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Title: Following school massacre, Pakistani teachers train to carry guns
Source:
Guns.com
URL Source: http://www.guns.com/2015/02/06/foll ... -teachers-train-to-carry-guns/
Published: Feb 6, 2015
Author: Jennifer Cruz
Post Date: 2015-02-06 17:19:54 by Hondo68
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Keywords: None
Views: 1005
Comments: 4
After 150 children and educators were killed by Taliban terrorists in a brutal massacre in December, the Pakistani government gave permission to teachers to be armed while at work. 37-year-old Tabinda, who is undergoing gun training with 10 other women, said of protecting her students, “Whoever kills innocents, God willing I will shoot them.” The police reinforcements across Pakistan are stretched too thinly to adequately protect students in the schools, and Mushtuq Ghani, a higher education minister, agrees that arming teachers is a good line of defense. “We’re at war,” Ghani said. But not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. Muzammal Khan, provincial president of the All Teachers Association in Peshawar, said students are already nervous enough without the added stress of armed teachers. “Pens belong in our hands, not guns,” Khan said. Poster Comment: PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — When Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school and massacred 150 children and teachers, nobody could fight back. Shabnam Tabinda and some of her fellow teachers want to change that — and are practicing how to shoot terrorists. Government authorities in Pakistan's northwest frontier have given permission for teachers to carry concealed firearms in response to the Dec. 16 attack in Peshawar that became one of the deadliest terrorist strikes in Pakistani history. Many educators reject the idea of arming teachers as reckless and counterproductive, reflecting the kind of arguments in U.S. school systems overshadowed by their own occasional mass shootings. But for teachers like 37-year-old Tabinda, going to work unarmed no longer feels like an option. She and 10 other female teachers at the Frontier College for Women are taking pride in their newfound marksmanship with handguns, and plan to carry them to help protect their students aged 16 to 21. Asked whether she felt confident of killing a terrorist at her school, Tabinda was emphatic in reply: "Yes. Whoever kills innocents, God willing I will shoot them." Mushtuq Ghani, the higher education minister in the Khyber Paktunkhwa provincial government based in Peshawar, says its Cabinet supports the arming of teachers as a logical measure given the reality that the region's 65,000 police are stretched too thin to provide a first line of defense to nearly 50,000 schools. Terrorists need to know that schools aren't defenseless, and armed teachers could potentially hold off gunmen and buy time for police reinforcements to arrive, he said. Teachers would need to provide their own legally licensed firearms, which many already possess to defend their homes. "We're at war," he said. The Pakistani Taliban have killed tens of thousands over the past decade as it seeks to overthrow the government and impose its own harsh brand of Islam. Following the Peshawar attack, the government increased military operations in the tribal borderland with Afghanistan where the militants are based, reinstated the death penalty for people convicted of terrorism, and turned such prosecutions over to military courts in a bid to stop intimidation of witnesses and court officials. Schools nationwide were closed for several weeks following the Taliban attack on the Army Public School, when seven men disguised as Pakistani soldiers scaled a perimeter wall and opened fire on fleeing children, many of them the sons and daughters of military personnel. When students returned this month, many of their schools had beefed-up security including heightened security walls, closed-circuit surveillance systems and privately contracted guards. Some teachers licensed and trained to carry firearms already have begun bringing them into their classrooms. "I carry my weapon, but I always keep it hidden like this," said Meenadar Khan, a teacher at Government High School in Peshawar, lifting his shirt to reveal the holstered weapon beneath, a Pakistani-made semi-automatic with a seven-bullet clip. He said teachers at his school met to discuss the government's plan and agreed it would be good to have armed teachers in event of emergency to "defend our school and kids." But other provinces have not followed Peshawar's plan to permit teachers to carry a concealed gun, and most education organizations say that's the right call. Muzammal Khan, provincial president of the All Teachers Association in Peshawar, said students already were scared by the increased security measures, and seeing their teachers armed would increase anxiety unnecessarily. He said government authorities should take responsibility for defending schools from terrorism. "Pens belong in our hands, not guns," Khan said. Malik Khalid, president of the association for primary schools representing several thousand teachers, said its members have voted against permitting their schools' teachers to carry guns. The provincial government is pressing ahead with firearms training workshops for teachers, including a class this week for teachers at a Peshawar missionary institution for boys and girls, Edward's College. Fresh from her own two-day course learning to load, unload and fire Glock 9mm handguns, Tabinda said her family had already suffered enough from Taliban terrorism, including her husband's wounding in a suicide bomb strike a few years ago. He still is carrying shrapnel in his stomach from that attack. When she fired her first shot at a paper target, Tabinda said her police instructor was impressed that she hit the bull's-eye, depicting the chest of a human target. Tabinda said she was visualizing the Taliban killers behind December's school slaughter as she fired. "I hit them right in their hearts," she said. __ Associated Press reporter Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Pakistani teachers arming selves in wake of school massacre
In this Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 photo, Pakistani teacher Shabnam Tabinda, second from right, attends a weapons training session with colleagues in Peshawar, Pakistan. When Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers, nobody could fight back. Tabinda and some of her fellow teachers want to change that. Government authorities in Pakistan’s northwest frontier have given permission for teachers to carry concealed firearms in response to the attack. But other provinces have not allowed teachers to be armed, and most education organizations say that’s the right call. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) 
In this Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 photo, a Pakistani teacher learns to load a pistol during a two-day weapons training session in Peshawar, Pakistan. When Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers, nobody could fight back. Some teachers want to change that. 
In this Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 photo, Pakistani teacher Shabnam Tabinda, center left, attends a weapons training session with colleagues in Peshawar, Pakistan. When Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers, nobody could fight back. Tabinda and some of her fellow teachers want to change that.
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
That's some serious fire power they are learning to use.
Fingers OFF THE TRIGGER until you are ready to shoot.... tool bags.
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
Frankly I am surprised there is anybody that was born in Pakistan that needs to be taught how to handle guns. Haven't they been at war for the last couple of hundred years?
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Perhaps good news. If they get the 2nd Amendment right maybe the others will fall in place.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. " (Romans 1:16-17)
#2. To: hondo68 (#0)
#3. To: hondo68 (#0)
#4. To: hondo68 (#0)
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