Utah teachers take firearm training classes - KMSP-TV

Utah teachers take firearm training classes

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Training posse members how to use guns is one thing. Training teachers is something completely different. But that what hundreds of school teachers in Utah are undergoing.

They're attending a course on how to use a firearm, in the wake of the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.

The gun training course had full attendance in Utah. Some educators say teachers should be armed, while others disagree.

Gun-rights advocates in Utah are offering free gun training for teachers. The Utah Shooting Sports Council says the 200-person, six-hour course was filled to capacity.

"To protect my children in case of any assault any bad guys coming in to attack," says Cori Sorensen.

In an effort to arm teachers at schools, a firearms group in Ohio also is launching a test program in gun training.

And in Arizona, the state's attorney general proposed a change to state law to allow an educator in each school to carry a concealed gun.

The move comes after the recent shooting massacre in Newtown Connecticut. A gunman shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School. 20 of the victims were young children.

Gun rights advocates are saying teachers can act more quickly than law enforcement in the critical first few minutes to protect children during a school shooting.

But some teachers strongly disagree with the idea.

"I think it's ridiculous. I don't think that teachers should be carrying guns. I don't think violence is the answer. And the biggest thing I don't think is, I don't think it's going to solve the problem," says Andrea Flinders.

Only a handful of states -- including Utah and New Hampshire -- currently allow concealed weapons in public schools.

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