Front Sight, Press

From Tom Gresham:

Here’s a letter I received today from a teacher. This letter says it very well.

” Thank you so much for the Guntalk podcasts: I have listened for the last two months. You have and common-sense approach that is refreshing. At the beginning of every podcast, I have heard of your truth squad. I would like to join.

“I have been a public school teacher for the past ten plus years. I have taught through Jonesboro, Columbine, 9/11, and our country’s response, currently known as the war on terror. Current laws and officials have forced me to lie to the students in my class when I tell them, ‘you are safe here’. Tom, I am being forced to place my unarmed life between harm and my students. I am begging you, do not give up on the misinformation of the gun-free school zones.

Currently, I am not certain if I could legally keep a firearm in my own vehicle on school property. (No, you can not — Tom) If I do not follow the law, I lose my certificate to teach. My own knowledge in this matter is limited for concrete reasons ( I do not know a tactful way to ask questions concerning the ‘gun free zones’ without raising suspicion within education and law enforcement circles). I believe that currently our Board of Education and Superintendent may authorize personnel to carry firearms on school campuses, but the reality is I do not want to be the teacher who is fired for questionable reasons after such a request is made.

“The truth is If I were allowed, I would carry concealed all day, everyday on my campus: I would owe that to my students, to their parents, and my colleagues. But that statement alone is dependent on several different variables. First, our nation would have to change the way they see our students: they are the nation’s primary asset that must be protected. Second, our nation and state would have to change its laws concerning my Second Amendment rights which are being infringed upon every day that I go to work. Third, our school boards and superintendents would have to change their minds concerning the roles of staff, faculty, and administration. Finally, we must change what we think about rights and responsibilities - If we want our students to embrace all their rights, the generations before must embrace the all of the responsibility to protect the students and their rights.

“I want your listeners to remember that we teachers knowingly go to school and teach in locations that are known to be prime targets for murder. And except for a few states, we do that unarmed. We do that with our own Second Amendment rights stripped of us, and those of us who would exercise this right to protect others are stigmatized within our own profession. But we have a greater concerns. Tom, I ask for your help in protecting our country’s greatest asset: its future.

“I would also ask for your help in addressing our dilemma within the teaching profession. I cannot discuss my passion for firearms at my place of work, nor can I wear or carry anything firearms related, but it seems that any topic that is liberally-minded is simply accepted or encouraged . It is very frustrating. I would ask for your listeners to chime in on this one, especially other teachers.

“Thanks for your support for all of us on the educational Liberal Island.”

(Name and location withheld to prevent him/her from being fired.)

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