Public Safety and Education, a firearms and defensive tactics training company in Syracuse, is offering free pistol permit training to school districts so their teachers and staff can carry guns when they’re on the job.

U.S. Army veteran Matthew Mallory, also a law enforcement officer with several agencies, says his company will provide free firearms training to schools because he believes they need to be a part of the first line of defense in the event of an active shooter.

“We guard our money, we guard our sports teams, we guard our politicians, we guard our celebrities… Why aren’t we guarding our kids? It just makes total sense to guard our children,” Mallory explained. “Putting a sign up that says, ‘no guns allowed,’ isn’t going to stop a bad guy. They’re already going to break the law to go in there. You think they’re going to put the guns down? It makes no sense. I don’t know how anyone in their right mind thinks putting a sign up is going to stop somebody from doing something bad.”

Mallory cites the New York state penal code, sections 265.06 & 265.01-a, allowing school administrators to give written permission to teachers and staff to carry a gun on school property.

Mallory says he has trained teachers and staff at a local school. He says there are now more than 17 people at the school that are trained, certified and carrying a gun, he says, “to protect the children.”

If schools want the pistol permit training or additional firearms training for already certified staff, Mallory says he will provide it for free. He says continued training and education for staff and teachers will be necessary to insure they’re ready to react.

Currently, Mallory says he’s helping a local church and school outfit their buildings with ballistic foam glass. He says the ushers at this church are also armed.

“Statistics show that if there’s an active killer and they meet the first sign of resistance they meet — they’re out of there,” Mallory explained. “They either off themselves then and there or they leave the area. That happened down in Texas because a neighbor came over with an AR, a big black scary gun. Scared him off. That resistence needs to happen.”