NBC report on states allowing adults to carry guns onto school grounds

This list misses out on Michigan, which allows open carry by a permit holder on school property.  Ohio also has at least one school district that is allowing staff and teachers to carry concealed handguns.  Whether these restrictions are "minor" seems at least debatable.  Also note that this list is somewhat outdated.  From NBC News earlier this year:

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 prohibits anyone from having a firearm in a school zone. But that law includes the same exception recognized by the states identified in NBC News' survey: It doesn't apply if the weapons are "approved by a school in the school zone."
And in any event, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Steve Stockman, R-Texas, have introduced measures in the new Congress that would repeal the federal law altogether.
Here are the 18 states that allow adults to carry loaded weapons onto school grounds with few or minor conditions:


• Alabama (which bans possessing a weapon on school grounds only if the carrier has "intent to do bodily harm")

• California (with approval of the superintendent)

• Connecticut (with approval of "school officials")

• Hawaii (no specific law)

• Idaho (with school trustees' approval)

• Iowa (with "authorization")

• Kentucky (with school board approval)

• Massachusetts (with approval of the school board or principal)

• Mississippi (with school board approval)

• Montana (with school trustees' permission)

• New Hampshire (ban applies only to pupils, not adults)

• New Jersey (with approval from the school's "governing officer")

• New York (with the school's approval)

• Oregon (with school board approval)

• Rhode Island (with a state concealed weapons permit)

• Texas (with the school's permission)

• Utah (with approval of the "responsible school administrator")

• Wyoming (as long as it's not concealed)

The expanding list of schools that allow teachers and staff to carry guns at K-12 schools

Slowly but surely things are changing.  I have been posting on individual school districts, but it is nice to see a major news story on this point that keeps track of all the different school districts.  While the list below is useful, it misses out on Michigan which allows people to carry guns at school as long as someone has a permit and the gun is carried openly (whether teachers or staff could do that would depend on their employment contract, but that is unlikely any time soon).

From USA Today:

The state of Utah allows teachers to carry concealed guns if they pass a background check and undergo training, a policy that has been in place since 2000. Hawaii does not regulate guns in schools, and New Hampshire bans only students from possessing a firearm on school grounds, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit advocacy group.

This year, legislators in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas passed laws that authorize at least one school employee to carry a weapon on campus, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some of the statutes revised existing laws.

Across the country, several schools allow or will be allowing their teachers to carry concealed weapons:

• St. Helens School District, about 25 miles north of Portland, Ore., voted earlier this month to allow teachers at its two elementary, one middle, one high and three alternative schools to carry weapons with a permit on campus, reversing a March decision to prohibit firearms.

• Clarksville School District about 100 miles northwest of Little Rock, Ark., became the first in the state this school year to arm selected teachers with handguns.

• Newcomerstown Exempted Village School District in northeast Ohio voted to allow authorized staff to carry guns on school property starting this school year.

• In Texas, at least 20 school systems — including the Brookesmith, Canadian, Cayuga, Chapel, Christoval, Ganado, Harmony, Hunt, Huntington, Jonesboro, Levelland, Lingleville, Louise, Palmer, Quanah, Shamrock, Union Grove, Van and West Hardin independent school districts — allow teachers to be armed, according to media reports. Harrold Independent School District began its policy in 2008 in response to the Virginia Tech shootings. . . .

There is also the Briggsdale school district in Colorado.

"Rural Colorado school allows teachers to carry concealed weapons"

Slowly more and more places are letting teachers carry guns.  From the Daily Caller:

School administrators in the tiny Colorado town of Briggsdale will allow an unspecified number of teachers to carry concealed handguns in the classroom as long as they agree to participate in ongoing training. 

Participants must commit to hitting the firing range for a minimum of 100 rounds per month. 

Briggsdale, located in northeastern Colorado, is too small to have it’s own police department and it’s at least 20 minutes away from the nearest emergency response.
It’s the isolation that makes arming teachers important, superintendent Rick Mondt told the Greeley Tribune. 

“I don’t have a two-minute or minute-and-30 response time,” he said. “That would be the only reason that I would think this would be somewhat of a necessity.” . . .

Is insurance a problem for schools that allow staff and teachers to have guns to protect against mass shootings?

From the Arkansas Times:

An item yesterday about the Clarksville School District's plan to have more than 20 teaches and staff members carry concealed weapons next school year as a security measure prompted a lot of discussion yesterday, including on the topic of insurance. 

In Kansas, a major insurance company has said it will not insure schools that allow district employees to carry weapons. It prefers that people with guns be uniformed, qualified law enforcement officers. Clarksville has provided security guard training and additional weapons training for its staff members, but they will be carrying concealed weapons and they will continue normal duties, not work solely on security. 

I asked Superintendent David Hopkins about insurance and he sent this repsonse by e-mail:

"I have spoke with them and as of now there is not an issue. I don't expect one either."

Other schools have allowed teachers to carry guns (such as the Harrold Independent School District in Texas that has had it since 2008) and presumably since they have continued to operate, insurance has presumably not been a problem.   

Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's legacy: "Hundreds of Texas educators take free concealed handgun class"

Three school boards in Texas allow teachers and other school personnel who have concealed handgun permits to carry in their school.  Hopefully, legislation to expand it to other schools will be passed this session.  From Fox News:

. . . More than 700 teachers and administrators attended the all-day session on gun laws and safety at Kennedale High School in Dallas-Fort Worth area, The Dallas Morning News reported.  

The free class was organized by Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill and Kyle, who was fatally shot at a North Texas shooting range in February. 

"It went from 20 to 30 teachers to the more than 700 we have here today. It just exploded with Chris’ involvement," Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill Waybourn told the paper. 

Teachers from across the state and at least one representative from each school district in North Texas attended the class, which was organized in response to the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., according to the report. 

Participants who complete the required live-ammunition firing training will be eligible for concealed-handgun licenses, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported. 

Last week, the Texas Senate Education Committee approved a plan to train armed teachers for gunfights in classrooms or at campus sporting events or board meetings. . . .

NRA's proposal for school safety

A copy of their report is available here.  From Fox News:

Hutchinson, though, did call for the creation of a 40-60 hour training program for armed officers. To accompany that, his group proposed a "model" state law that would allow certain personnel who have undergone this training to carry weapons on school grounds.  

"This is not talking about all teachers," he said. "Teachers should teach."  

The 225-page report also called for states to require schools to conduct a safety assessment and for a pilot program to be created assessing mental health as a pre-indicator for violence. . . .

Besides being costly, having armed officers at schools makes them a target for these killers.  There is a big benefit if the killers don't know who they have to worry about.

Florida: Bill moves forward to let school employees carry guns at school

Not exactly what I would call a balanced article, in that it sensationally discusses liability but doesn't mention that there were no problems that anyone can point to when such carrying on school property was allowed in either Florida or other states.

Picture this: teachers packing heat as they teach children their ABC’s and 123’s.The scenario has many parents and teachers envisioning a nightmare, and they have gone out of their way to tell state legislators so.
But on Wednesday, a House education panel approved the idea anyway.
The House K-12 Education Subcommittee voted 10-3 in support of a controversial bill that would give principals the power to choose certain teachers and school employees who would carry concealed weapons on campus. The schools would have a choice of either arming a school employee or hiring a separate safety officer, who would also carry a firearm. . . .

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/27/3309728/gun-toting-teachers-house-education.html?story_link=email_msg#storylink=cpy

Push for allowing concealed handguns in Florida schools?

It is disappointing that such a tough bill is having trouble getting passed.  At least it shows that some politicians are willing to discuss the issue.

. . . Rep. Greg Steube thinks so, and it’s why he spent months crafting legislation that could allow teachers to carry concealed weapons in the classroom. 

The bill (HB 1097) has yet to receive a committee hearing, but if passed, it would dramatically change the landscape of gun-free school zones. It would let principals choose one or more school district employees to carry a concealed weapon or firearm on campus — provided they took a training course. 

“In the bill, it requires them, before being designated, to go through the same exact training that is required of every armed security guard in the state of Florida,” said Steube, R-Sarasota. 

Principals also would have the option to require additional training. 

The bill was motivated by the dearth of school resource officers on campus, Steube said. It would remedy that, requiring every public school — elementary, middle, junior high or secondary — to either have a resource officer or employee designated to carry a concealed weapon. . . .

"South Dakota governor signs bill allowing armed teachers in the classroom"

From Fox news:

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Friday signed a bill allowing teachers to carry guns in school, making his state the first to enact such a law since the Newtown shooting tragedy. 

The bill was pushed by gun-rights supporters who say arming teachers could help prevent tragedies like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School . . . . The law, which goes into effect July 1, will allow school districts to arm teachers and other personnel. 

But the measure prompted intense debate in the capital, as several representatives of school boards, school administrators and teachers opposed the bill during committee testimony last month. They said the measure could make schools more dangerous, lead to accidental shootings and put guns in the hands of people who are not adequately trained to shoot in emergency situations. 

The issue of guns in schools has been a contentious one. The National Rifle Association, several days after the Newtown shooting, proposed installing armed officers or guards in schools across America -- an idea that was met with derision by gun control advocates. 

Democrats on Capitol Hill in Washington have since moved ahead on gun control legislation, including an anti-trafficking measure that passed out of Senate committee Thursday -- while at the state level, Republican-led states have tried to enhance gun-rights protections. . . . .

"Teachers in Florida suburb getting free weapons training lessons"

Will the attitude of teachers change on guns?  Probably not for most liberal teachers, but this is still encouraging.

A group of teachers in a Florida suburb are receiving free weapons training classes for free, according to a report by FOX13 News. 

The event held in Safety Harbor and conducted by security company International Executive Protection is meant to teach teachers, and students, the basics of self-defense and the details of Florida's Concealed Carry Weapons Permit. 

"I've been kind of skirting around the issue of getting a gun again and this opportunity came open," Oak Grove (Clearwater) Middle School teacher Terri Cunningham told FOX13 News. "I decided it's free; don't turn down anything that's free." 

The class, which normally costs $75, was offered with a discount because of the apparent growing interest in concealed carry permits among teachers in the wake of the Newtown shooting. . . .

Even in New Jersey, arming staff at schools being considered

Pretty amazing that only one person spoke out against this proposal.  Slowly but surely as this approach spreads in places such as Texas, Utah, Ohio, and New Jersey people will see that their fears about possible problems were misplaced.  From Fox News:

A school board in New Jersey has taken an initial step toward allowing a principal, who is a retired police officer, to carry a handgun in school.
Raymond Rotella would be among the first school administrators in the state to have permission if the Passaic Valley Regional School Board gives final approval next month.
Rotella served 25 years with the Little Falls Police Department before he became principal of the high school three years ago.
The Record newspaper reports only one person spoke against the policy before Tuesday's 8-0 vote. . . .

Texas: Two more school districts will allow armed teachers in schools

From the Dallas Morning News:

As two small Texas school districts announced during a Senate hearing Monday that they are moving ahead with plans to have armed teachers on campus, the police chief for the Dallas school district cautioned against the practice and said most law enforcement officials agree with him.
The superintendents for the Van school district east of Dallas and the Union Grove district in East Texas told senators they will soon become the second and third districts in the state to authorize teachers with concealed handgun licenses to carry firearms on campus to protect students. . . .
[Don Dunn, superintendent of the Van school district] said his school board approved a policy to use armed teachers for security on the district’s five campuses during a meeting last week. Teachers who are assigned such duties must have a concealed handgun license and will undergo special training to deal with potential threats to children.

“Our parents fully support it,” he said of the new policy, which is allowed under Texas law.
Similarly, Union Grove Superintendent Brian Gray said his district will assign certain school employees at the district’s two campuses to be armed during the school day. Gray said he is working with local law enforcement agencies to develop regulations and training requirements. . . .

Since 2007, Harrold Independent School District in Texas has had armed teachers and they have had no problems. 

In remote Harrold, the nearest sheriff’s office is 30 minutes away, and people tend to know — and trust — one another. So the school board voted to let teachers bring guns to school.
“We don’t have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution,” Superintendent David Thweatt said. “A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master’s degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children.” . . .

Public school demands that boy's name be changed because it claims that sign language for name violates their anti-gun policy

From Grand Island, Nebraska:

Three-and-a-half  year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, signs his name by crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand up and down.
To his family, friends and those who know the Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) language that the Grand Island, Neb., boy uses, that gesture uniquely means "Hunter Spanjer."
But to Hunter's school district, it might mean something else. The district claims that it violates a rule that forbids anything in the school that looks like a weapon, reports KOLN-TV.
And Hunter's parents claim that Grand Island Public Schools administrators have asked them to change their son's sign language name.
"Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous," Hunter's grandmother Janet Logue told the TV station. "This is not threatening in any way."
Hunter's father Brian Spanjer said, "It's a symbol. It's an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E." . . .

Oregon teacher who wanted to carry permitted concealed handgun at school files appeal

An article can be seen here:

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- The Medford teacher who was denied permission to take her pistol to school for protection is filing an appeal.

A brief sent Wednesday to the Oregon Court of Appeals on behalf of Shirley Katz argues that state law allows people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns in public buildings, and only the Legislature can change that, not the Medford School District.

"The only thing that's changed is more people have been killed in schools since we started this battle," said Katz's attorney, James Leuenberger of Lake Oswego. "The bloodshed will continue until responsible people are armed in schools."

A Jackson County circuit judge ruled last year that the Medford school district's employee policy barring guns on campus was not covered by the state law that bars cities and other governmental districts from regulating guns because it did not amount to an ordinance. . . . .

Thanks to Brent Busch for this link.

Update on Oregon School Teacher Carrying Gun

An update on the Oregon public school teacher who wanted to carry her permitted concealed handgun with her to school is here:

Shirley Katz, who teaches at South Medford High School, is seeking to overturn last year's Circuit Court ruling upholding a school district policy that forbids employees from carrying guns on campus. . . .

75 School district Employees in three Oregon School Districts have Concealed Handgun Permits

It is difficult to get a handle on the number of people in schools with handgun permits. 75 employees might not be a large number, but it would be useful to first figure out how many this implies on average per school in those districts.

More than 75 school district employees in the Eugene, Bethel and Springfield school districts have concealed handgun permits, but it is unclear how many, if any, carry their weapons to school.

The lawsuit of Shirley Katz, a Medford teacher who wants to carry a 9mm Glock on the South Medford High School campus, has garnered national attention, and last week a Jackson County judge denied Katz’s request to carry her gun to school.

State law is clear that holders of concealed handgun licenses can carry concealed weapons into schools. But in his ruling, Circuit Court Judge G. Philip Arnold said the Medford district’s policy, which prohibits employees from carrying weapons on school property, overrules the law.

Katz plans to appeal the ruling, and the question remains: Should teachers with concealed weapons permits be allowed to take guns into the classroom? . . . .

This is why we need to arm teachers: Glenn Beck deserves a lot of credit for this story

On Glenn Beck's page scroll down to the middle of the page and click on the video for "Exposed: The Perfect Day". Beck says that the government is sitting on this information because they are "afraid that the American people will panic." I think that this is the information that we need for a rational discussion on arming teachers.

Glenn's guest, Brad Thor, gets it partially right when he says "You want an armed presence at your school." He then points to armed guards and police. The problem with armed guards and police is that if they are present, they will be the first ones taken out. It is good to have some there, but it is cheaper and much better to allow armed teachers and staff. He makes four points on school security: deter, detect, delay, and destroy. Armed teachers and staff can help with all these four points (even "detect" because they might be more able to successfully detect and alert others if they are armed). The deterrence, delay, and destroy aspects are more obvious. Thor points to Israel, but he doesn't mention that they arm teachers in Israel.

New Op-ed: Teachers Packing Heat?

This was in TCS Daily today:

Good intentions do not necessarily make good rules. What counts is whether the laws ultimately save lives. Unfortunately, too many gun laws primarily disarm law-abiding citizens, not criminals.

Banning guns from schools seems like the obvious way to keep children safe. But a teacher, Shirley Katz, in Medford, Oregon, is proposing the exact opposite and is stirring up debate across the nation. Recently the first round of a legal battle went to the teacher, since the judge would not accept the school district's claim that her case should simply be dismissed. . . . .

Oregon School Teacher will carry gun with her

MEDFORD -- A high school English teacher told a state court Thursday that she would begin packing a pistol to class by the end of the month, while a school district attorney warned that if a judge let her, Oregon schools could become "armed camps."

South Medford High School teacher Shirley Katz appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court to push one of the most painful of national issues: guns and schools.

With the Virginia Tech massacre still fresh in the country's memory and a high school shooting Wednesday in Ohio, Katz's quest is drawing attention from Massachusetts to Medford. . . . .

Case Where Gun Free Zone Law Endangered Life?

So what was this woman supposed to do? More bizarre is what is the motivation for these letters to constantly be sent to all the school childrens' parents whenever anything happens at school. In this case, why not send a note to other school teachers? It almost smacks as a type of indoctrination.

(The Olympian, September 26, 2006) LACEY - A 33-year-old teacher at Nisqually Middle School is on administrative leave after school officials discovered she brought a .38 Special handgun - along with bullets - on school grounds Thursday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.

Teacher Mary Catherine Roe, who lives in Shelton, told deputies she was fearful of her husband and that he used a gun while assaulting her, according to a sheriff's report. Roe also has a domestic violence protection order against her husband, according to Mason County records.

No decision was made Monday about whether Roe will face criminal charges, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Dave Ryan said.

Roe is under investigation for the charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm, which was in her purse, on school grounds. The law says no one except law enforcement officers can bring a firearm onto school grounds. The charge is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Nisqually parents received a letter from the school Friday explaining that a staff member brought a weapon to school and was placed on leave. The letter reminded parents that it is against state law to bring any firearm to a school campus. The letter did not name the staff member. . . .

Follow up. This woman's life has essentially been ruined because she took the only really reasonable action to ensure her safety.

(The Olympian, October 24, 2006) LACEY -Teacher facing gun accusation has resigned A North Thurston middle school teacher accused of bringing a gun to school earlier this year has resigned from North Thurston Public Schools. The North Thurston Public Schools board accepted the resignation of Mary Catherine Roe, who taught language arts at Nisqually Middle School. . . . .

(The Olympian, December 13, 2006) LACEY -Teacher with gun might not face charges Gun possession charges might be dropped after a year of probation for a former Nisqually Middle School teacher caught on campus this year with a pistol in her purse, the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday. Mary Catherine Roe of Shelton faces charges of violating the state law banning firearms from school campuses in most cases, a gross misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail or a fine of . . . .