GSL, GUNS, SCHOOL SAFETY: “Gun laws, school safety topic of spirited discussion”

This past Sunday, Guns Save Life Executive Director John Boch joined the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence's E.D. Colleen Daley at Normal West High School.  The two appeared as part of the McLean County Diversity Project forum discussing guns, gun rights, and school safety.

The two met in December 2015, and that appearance scored headlines for days in the local media.  What makes headlines on TV, print and radio from a small audience debate in front of less than two dozen students from across McLean County?  Easy:  The venue was improperly posted and Mr. Boch noted how he ignored the non-compliant sign and carried his safety rescue tool.  In the end, the Illinois State Police admitted that non-compliant "gun free zone" signs did not carry the force of law in the Prairie State.

BLOOMINGTON — Ignoring a sign banning guns on private property in Illinois could lead to a misdemeanor charge, but the signs must comply with state guidelines for the ban to be enforceable.

State police responded Tuesday to an admission from the executive director of Guns Save Life that he brought a handgun into the former Bloomington Junior High School on Sunday where he was meeting with students of the McLean County Diversity Project.

John Boch told the group he believes he can ignore gun-ban signs if he believes the posting fails to comply with state police guidelines related to the concealed-carry law. Boch said later that the lack of a black line along the bottom of the the sign makes it non-compliant, even though there is a border around the other three sides.

State police said deviations from the sign approved by the agency are not allowed and could be considered unenforceable.

When asked if one part of a border could make a sign noncompliant, Sgt. Clare Pfotenhauer said, "It could be perceived that way."

This time out of the gate, Mr. Boch once more landed in both picture and print in the Bloomington Pantagraph.  No, he didn't take his heater into Normal West High School, but he did share that he knows of at least two school staff members in McLean County who carried concealed firearms despite rules against it. 

Why do they carry?  To ensure the safety of themselves and their charges in event of an active threat.  They've decided that they aren't up for a deadly game of hide and seek in event of a genuine active killer in their hallways.  Instead, they will use their knowledge, skills and abilities to shoot down a rampaging killer if the worst happens. 

If nothing happens, nobody knows.  Of course, after the presentation, no doubt the water cooler chat in teachers' lounges across McLean County proved very…  interesting.  "Who's carrying?"  Yeah, if they only knew.

And the smart money probably says more than a few more have firearms in their cars in the school parking lots as well.

The first story from the Pantagraph:

Gun laws, school safety topic of spirited discussion

NORMAL — A sophomore at Tri-Valley High School, Cassandra Bean finds the debate over gun legislation and how it could impact schools “interesting.”

 

“There are some teachers in our school that deal with guns and I would trust to have guns in school,” she said. “But then there are others who I don’t think I would trust to have a gun in school.”

 

Bean was one of about a dozen students with the McLean County Diversity Project on hand for a spirited discussion from two representatives with different views on gun control Sunday afternoon at Normal Community West High School in Normal.

 

John Boch, the executive director for Guns Save Life, and Colleen Daley, the executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, pitched their case before the group that includes junior high and high school students who do research and hold meetings on topics related to diversity.

 

…

“I am confident that some teachers carry guns in schools and I know of at least one in McLean County,” he said. “But I see that as a very risky exercise of a Constitutional right. While it might not be a felony for a teacher to carry a gun in school, they could lose their pension or something along those lines.”

 

 

Daley said she doesn't believe teachers should carry weapons in schools.

 

“I believe there are ways to respect the Second Amendment, but I don’t think that more guns in schools will keep us safer,” she said.

 

Daley emphasized that the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence is not an anti-gun organization.

 

Not an anti-gun organization?  Boch asked Colleen to name two anti-gun bills the ICHV has gone on record opposing.  She just laughed off Boch's suggestion that the ICHV really is an anti-gun organization.  Or course, she didn't provide a single anti-gun bill that ICHV had opposed.  If gun control was such a noble cause, why do its practioners have to lie and deceive people to advocate their position?

The next day, the Pantagraph ran the story of Rick Noble running a free CCW class for educators…  and the topic of teachers already carrying took up the bulk of the story.

Teachers line up for concealed-weapons class

FARMER CITY — When retired police officer Rick Noble puts together his curriculum for an upcoming concealed-carry weapons class, he will be thinking about classrooms and the gun violence that now is a tragic element of the American educational experience for many youths.

Noble, owner of Adventure Tactical Training, will conduct a free concealed-carry class for 50 educators in June. About 150 teachers responded to the offer for the two-day class, said Noble.

In addition to the material Noble and a second instructor, Dean Hazen, are required to cover for the CCW class, teachers also will learn about different weapons they could encounter from an active shooter and tactics to intervene during a crisis. The operation of the AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle used in several mass shootings, will be covered in the class.

"I want teachers to have the tools to make themselves safe should an event like this arise," said Noble.

…

While Bloomington-Normal's school districts prohibit teachers from carrying concealed weapons on campus and oppose changing the law, the director of a gun rights advocacy group claims at least two teachers in McLean County are bringing concealed weapons into their classrooms.

John Boch, executive director of Guns Save Life, said one teacher is concerned about a former student who may have mental health issues. She feels the response by school officials is inadequate, he said. 

"She's worried he will come after her for reporting his statements," Boch said of the former student whom he described as "an outcast, misfit, loser."

Boch said he advises teachers that a decision to bring a concealed gun to school is "bordering on foolish" because of the legal and professional consequences of violating the state's concealed-carry law barring guns from schools except those carried by school resource officers.

Still, Boch is unwavering in his support for allowing trained teachers to carry guns.

"I tell them it's very risky to do it but if you can pull it off, more power to you," said Boch.

One of the teachers has their gun at school with the knowledge of school administration, said Boch, who declined to name the schools involved because of potential reprisals for the teachers.

The Pantagraph attempted Monday to contact the 13 districts that operate schools in McLean County to ask about Boch's claim.

Of the nine that responded, none were aware of any staff member carrying a weapon to school. The districts unanimously opposed guns in their classrooms.

Monday's story continued with school superintendents lauding their "successful", once-annual drills…

Andrew Wise, superintendent of Olympia school district in western McLean County, said the school resource officer is the only person carrying a firearm on campus.

Wise said the Stanford-based rural district is "a ways from Bloomington-Normal but not a ways from EMS, police, fire and rescue" services that are available within 10 minutes.

Wise said staff members have not raised the issue of carrying weapons in classrooms.

Local law enforcement and staff at the Colfax-based Ridgeview district held an emergency response drill last week that simulated a shooter opening fire in a classroom. To mirror the rural district's proximity to police and emergency responders, planners built a 10-minute response time into the training scenario, said school Superintendent Guy Gradert.

"The drill was very successful," said Gradert.

 EMS, police, fire and rescue services available within ten minutes.  Sounds impressive.  But very successful?  Not so much.

At school massacres – like at Parkland, FL – every six to ten seconds the killer will strike one more young person, killing or crippling them by gunfire. 

Ten minutes is 600 seconds.  If someone is struck every ten seconds, the casualty count will stand at 60 people shot and/or killed.  If the killer acts with a little more haste, the body count will approach 100 – one every six seconds. 

Someone should ask Superintendents Wise or Gradert which sixty to one hundred of their students and staff they are willing to sacrifice should a killer strike their schools.  And how their piss-poor "wait for help to arrive" strategy is "very successful".  Grader's "very successful" drill should be called the "No Child Left Alive" plan.

And even if the cops show up after ten minutes, will they act like the Broward County Sheriff's officers and stand outside, armed to the teeth, while the killer continues to slaughter innocents inside?  Even worse, will they add insult to injury by blockading EMS from entering the scene to treat the wounded because the police haven't cleared the scene yet?