| Dr. Ignatius Piazza's announcement a little | | | | and volunteer as a Safety Monitor. There is |
| over three days ago that Front Sight Firearms | | | | no reason for our children to continue to be |
| Training Facility would be offering free, | | | | victimized when free, professional training |
| comprehensive firearm training to designated | | | | is available to stop school attacks." |
| School Safety Monitors from any and all | | | | |
| schools across the nation caused not a small | | | | Retired law enforcement firearms instructor, |
| amount of stir. Not surprisingly, many | | | | Mike Waidelich from Bakersfield, California |
| teachers, administrators and parents were | | | | strongly supports the Front Sight concept of |
| frightened by this notion. Many conservative | | | | arming and training teachers. |
| thinkers (that's small "c" conservative, not | | | | |
| big "C" Conservative) are convinced that guns | | | | "Nearly every tragedy on school grounds in |
| are evil; to them the very thought of putting | | | | the entire 30 years of my law enforcement |
| them into schools is anathema. | | | | career could have been prevented or the |
| | | | damage done considerably limited, by the |
| But knowledge is the key to this problem, for | | | | presence of an armed and trained individual." |
| through knowledge comes responsibility. With | | | | |
| responsible gun control in capable hands, | | | | In schools adopting Ignatius Piazza's |
| school shootings, murders and atrocities will | | | | program, teachers will be trained to carry a |
| come to a screeching halt. Dr. Ignatius | | | | concealed weapon, so potential attackers will |
| Piazza, owner and founder of Front Sight | | | | not know which teachers are armed and which |
| Firearms Training Facility, the largest | | | | are not. As to the effectiveness of |
| firearms training facility in America, is | | | | concealed weapons preventing crime, Piazza |
| willing and eager to do whatever it takes to | | | | references John Lott, Jr., from the |
| prevent further horrors in America. He is | | | | University of Chicago School of Law. Lott |
| willing to train any designated school staff | | | | published Crime, Deterrence and |
| members in responsible, effective use of | | | | Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns in July |
| firearms, to prevent further atrocities on | | | | 1996. Mr. Lott's research of cross-sectional |
| school grounds. | | | | time-series data from all 3054 U.S. counties |
| | | | from 1977 to 1992 found that allowing |
| Dave Clark, a graduate of Front Sight's | | | | citizens to carry concealed weapons deterred |
| training routine and a recently retired | | | | violent crime and appeared to produce no |
| junior high school teacher of 25 years had | | | | increase in accidental deaths. If those |
| this to say about Front Sight's training | | | | states which did not have right-to-carry |
| program: | | | | concealed handgun provisions had adopted them |
| | | | in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 |
| "Front Sight provides safe and responsible | | | | rapes, and over 60,000 aggravated assaults |
| training to a level that exceeds law | | | | would have been avoided yearly. |
| enforcement standards. Among the many | | | | |
| lessons taught, I learned universally | | | | With such evidence and support, can we as |
| accepted rules in justifiable use of deadly | | | | voters do anything but support both Dr. |
| force. More importantly, I learned when not | | | | Ignatius Piazza and our school districts in |
| to shoot and how to be more mentally prepared | | | | their decisions to send their Safety Monitors |
| to see a lethal confrontation coming before | | | | to his Front Sight institute to be trained |
| it happens in order to avoid it. The | | | | for free? What school can afford to not send |
| firearms training is second to none and | | | | their teachers to this free training? Speak |
| clearly gives the graduates the skill needed | | | | to your district officials, contact your |
| to save the lives of those in their charge if | | | | administrators, inform them of the necessity |
| ever attacked. If my school district chose to | | | | of arming your school's teachers - this is |
| adopt a policy of sending selected teachers | | | | how we will handle America's epidemic of |
| to Front Sight for concealed handgun | | | | atrocities. |
| training, I would wholeheartedly support it | | | | |