by Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus) introduced HB 216 in February of this year. The School Self-Defense Act would create the position of volunteer school faculty guardian. This would apply to either full or part-time faculty and staff who possessed a valid NC Concealed Handgun Permit. The school faculty guardian would also have to take a special 16-hour training class, submit annual certification of marksmanship and of possessing a CHP to the chief administrator of the school system, keep the handgun concealed unless responding to an act of violence, and submit to an annual drug testing. School systems would have the opportunity to opt out of this program.
Grass Roots North Carolina is urging that people contact Republican legislators and urge them to bring this bill forward. Their alert is below.
DEMAND REPUBLICANS
PROTECT NC’S
SCHOOLS
H216 is a bill that will
allow the true protection of schoolchildren…The anti-gun crowd is content to posthumously praise the
brave souls who throw themselves in front of innocents, or charge wicked
gunmen
in order to save the lives of others. Save lives these courageous people
do, and heroes they are.Yet, anyone with exceptional sense would be hard-pressed to come up with
a
reason why these heroes must always be unarmed, only to be seriously
injured or killed while carrying out their valiant acts. Why must the
fruitfulness of these acts be so limited?The answer is simple: political leaders and activist
groups have set it up that way. Those hostile to the Second Amendment
are proud
of having disarmed the good guys by creating “gun free” zones in schools
and elsewhere, leaving adults and the children in their care to
fight psychotic leviathans with staplers and pencils. Well, it doesn’t
have to be this way.H216: Genuine School Safety
Pro-gun stalwart and GRNC four-star Representative Larry Pittman
(Cabarrus, Rowan), is once again at the forefront of the push for a
practical and appropriate solution to this societal concern.For the sake of protecting schoolchildren, Rep. Pittman is imploring his Republican
colleagues to advance H216 (School
Self-Defense Act) to once and for all put responsible adults, those nearest to the schoolchildren during daytime hours, in a position to
actually protect those children in a practical and effective manner, should it be necessary.On a
volunteer basis, H216 would allow educators to carry concealed firearms
to
deter mass killings in schools. It is modeled after a federal program to
arm professional airline pilots as “Federal Flight Deck
Officers.” Have questions? Below are some facts related to this
proposal:
- 25 states allow schools or districts to give permission to individuals to
carry guns:
Alaska,
Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, Ohio,
Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Utah, Vermont, and
West Virginia.- At least 14 states allow concealed carry in schools: The states include Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri,
Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington.- At
least 9 states specifically allow school employees to carry guns on school property: The states include: Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, and Wyoming.- Florida created a school marshal
system:
Florida created a
$67 million “school marshal” program to arm teachers in classrooms, in
response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School.- Arming faculty reduces school
shootings:
A new study
entitled “Schools that Allow Teachers to Carry Guns Are Extremely Safe:
Data on the Rate of Shootings and Accidents in Schools that Allow
Teachers to Carry found that:
- Zero school
shootings at schools with armed faculty: During hours when armed teachers would logically be present, none of the schools with armed faculty experienced
school shootings.- A significant increase in school shootings at schools which do NOT
allow armed faculty: Between 2001 and 2018, the number of school
shootings at schools which did not allow armed faculty more than doubled.
You Can Help Protect Schoolchildren
Representative Pittman and the other sponsors of H216 need your
help. They want to shepherd H216 through the legislative
process and get down to the serious (and very sensible) business of
actually
protecting children in schools, rather than doing everything under the
bureaucratic sun to stall. Enough blue-ribbon panels, enough useless gun
control proposals.
If
you’re
a parent, you know what parents really want, parents who have real-life
children in real-life schools (and incidentally, parents who
vote). You want your children protected—really protected—Now! Another
“Governor’s Select Committee” isn’t going to cut it.
Below,
see how you can easily contact Republicans in the NC House to demand
that they
stop stalling, and get to the serious business of protecting children in
schools—now! Insist they do whatever is necessary to move H216 through
committee, on to the floor for a vote, so it can move to the NC
Senate.
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- EMAIL REPUBLICANS IN THE NC HOUSE: Use the copy/paste email list provided below, and the copy/paste message
provided under ‘Deliver This Message’ section.
- PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your
donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated.
*NC House
Republicans Copy/Paste Email List(s):
Dean.Arp@ncleg.net; Lisa.Barnes@ncleg.net; John.Bell@ncleg.net;
Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.net; Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net;
William.Brisson@ncleg.net;
Mark.Brody@ncleg.net; Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net; Jerry.Carter@ncleg.net;
Debra.Conrad@ncleg.net; Kevin.Corbin@ncleg.net; Ted.Davis@ncleg.net;
Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net; Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net; Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net;
John.Faircloth@ncleg.net; John.Fraley@ncleg.net;
Edward.Goodwin@ncleg.net;
Holly.Grange@ncleg.net; Destin.Hall@ncleg.net; Kyle.Hall@ncleg.net;Bobby.Hanig@ncleg.net;
Jon.Hardister@ncleg.net; Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net;
Cody.Henson@ncleg.net;
Craig.Horn@ncleg.net; Julia.Howard@ncleg.net; Chris.Humphrey@ncleg.net;
Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net; Frank.Iler@ncleg.net; Steve.Jarvis@ncleg.net;
LindaP.Johnson@ncleg.net; Brenden.Jones@ncleg.net;
Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net; David.Lewis@ncleg.net; Pat.McElraft@ncleg.net;
Chuck.McGrady@ncleg.net;
Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net; Tim.Moore@ncleg.net; Gregory.Murphy@ncleg.net;
Larry.Potts@ncleg.net; Michele.Presnell@ncleg.net;Dennis.Riddell@ncleg.net;
David.Rogers@ncleg.net; Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net; Jason.Saine@ncleg.net;
Wayne.Sasser@ncleg.net; John.Sauls@ncleg.net; Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.net;
Phil.Shepard@ncleg.net; Carson.Smith@ncleg.net; Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net;
Larry.Strickland@ncleg.net; John.Szoka@ncleg.net;
John.Torbett@ncleg.net;
Rena.Turner@ncleg.net; Harry.Warren@ncleg.net; Donna.White@ncleg.net;
Larry.Yarborough@ncleg.net; Lee.Zachary@ncleg.net
*
Limitations of
certain email programs and spam filters may require you to send this
message to smaller lists. If that is necessary, the above email list is
conveniently split into three parts to allow you to easily send this
message three times—once to each list.
DELIVER THIS
MESSAGE
Protect Schoolchildren”Dear Representative:I am writing today to make it clear
that I’ve had it “up to here” with blue-ribbon panels,
governor’s select committees, and useless gun control proposals. Every
second that ticks by is another second that schoolchildren in North
Carolina are not protected in any effective manner from mass shooters.
You have the power to change that, and I demand that you do.Right now, H216 (the School
Self-Defense
Act) is in a position to receive a committee hearing and then move to
the floor for an up-or-down vote. This bill would allow educators to
carry
concealed firearms to deter mass killings in schools, and is modeled
after a federal program to arm professional airline pilots as “Federal
Flight Deck Officers.” Below is some information that greatly
strengthens the case for H216:–
25 states allow schools or districts to give permission to individuals
to
carry guns.
– At least 14 states allow concealed carry in schools.– At least 9 states specifically
allow school employees to carry guns on school property.– Florida created a school marshal system in response to the mass shooting at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
– Arming faculty reduces school shootings. Note
there have been zero school shootings at
schools with armed faculty. During hours when armed teachers would logically be present, none of the schools with armed faculty experienced school shootings. There is a significant increase in school
shootings at schools which do NOT allow
armed faculty. Between 2001 and 2018, the number of school shootings at schools which did not allow armed faculty more than doubled.The Republican Party still holds a majority in the
General Assembly and the excuses are wearing thin. I demand that you do
whatever it takes to shepherd H216 through the legislative process.
Unfortunately, there is always a lingering possibility of a school
shooting. With that in mind, I insist that you do everything you can to
make it
possible for teachers to protect the children under their care.I will be monitoring your actions
on this matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.Respectfully,