Handgun classes are drawing teachers

Preschool teacher Heather Miller and her husband, elementary school administrator Jason Miller, practice firing during training at LoneStar Handgun in San Antonio. Preschool teacher Heather Miller and her husband, elementary school administrator Jason Miller, practice firing during training at LoneStar Handgun in San Antonio. Photo: Darren Abate, Express-News Photo: Darren Abate, Express-News Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Handgun classes are drawing teachers 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

SCHERTZ — Middle school teacher Kim Williams traveled from Houston to cash in on Saturday's free concealed handgun licensing course offered to educators after the mass shootings at a Connecticut elementary.

“I feel the need to be proactive,” Williams, 38, said during a break in the 10-hour class at LoneStar Handgun.

“I'm entrusted to the care and safety of over 100 students. I want to be prepared, if and when things go that way,” said the long-time employee of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.

The local firm's owner, Josh Felker, advertised the class Dec. 17, three days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. All 400 available slots were booked within 24 hours, Felker said.

“We're trying to educate the educators and get forward momentum in the Legislature to allow teachers and any other concealed handgun license holder into schools or any other public place,” the former Army Ranger said Saturday. “Gun-free zones are not gun-free to criminals.”

The slaughter of 20 students and six educators in Newtown by Adam Peter Lanza, who then took his own life, has stoked the political debate across America on gun control and campus security.

On Dec. 19 President Barack Obama appointed a gun control task force to draft measures that are likely to include tighter regulations on certain weapons.

Two days later, the National Rifle Association countered with a call for more firepower on school campuses to deter and defeat bad guys.

Gov. Rick Perry is among state leaders also advocating the arming of educators and extending the reach of licensed gun carriers to school campuses.

The carnage in Connecticut also has prompted citizens like Jesse Quiroga, 53, to reassess their security, both at home and in the workplace.

“The police can't be everywhere, so I figured I should at least be prepared,” said Quiroga, a hospital nurse in San Antonio who paid $30 on Saturday to attend a self-defense course on how to survive a mass shooting.

The instructor, Mike Hanson of Elite Edge Training, demonstrated ways to avoid being victimized by predatory criminals, how to fend off an attacker, and what to do if caught in the gun sights of a madman.

Overcoming the initial terror is key, he said, allowing would-be victims to then find a protective place, pinpoint the threat and determine the best route out of harm's way.

“When people hear about things like Sandy Hook and the theater shooting in Colorado, it makes them scared,” Hanson, 42, said before the three-hour lesson in Helotes. “Knowing information about how to respond makes them feel safer.”

His class included Lisa Holloman and her daughters, Chelsea and Lauren, who both attend Virginia Tech, site of a 2007 massacre that ranks as the nation's deadliest school shooting, claiming 32 victims.

“I'd rather understand how to do this than be unprepared,” said Chelsea Holloman, 21.

“Just being a college student, it's important to know defense skills,” said Lauren Holloman, 19.

Across town, before heading to the shooting range Saturday with the class that included 26 teachers, Felker said permitting educators to pack heat would deter potential attackers.

“The criminal element goes where guns are less likely to be,” he said.

Gun class student Rita Sisneros said the Sandy Hook attack led her to re-examine a recent incident at the University of Texas Health Science Center, where she works.

The week before the school shooting, Sisneros' co-workers called security about a man who she thought acted strangely while asking to see a dean and students.

It took a while for help to arrive, leaving Sisneros uneasy in retrospect about what may have occurred if the man — who eventually was escorted out without incident — had meant anyone harm.

“I used to think about safety at home,” said Sisneros, 45, but now, “I want a gun on me.”

zeke@express-news.net