Teachers have rights too.
I was raised by a school teacher.It helped to mold me, and teachers have always been important to me and my four children.Their rights should be respected.
Our law-abiding public has the right to carry a firearm or other weapon for self-defense in their vehicle.Under Florida Statute 790.25(5), you can carry a firearm in your vehicle as long as it is “securely encased” and “not otherwise readily accessible."
In 2008, the Legislature passed the Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008.It strictly prohibits employers from restricting your right to keep a firearm in your car.Even if you are not one of the 1.3 million Floridians who have a permit to carry, you can still carry in your car.
Soany non-felon can carry a firearm or other weapon in their car to church, workor shopping without fear of arrest or losing their job.
Butnot teachers.If you work for the Leon County School System, you can’t. From the time you leave home in the morning until you get home, you forfeit the right to have a firearm.
You see, you have to park on campus since there is generally nowhere else to park.And Florida Statute 790.115(2)(a)3 allows school districts to exempt themselves from the very law the Legislature wrote to protect the rest of us.And the Leon County School Board did just that.
A number of years ago, itpassed LCSB Policy 6GX13-4A-1.302 that exempts themselves from that protection.The policy says you can’t park on campus with a weapon of any type in the car.
This means if you must park on any school board property to work, attend an eventor any reason, this affects your right too.If you have a concealed weapons license, like over 22,000 Leon County adults—10 percentof us —you’re still committing a misdemeanor, and if you don’t have one, you’re committing a felony.
Florida Statute 790.25(5) does allow you to have a firearm in your vehicle while driving on school board property, if you don’t park and get out —contrary to what the signs on campus say.
I am not advocating we arm our teachers;that’s a different discussion.Butthere is no reason they, and we, shouldn’t be able to lock a gun in our car while it’s parked on campus.There are no burglaries to speak of on campus and the deputies are there to protect us.
Sowhy do we still discriminate against parents, teachers and school board employees? It doesn’t improve school safety and jeopardizes their safety.
I know teachers who break the law every day, just so they can feel safe before and after work—because, you see, that deputy doesn’t follow them home. Our teachers deserve better. So do we all.
The current School Board and superintendent were largely not in office when this passed.They can fix it now.
Charlie Strickland is from Leon County Sheriff's Office, a former SWAT team leaderand trainer.He co-owns Talon Training, Talon Range and Talon Security.He conducts active shooter training for corporations and has two children in the Leon County school system.
