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Teachers In Florida Could Soon Begin Arming Themselves, But Probably Not In Miami-Dade Or Broward County

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Teachers around Florida could soon be seen on the firing range, getting certified to pack a pistol at school after the legislature approved a plan to allow teachers to volunteer to carry a gun.

Each of Florida's 67 districts has the option to opt out.

Jim Gard is a math teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

"I could not see me carrying a weapon," he said.

Gard knows the legislature's plan calls for 144 hours of training before a teacher could carry a gun in the classroom. Even with that training, he thinks it's a bad idea.

"What if you had a couple of kids who came in and overpowered a teacher," he asked. "I'm not a big guy. And what if I'm overpowered and suddenly a kid has a gun? Seven, eight, nine, ten kids are dead."

Karla Hernandez-Mats is the president of United Teachers of Dade. "This is a recipe for disaster," she said.

Teachers' unions in both Miami-Dade and Broward are fiercely opposed to arming teachers.

"Teachers went to the university so they can be trained on being nurturers, having a classroom environment that's filled with care," said Hernandez-Mats. "We teach. We're not there to be sharpshooters."

Anna Fusco is the president of the Broward Teacher's Union.

"I feel teachers should not be armed, that's not our position," she said.

Fusco believes packing heat is not a teacher's job.

"We're not expected to go in and do brain surgery because we're not doctors," she said.  "We shouldn't be expected to be police officers when we are not licensed and trained in taking on tactical forces."

A strong voice in favor of allowing teachers to arm themselves is Andrew Pollock.  His daughter Meadow was killed in last year's Valentine's Day Massacre.

"This society that we live in, there's sick, demented people walking the streets and we can't fix society, but we owe it to our kids to protect them when they go to school," he said.

The bill is now on its way to Governor Ron DeSantis' desk for his signature.

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