Was the cop at the Florida school a coward, or was he just in an unwinnable situation created by the weak US government?

i wonder what the police instruction are

"wait for back up"

seems to spring to mind

He was a coward. The unarmed coach was brave.

The latter.

It was certainly a tough situation and he might have been injured or killed, but it was far from unwinnable. Regardless, that was the job he signed up for. The police are put into these situations every day and virtually every one of them steps up to the challenge.

A hand gun can kill just as easily in close quarters combat as a AR can.

The leftist-inspired shooter at the congressional baseball practice had an SKS rifle. Like the AR-15, it is also a semi-automatic except that it shoots larger rounds (.312 caliber versus .227). The capital police there were similarly only armed with pistols. The police and sheriffs are paid a premium salary because their job requires them to sometimes go up against impossible odds like this. While no one wants to put an officer in a situation like this, that is what his job called for and the students and community were relying on him doing his job. Instead, he failed and let everyone down.

He was derelict in his sworn duties. He should be denied his pension. Fear of being killed before his retirement does not justify abandoning minors, students to American Carnage.

Bull. The guy was retiring and froze up at the thought of getting shot weeks before getting his retirement.

He was hired to protect those students but failed to do that. It's a decision he's going to have to live with the rest of his life.

I am a retired police officer from a major city PD who invariably ran toward the sound of gunfire and NOT an "armchair Dirty Harry".

Law enforcement officers are supposed to "run to the sound of gunfire". The Deputy in FL failed in his duty, and children died because of it.

Your delusions are irrelevant.