Sheriff Grady Judd in Polk County, Fla. went on the news Saturday to talk about the so-called “Sentinel Program” as a possible legislative response to mass shootings like the one that happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last week, leaving 17 dead.
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Judd called the program a “game-changer” by arming select educators whose backgrounds have been vetted thoroughly, who have been psychologically evaluated and trained in weapons more intensely than law enforcement by state standard.
RELATED: Florida sheriff blasts politicians who don’t support gun control
The sheriff argued that the solution is not something he wants but it’s something that must happen.
“It’s not something we want to do — it’s something we have to do,” he said. “We have got to wake up, wake up and understand that we have to have […] specially trained people that have concealed firearms that can run to the threat and protect our children.”
FL Sheriff: 'Game Changer' If Some Teachers Trained to Carry Gunshttps://t.co/eVAvi6xN7o
— FoxNewsInsider (@FoxNewsInsider) February 17, 2018
This was Judd’s reasoning: “Do you know that there is gun control on every campus in Florida — and, I would submit, across the United States — that you can’t bring a gun on campus. And no one does, except the crazed person, the active shooter. There has to be a line of defense.”
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“There’s no absolutes in life, but I can tell you this. At least two coaches were killed standing in front of and trying to protect kids. Don’t you believe it would be a game-changer if they had a gun to defend the children?” he asked.
Students and parents have responded to the mass shooting perpetrated by Nikolas Cruz by calling for stricter guns laws in Florida.
"WE CALL BS!" Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez leads chant to institute stricter gun laws in Florida after the mass shooting at her school. More on the protest here: https://t.co/Nm3wM7Hgx7 pic.twitter.com/0eeR05U875
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) February 17, 2018
Many participating in the #NeverAgain campaign seem to agree that they don’t want to arm teachers, but “genuine, lasting change.”
We don't want higher fences and metal detectors. We don't want our teachers to have guns. We don't want to go to school in a prison. We want CHANGE. We want genuine, lasting change.
— carly (@car_nove) February 17, 2018