Texas school superintendent: Disarming faculty, staff invites mass shootings

We had an interesting conversation earlier this evening with David Thweatt, schools superintendent in the small town of Harrold, about 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth.

His one-campus district in 2008 approved a policy that allows some teachers and staff with concealed carry licenses to be secretly armed while at school.

He said this definitely hedges against mass shootings like the one Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Here’s our article from that interview.

But, like most newspaper articles, we had more info than our available space, so we'll share it here.

For example, Thweatt said the so-called "guardian plan" is patterned after the Federal Air Marshal program, in which plain-clothes officers guard airline flights, but passengers are not supposed to know who they are, or that they’re armed.

Likewise, the school district in Harrold does not announce which teachers are "packing."

The program is set up under the same Texas laws that allow school districts to have uniformed police officers on campus, Thweatt said.

Participating teachers, however, must be approved by the school board to conceal weapons on school grounds.

There is also extra training to ensure accurate shooting.

Participants are required to use ammunition that will stop a human but not penetrate walls, Thweatt said.

These measures, he noted, are intended to limit collateral damage.

Still, the strategy draws criticism.

A common challenge, Thweatt said, is the possibility of an angry student, in a fit of passion, wrestling a concealed handgun away from a teacher.

But that’s not an issue, Thweatt said, as long as students don’t know which teachers have guns.

There has not been an incident, and Thweatt doesn’t expect one. In his opinion, declaring a campus "gun-free" is inviting a mass shooting.

"What we know about these people is they know where to go to get a bigger body count," Thweatt said. "I think they’re mostly after infamy and it’s just evil."

 -- Bill Miller

Comments

[fred g.]

As a Soldier with 18 years of service, I have serious concerns about teachers packing. First, combat shooting is very different from target shooting. In combat, the body is hyped on adrenaline and ask any soldier, the first couple of shots are usually off the mark. It is not like a movie or tv show, it is hard to be accurate when someone else is shooting back. If these teachers go through a combat shooting course where they must shoot after running hard then it may be ok. It takes skill and lots of practice to be a proficient combat shooter.

[ButtersT]

I am so proud to be a Texan! When they took prayer out of school, declared God is dead, and made schools "Gun Free Zones", and legalized Abortion on Demand, that was the beginning of our end.
But Texas is getting this one RIGHT!
God Bless Texas!

[Jim Macklin]

Absolutely the best and only course of action that can end or reduce the number of casualties. As the Principal said, gun free zones attract these killers, losers on a power trip.
A 20 year old grown man against 5 to 9 year old children and a few women teachers was an unfair contest. Even if all he had was a Bowie knife, he could have killed women and children, maybe even more since there would be no noise to alert the school.
There is a plan that works, an unknown number of teachers and staff, armed and trained to protect the children. Each school should have at least three armed teachers at all times, it would be nice if 100% of the good people of Texas were armed, so the crazy and criminal could never find unarmed victims.
But just the unknown and uncertainty will send the school shooter to another place where they think they can get their 10 minutes of fame.
Bravo Harold, TX and what ever you pay schools superintendent David Thweatt, he has already earned a bonus.

[CharlieTX]

Kids today are raised with little to no discipline, get rewarded for poor performance, and told that they are great even when they are terrible. They don't learn ethics, or morality or how to deal with disappointment or failure. And then we wonder why they so easily do something like mass killings? It's time to dump the politically correct stuff and flush and get back to raising families again. As for this generation, an increased focus on mental health is about all we can do for them. But for the rest of us, let's protect our children as best we can, and the Guardian Plan makes a lot of sense.

[Charlie R. Lewellen]

Well my fellow soldier, I'm impressed with your 18 years service. For me I have 8 years as an enlisted man, 34 years as a commissioned officer and 15 years as a DOD civilian. I also have a concealed hand gun license and know it takes police 3-7 minutes to respond while it takes a person with a concealed weapon only 3-7 seconds to respond. That can mean life or death to those on the receiving end of gun. Just remember how you responded when you first were on the receiving end of in coming fire. Wet your pants I'm sure and with all your training your first reaction was to take cover. The training received by the teachers is all that is required. It does not sound as if you have a CCW license.

[jeremy]

if a phyco path knows he'll get mowed down before he reaches anyone he'll prob say screw it..there only out to make a names for themselves. who wants to be known as the guy who got shot by the janitor?

[Robert Slette]

I just sent a state senator from Idaho a suggestion that he should work with the Isrealis to find out how they protect their schools. I suggest that all of you do the same. Tell your elected representatives to do something positive and do it NOW!