Will Ainsworth ‘honored’ Kay Ivey adopted his school security plan
Republican Lieutenant governor candidate Will Ainsworth announced on Thursday that he is honored Governor Kay Ivey chose to adopt his proposal to train and arm school administrators to protect their schools in the event of an active shooter situation. “Every school shooting that takes place in another state around the country brings us one step closer to an active shooter attacking classrooms here, in Alabama” Ainsworth said. “Gov. Ivey’s decision to adopt a portion of my plan is a good first step, but we must empower teachers to defend their students against those who wish to do harm.” Ainsworth made his proposal in the legislative session earlier this year, and even though the bill, Ivey’s Alabama Sentry Program is very similar to the proposed bill. The bill, HB435, proposed that school administrators, principals, and teachers who met certain qualifications be allowed to carry a firearm on school campuses. It also required that those carrying must complete a 40-hour course in basic school policing in a program approved by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, and pass an annual firearm re-qualification; the same test required of law enforcement officers. The Alabama Sentry Program that Ivey announced on Wednesday is “a voluntary program which will permit administrators in schools, without an SRO, to maintain a firearm on campus in a secured safe in order to be prepared to respond to an active shooter situation.” The only real difference between the two plans is Ainsworth’s provision to include teachers in the program, which he believes is crucial to the program’s success. “On the day that the Parkland, Florida school shooting occurred, I drafted legislation allowing school teachers and administrators to carry firearms if they volunteered to undergo mental health evaluations and completed thorough law enforcement training, but House Democrats and gun control advocates blocked my bill from passing,” Ainsworth said. “I am honored that Gov. Kay Ivey saw the wisdom in my school security plan and plans to arm some school administrators, but teachers should be given the option, as well. One armed administrator cannot defend an entire school, and until teachers are allowed to defend their classrooms with something more lethal than a ruler and a No. 2 pencil, our children remain at risk.”
Will Ainsworth reacts to the arming teacher bill failing this session
An uphill battle from the start, Guntersville-Republican State Rep. Will Ainsworth‘s bill, HB435, to arm public school teachers has died this session. Ainsworth said he and other lawmakers will be signing a petition urging Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session this summer on school safety. “Democrats killed any chance of our bill coming to the floor,” Ainsworth said of a video he posted on Facebook. “To say I’m frustrated, in an understatement, it’s shocking what they did.” “We literally have 500, maybe more schools in this state, that do not even have a school resource officer, but yet Democrats decided today that they were going to filibuster, filibuster, filibuster, and not even give local schools the option to arm teachers,” Ainsworth said in the video Watch it below:
Armed teacher bill on top of State House’s legislative calendar Tuesday
Alabama lawmakers in the State House will debate whether teachers can carry guns on campus when they return to session on Tuesday. Sponsored by Guntersville-Republican State Rep. Will Ainsworth, HB435 would allow some public school teachers and administrators to undergo firearms training and arm themselves during school hours, in order to help prevent school shoots like the one that occurred last month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. “Our children are sitting ducks in gun-free schools. As the parent of three public school students, I believe we must act now in order to prevent another tragedy,” Ainsworth posted on Facebook ahead of introducing the bill. House Democratic Leader Anthony Daniels said he’s disappointed the chamber is prioritizing the bill. “I am deeply disappointed the ‘Weaponizing Classrooms’ proposal is at the top of our calendar today,” said Daniels. “This proposal is a bad idea and would create dangerous policy. Putting loaded guns in our classrooms, and teachers even further on the front lines, will only pose greater danger to them and our students. The bill narrowly passed a committee vote last week before advancing to the full House, which Daniels considers a reason to have reservations about taking it up further. “As was clear during last week’s discussion in committee, this legislation raises far more concerns and questions than it answers. Members from both sides of the aisle and even Governor Ivey, a former schoolteacher herself, obviously have deep concerns and reservations,” Daniels added. “For the sake of our schoolchildren and teachers, we must do better to address these issues with proven proposals rather than knee jerk ideas like this.”
