Washington, D.C. –-(Ammoland.com)-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has triggered anti-gun groups with her plan to keep the schools in the country safe. Her idea is to use taxpayer money to buy teachers firearms.
Earlier this year Texas and Oklahoma asked the Department of Education whether they could use federal funds to purchase guns and training for their teachers.
Also earlier this year Democrats were able to push through a bill that prohibits the use of federal funds for guns in schools. To the anti-gunner’s horror, the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants do not fall under this law. That means that schools can still use these funds to train and arm teachers.
Anti-gun House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke out against the idea of using the funds to train and arm teachers. She claims that this proposal is a gift to the NRA.
“This is one of the most egregious, short-sighted and dangerous executive branch abuses of our education system in modern history,” Pelosi said in a released statement. “Secretary DeVos continues to lead an anti-student and anti-teacher campaign on behalf of special interests and the NRA that rejects proven and effective initiatives to ensure a safe, welcoming school climate for children.”
Pelosi isn’t the only person trying to insinuate that the NRA is behind the idea. Several other anti-gun groups and left-leaning teacher organizations are pushing the narrative that the NRA is behind the push to train and arm teachers by using taxpayer’s money.
“DeVos is trying to do the bidding of the National Rifle Association and gun manufacturers,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Instead of after-school programs or counselors, programs that are critical for creating safe and welcoming schools and addressing the mental health needs of kids, DeVos wants to turn schools into armed fortresses and make kids and educators less safe,” Weingarten said in a statement…She wants to turn the U.S. government into an arms dealer for schools. That’s insane.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy who is one of the most anti-gun governors in the country also spoke out against the proposal. New Jersey has become less gun friendly under Murphy’s reign passing a slew of anti-gun laws.
Murphy issued the following statement:
“Arming our teachers is illogical and dangerous. When I signed legislation to enact common-sense gun laws in our state, my goal was to protect children and families and keep guns out of our classrooms. We know what happens when a gun enters a classroom. The result is almost always tragic and devastating. Fewer guns means fewer gun deaths. New Jersey will not participate in this dangerous and misguided program and I encourage the president to instead use our resources to better provide all of our children with the educational and innovative learning programs they deserve; not turn our classrooms into a war zone.”
The Giffords Law Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) are threatening legal action against the Department of Education if they plan on proceeding with the plan. The SPLC has been in the news recently after they settled a case for falsely labeling Maajid Nawaz’s Quilliam Foundation as an extremist organization.
The SPLC admitted that they falsely labeled the Muslim group as an anti-muslim group. The Quilliam Foundation is a group of moderate Muslims that fights against the radicalization of Muslims.
According to the Giffords Law Center chief counsel Adam Skaggs, the group is planning to sue because of the absence of the word “gun” in the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants. Other law professionals point out that the grant does not have to explicitly state the word “gun” for states to use the federals funds to purchase guns.
In a statement, Education Department Press Secretary Liz Hill said the department “is constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety. The Secretary nor the Department issues opinions on hypothetical scenarios.”
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.