Before I go off into a passionate ranting about how ill prepared schools are today towards the defense of their staff and students, I would just like to say that I am in prayer for those directly affected by the massacre that took place last week in Sandy Hook Elementary. I cannot begin to imagine the grief that these families must be going through right now; the loss of a child is always painful but this kind of massacre is not even seen in horror movies.
After talking to my circle of friends about what could have been done to prevent such a tragedy, I believe I came to a nearly foolproof solution that will not only keep the children safe but also increase the quality of our education system: every teacher should be properly trained and certified to handle a firearm in case of an emergency of immediate harm to their students. Every public school teacher is in charge of dozens of kids a day, and from my recollection I don’t think a quarter of my teachers were ready to end a massacre before the killer ever raised his gun at a student.
The full version of this column is now only available in Doug Giles’ book, “Sandy Hook Massacre: When Seconds Count, The Police Are Minutes Away”.