Thursday, August 29, 2013

Legislator who wants to put guns in schools shot wrong person during "active shooter" training

Arkansas state Senator Jeremy Hutchinson, of Benton, Arkansas, wants to make it easy for schools to arm teachers or other school personnel. He sits on a legislative committee that is examining the Arkansas law regarding guns in schools. The committee is looking at the laws after the Clarksville school district was thwarted in their attempt to arm two dozen of its teachers and staff members.
After the Sandy Hook shooting, Hutchinson was approached by his local police chief. The Chief had concerns about arming school personnel. His biggest concern was how would police tell the difference between a good guy with a gun and a bad guy with a gun. So, he set up an "active shooter" training simulation using rubber bullets and invited Hutchinson to participate.
"There was what appeared to be a bad guy in the hallway, shooting into the classroom," said Hutchinson. "And so, just instinctively, I shot. And then I turned the corner and see that the bad guy that I had just shot was actually shooting with another bad guy, which kind of blew my mind for a second."
Afterwards, the police informed Hutchinson that he had shot a "teacher."
Despite his experience, Hutchinson wants to "leave it to the school districts to design their best security plans." Even if that includes arming teachers.

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