Brevard Co Commission candidate pushes to arm teachers

Richard Charbonneau wants to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – It has been less than a year since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six teachers. Now, 2014 Brevard County Commission candidate Richard Charbonneau wants to prevent a tragedy like that from happening again.

"People have thrown in my face, how do you know the person could save every single student? Maybe they won't save every single student, maybe they save half of them, or maybe they save one. If they save themselves and one other, that's better than none," said Charbonneau.

Recommended Videos



He is even offering a scholarship for teachers interested in the "Basic Law Enforcement Academy" at Eastern Florida State College.

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey says the commitment of a year to conclude a 760 hour academy, plus an additional 640 hour field training program would be tough to put on Brevard County's educators.

Ivey said, "I applaud that effort of at least sitting there and thinking about how we can fix the problem and how we can make sure our kids are safe, but what we have to do is make sure that the solution that we come up with is the right solution and not the one that is a reaction to something, versus a response to something."

Local 6 reached out to the Brevard County School Board to see what they thought of Charbonneau's plan and they gave us this statement:

"The current safety plan is based on partnerships with local law enforcement to provide school resource officers at our secondary level, and would not support the initiative in question. Proposals to change our current procedures would require careful research and a recommendation to the school board."

Charbonneau says there's a lot of work to do, but hopes a county ordinance could be passed in the future to allow teachers to carry firearms in the classroom.


About the Author:

Justin Warmoth joined News 6 in 2013 and is now a morning news anchor.

Recommended Videos