Deputies will now wear tactical gear and carry large rifles on school campuses in one Florida county

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey announced last week that deputies in public schools in Brevard County will begin wearing tactical gear and carrying large rifles in order to appear more intimidating to potential school shooters.

Ivey posted the announcement via a social media video on Facebook on August 8, informing the public that Brevard County will be taking steps to prevent a school shooting like the one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in May that sent shockwaves across the nation. 

“This new style uniform and tactical preparedness gives our team members the advantage and ability to instantly address the threat with the level of force necessary to eliminate the shooter and save the lives of innocent teachers and children,” Ivey said in the video. “You are not coming into our schools and killing our children,” he added. “I firmly believe that if you do not meet violence with violence you will be violently killed.”

Ivey explained that under current guidelines, deputies in schools would be required to run outside the school to retrieve larger weapons from their vehicles in the event of a more severe threat. “While I pray it never happens, I can assure you that our Brevard County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputies are prepared to win the battle to protect our children and teachers!!” Ivey wrote on Facebook.

In the video, Ivey referred to a critic who had allegedly asked him how his plan to arm deputies in this way would prevent children from feeling like they were going to school in an “Israeli airport.” Ivey’s response to the question was, “When’s the last time you heard about someone shooting up an Israeli airport? You haven’t. And the reason for that is that they’re better prepared.”