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Wakulla Superintendent: Arm Officers Not Teachers

Wakulla County Sheriff's Office
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Florida legislators are likely to pass a bill this session that would allow classroom teachers to carry guns while in school. But the Wakulla School Superintendent doesn’t support it.

He says he worries arming teachers could lead to more problems. He thinks the School Resource Officers being armed with AR-15s is the safer and better solution.

"We’re also arming all of these people that are going to protect our students with a handgun. And all of the reason why we put assault rifles in the hand of our SRO’s are that that’s what we’re being attacked by. And a handgun matched up against an assault rifle does not match up. So if you’re going to have to protect somebody you might as well make sure you have the right equipment in their hand," said Pearce.

Pearce says the Sheriff in Wakulla also doesn’t want teachers armed and is willing to work with the school to make sure they have the necessary trained law enforcement officers at theirs schools. Currently 10 resource officers work for the district.

Blaise Gainey is a State Government Reporter for WFSU News. Blaise hails from Windermere, Florida. He graduated from The School of Journalism at the Florida A&M University. He formerly worked for The Florida Channel, WTXL-TV, and before graduating interned with WFSU News. He is excited to return to the newsroom. In his spare time he enjoys watching sports, Netflix, outdoor activities and anything involving his daughter.