On Saturday, 16 Texas teachers used their day off to receive training on how to shoot guns,
“We want to help,” said Tim Bulot, owner of Strategic Weapons Academy of Texas in Ennis, who offered the lessons for free in a class titled, “Defensive Pistol Training for Teachers.”
Bulot, a tactical sergeant with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, decided to offer the class after the massacre on Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Florida. He said, “This is the first time I’ve done anything like this; normally it’s police officers, SWAT teams, and then overseas contractors is what we train here. I wanted to bring teachers and law enforcement together, kind of bring them into our world because, now, we’re not the first one there on these active shooters: they are.” He added that politics was not discussed at the session, but discussing how the teachers might react in high-stress situation was. Bulot stated, “We taught them as much as we could. They learned a lot, but there is a lot more to learn.”
One teacher who was part of the group, Kim Raney, told CBS 11, “We do our best to have security at our schools, but you never know what’s going to happen. And it’s better to be prepared than not prepared.”
Another teacher, Jeremie Parker, came to the training to honor his niece, who died in the Sandy Hook massacre in December 2012. He said, “Every day I think, you know, ‘What if?’”
Bulot said he wants to add an intermediate session for the teachers who came, as well as offer another introductory class. He said, “It just exploded. My inbox is jam-packed with emails from all over the place. They just want to learn.” He pointed out that one idea that was stressed was to let teachers find out whether carrying a weapon is a responsibility they want.
Watch the teachers below: