It's hard to imagine that anyone who's truly interested in gun safety or preventing "gun violence" could be opposed to a bill that will help thousands of people obtain firearms training free of charge, especially when the folks who'll benefit from that training are serving as a first line of defense for kids in schools. People who adopt those monikers because they're more effective than accurately describing themselves as gun control activists, on the other hand... well, yeah, it doesn't surprise me that they'd be against a real gun safety measure like that. 

Gun violence prevention advocates who gathered Monday at the Utah State Capitol called on Gov. Spencer Cox to veto legislation that they said could place children in harm's way by training more teachers to carry firearms on campus. The bill funding tactical training for Utah educators who want to defend their classrooms with guns received final legislative approval last week when the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to send it to the governor's desk. 

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Some Utah educators, including retired public school teacher Stan Holmes, worry the half-day training would not be enough to prepare teachers to respond properly in an emergency, which could lead to student injuries. The U.S. Army veteran said he has taken a tactical training course offered by the state, which he referred to Monday as “a joke.” 

“I left unconvinced that all graduates could handle themselves in a crisis situation,” he said. “Parents of children in Utah schools have no reason to trust that the so-called educator-protector program trainings would be any better.”

Here's the thing: Holmes doesn't have to like the class or believe that it adequately prepares teachers for an active shooter on campus. The fact is that under current Utah law, any school staffer who possesses a carry license can bring their gun to work with them. HB 119 would, at an estimated cost of $100,000 each year, provide interested school staffers with a bit of tactical training that would hopefully allow them to better react if someone tries to turn their campus into another Columbine or Parkland. 

There's another bill on its way to the governor that would set up a more formal "guardian" program, so the legislature is clearly not interested in prohibiting or reducing the number of armed school staff. So why is the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah still pitching a fit over the training bill? 

In the comments to that post, a Facebook user chided the center:

You guys really don't want kids to be safe do you? Teachers can LEGALLY carry guns in school with a concealed permit. Now you don't want them to get training to save a child's life.

This is NOT just a gun training but mindset training.

I talked with your director at a Democratic Women's luncheon and she talked about how Sheriff Smith's program was great. Now when they pass a bill to train all teachers, this??

You just proved it's NOT about keeping kids safe at all.

The center's reply is simply breathtaking in its stupidity. 

Not true. We support every gun owner (teachers included) being properly trained. Maybe they shouldn't have passed Permitless Carry? Maybe they should have made that training better? We don't think that education money should be spent on gun training. Maybe the gun industry could foot that bill? Utah is #50 in per pupil education spending. That's not what education funds are for.

You know who might think about footing that bill? "Gun safety" advocates like the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, which is supposedly "working to end the violence and suffering resulting from the misuse of firearms." Oh wait, that's right. Their idea of gun safety is "don't own one, stupid," so even though providing firearm training is an excellent way to reduce the misuse of firearms, they'd never be on board. 

They support every gun owner being "properly trained", but anything less than what they demand is completely unworthy of their support. Nobody who's truly interested in gun safety thinks this way, but anti-gun activists looking for an excuse not to support firearms training do. 

"Gun safety" advocates in Tennessee recently reminded us what a complete sham the rebranding of the gun control movement has been, and now their counterparts in Utah are giving us another example of the fraud that lies in the anti's claims of "gun safety". They view firearms instruction as a barrier to entry to gun ownership; a cudgel to be used to make it too expensive and too time-consuming a process to exercise our Second Amendment rights. Fostering a culture that makes firearm training affordable, easy to access, and a normal part of society goes against everything they're fighting for. You know, the "gun safety" that comes when exercising our Second Amendment rights is not only culturally taboo, but criminal activity.