Not long ago we took note of an independent effort to pick up where the 2017 legislature stopped short – training Colorado’s K-12 educators in the use of firearms to defend their campuses.

A GOP bill passed by the state Senate would have provided the training to designated faculty and staff with concealed-weapons permits; as anticipated, the measure never made it past a “kill committee” in the Democratic-dominated House. So, Coloradans for Civil Liberties, a group affiliated with Denver’s libertarian-leaning Independence Institute, announced last month it would begin offering privately the same kind of training that the legislature ultimately rejected.

State law already allows concealed-carry permit holders to pack heat on campus if the school approves. An estimated dozen mostly rural school districts, including the small Hanover School District 28 near Colorado Springs, have granted such approval – essentially deputizing staff to enhance security given meager resources for full-time guards.

The Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response, or FASTER, training program was slated to start in Greeley with the help of the Weld County Sheriff’s Office. The plan is for the program eventually to go statewide.

The Greeley training sessions are now underway, reports the Greeley Tribune, and the Tribune’s James Redmond offers a boots-on-the-ground glimpse at the program in action:

The bark of gunfire rang in the air as 17 Colorado teachers and school administrators squeezed off round after round from their pistols Thursday afternoon.

The event marked the end of a three-day, highly specialized class in Weld County – at an undisclosed Weld County Sheriff’s Office site – designed to teach education professionals how to stop active shooter situations and deal with related injuries.

Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams is quoted:

“If you look at any of the school shootings around the country, the emphasis is always the quicker the threat can be stopped, the less carnage ensues – whether that’s a school resource officer that happens to be in place or just an armed responder in any capacity.”

According to the Tribune, the trainees go through firearm accuracy drills and fire more than 1,000 rounds by the end of the class. The course covers wide-ranging topics, including first-aid for gunshot victims. Each student also participates in live simulations with non-lethal pellet guns.

Says Reams:

“Is three days enough, I don’t know … I can tell you that’s much better than no training.”

Legislative Democrats who opposed the initiative during the session had said more guns in schools, even if in trained hands, only would increase the likelihood of bloodshed.

But Coloradans for Civil Liberties founder Laura Carno told the Tribune:

“If there’s a fire on the stove and you call 911, you don’t wait there with your arms crossed. You try to put the fire out while you wait. … We just want to provide world-class training because we know this can save lives.”