FASTER Colorado’s Response to Anti-Armed Staff Op-Ed
In the fall, the Colorado Sun published a guest opinion column titled: Armed teachers refrain after Evergreen High School shooting is misguided and dangerous. Naturally, we asked for the opportunity to respond to it. In the end, they opted not to publish our response, as is their choice. Below was our intended submission.
The Safety of Colorado’s Children Transcends Perceived Political Divides
By Laura Carno
In response to a recent guest opinion column on school safety following the Evergreen tragedy (“Armed teachers refrain after Evergreen High School shooting is misguided and dangerous”; Oct. 28), FASTER Colorado offers an evidence-based perspective on one proven layer of protection: deterrence through responsibly armed staff.
Since the Sept. 10 shooting at Evergreen High School, Colorado has grappled with a profound loss of innocence. Though no innocent lives were lost, the trauma extends beyond the two injured students to our entire community — a reminder of the stakes in a state with a painful history of school violence. This calls for action from all of us: parents, policymakers and advocates alike.
As executive director of FASTER Colorado, I lead an initiative that has trained nearly 500 educators over nine years to protect children through responsible firearms and tactics training. These defenders offer a critical deterrent, often preventing violence before it begins. Policies allowing for armed staff have been implemented safely around the country. Armed staff members are well trained in proper concealment, retention, and safe storage.
We have learned significant lessons about attackers, motives, and law enforcement response from school shootings as diverse as Columbine, Arapahoe, and STEM in Colorado to Parkland, Florida, Uvalde, Texas, and Santa Fe around the country.
People on the left and the right agree: Our children need to be safer at school than they are today. But too often, responses to such tragedies devolve into divisive finger-pointing between interest groups that have wider agendas related to gun policy, not just focused on school safety.
Any discussion of school safety needs to be singularly focused on how to keep children and staff safe on campus. At FASTER Colorado, we believe the lives of our children are too precious for such discord. Instead, let’s unite around strategies that deter attacks before they unfold, grounded in real-world evidence.
Deterrence complements, not replaces, other measures like mental health support, security protocols, and crisis training. Critics may argue armed staff haven’t stopped an active shooter mid-attack, but that’s the point: would-be attackers avoid schools where resistance is expected.
According to a study by the nonprofit Crime Prevention Research Center, there has never been a mass shooting during school hours where armed staff are present. Mass shooters frequently attack-shop for vulnerable locations, seeking maximum harm with minimal resistance. Recent manifestos from two attackers reveal how the presence — or absence — of armed staff shapes their decisions.
In the 2023 Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville, the shooter’s journals detail reconnaissance of multiple sites. One alternative, with known armed security, was abandoned, while Covenant — perceived as less fortified — was chosen, though school lockdown practices and law enforcement response limited the toll to six fatalities.
Similarly, in this year’s attack at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, the 22-year-old suspect’s manifesto (captured in pre-attack YouTube videos, and summarized by police, that have subsequently been removed) highlights planning across soft targets.
The focus on vulnerability underscores how deterrence may alter attackers’ selection of location. Even the perception of armed staff can deter violence. At Evergreen High School, the shooting occurred during a window without a School Resource Officer (SRO)—a fact that reinforces the need for consistent protection layers, though we await further investigation details.
In states with training models like FASTER’s, schools have implemented these policies safely, enhancing deterrence alongside initiatives like the “I Love You Guys” protocols lauded in Evergreen. Safety demands a comprehensive approach — “all of the above” — not an either/or choice.
Let’s channel our collective resolve into policies that prevent threats, enable swift responses and heal our communities. Our children deserve protectors who prioritize their safety over political divides.
Laura Carno is the Executive Director of FASTER Colorado
