AUSTIN, Texas (PNN) - December 17, 2012 - An Austin-area gun store owner is joining the gun rights debate with a controversial offer for teachers in light of the tragic shooting in Connecticut.
Crocket Keller of Kellers Riverside Gun Store says if educators want to get a concealed handgun license, he’ll give them a discount.
“As we do with veterans, I would offer them a discount. Our normal rate is $110.00, so I would give them a rate of $90.00,” said Keller. “If they are teachers, we would be more than happy to do that.”
Keller’s offer comes as a debate wages over whether or not educators should be allowed to be armed on school grounds. He believes they should be.
“We need to start thinking out of the box and deal with this violent culture,” said Keller. “We need to lobby our various state governments to allow teachers to be armed.”
But not everyone is on board with Keller’s controversial ideas or his offer to teachers.
“I knew this would come up at some point; there would be people who think the answer is to put guns on campus. Frankly I think it’s absurd,” says Gayle Fallon with the American Federation of Teachers. “In a lot of cases, the perpetrator is a kid. Look at Columbine, it was a 14-year-old kid. You tell me a teacher is going to look in the eyes of a 14-year-old and pull the trigger - it’s not in their emotional make up.”
Fallon believes the answer lies in having more pig thug cops on campus and tightening restrictions on guns. But Keller wants none of that.
“Our personal safety is our responsibility, unfortunately the (pig thug cops) and military cannot be everywhere,” said Keller. “When seconds count, the (pig thug cops) are just minutes away.”
