked that more states don’t allow this. Well, sorta shocked – considering how some people absolutely (and somewhat understandably) freak out at the thought of a “loaded gun” being in schools, even if it is owned and in the possession of a CCW holder and hidden away effectively by the teacher (or principal or whatever public school employee).

Yours truly was involved in very intense debates this past weekend on social media over, in part, this very idea.  Tragically, Sandy Hook’s principal Dawn Hochsprung (47) and school psychologist Mary Sherlach (56) were murdered as they rushed the gunman on Friday to try and stop him.  Had one or both of them been armed, would we be hearing a much different story today? It’s worth discussing and debating, especially when you consider there have indeed been other instances where legally armed civilians [4] were responsible for preventing gun massacres from taking place – with one of the civilian heroes being a school principal [5].

The liberals I’ve spoke with about this are (unsurprisingly) against the idea of educators being armed, because they think a kid’s going to end up with the weapon or that ppl will get hurt or die in a “crossfire.” So their solution is MORE “gun free zones” … and more money for mental health services, as though thorough reform of our mental health system is going to stop every single madman from doing exactly what Lanza did on Friday.

Now, I’m all for that kind of reform, and I’d like to think a complete overhaul of our mental health system would do just that, but I’m a realist – and unlike the left, I know there is no such place as the  Utopia States of America. No matter how much mental health system reform we have, even if it ideally proved useful and helpful to the individuals as well as society, it is not going to be foolproof because some people go through life not diagnosed with anything, never show any signs of mental issues, and then go on rampages.

And those in gun free zones end up being sitting ducks, helpless victims  – unable to defend themselves and those around them.  That is unacceptable.

Am I calling for SWAT weaponry in the classroom? A police officer at every entrance? No.  But it just plain makes sense to allow educators the option of being able to legally carry into a school.  It could mean the difference between one injury or death (the shooters) or many (employees, students).

Thoughts?