Colorado rejects bill to allow armed teachers
(February, 2014?)
DENVER (AP) — The targeting of a Colorado schoolteacher by an armed teen last year didn't sway Colorado Democrats on Tuesday to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons on campus.
A Democratic House Judiciary Committee voted 7-4 to reject another Republican bill to expand gun rights. The bill would have allowed school districts to decide if they wanted to let teachers, not just designated school resource officers, carry concealed weapons.
Similar Republican proposals have been made before without success, but the suggestion had additional resonance after last year's shooting at Arapahoe High School, in which a student targeted a teacher.
"I can think of no safer way at this point to address school violence," said Steve Reams, a Weld County Republican running for sheriff there.
Supporters of the idea were far outnumbered by teachers and students who packed the hearing to speak against the idea.
A 2013 scholastic article suggests:
Ever since that shooting [Sandy Hook] has happened there have been five states who have allowed teachers to carry guns on campus grounds. Those five state names are Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Oregon. In this small essay I will be stating on why k-12 teachers should be carrying a concealed weapon, which has many advantages. Not only for the victims, also for their family and friends.So, not EVERYONE in the world is convinced that allowing teachers to arm themselves in school is entirely a bad idea.
Further, the "FINDLAW" website (January 15, 2013) seems to have correlated a more extensive list:
Texas already allows teachers to carry firearms to work, so long as the principal approves it. And Alabama lawmakers have proposed legislation that would give schools the option of letting their teachers or administrators carry guns, reports NBC. One school board in Ohio has even voted to allow school janitors to carry guns, the Toledo Blade reports.
The full list of the 18 states that allow guns in schools with certain restrictions, according to NBC News, are:
States that are considering whether to allow guns in schools include Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
- Alabama
- California
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Utah
- Wyoming
South Carolina , South Dakota, and Tennessee. To learn more about gun laws in your state, check out FindLaw's page on State Gun Control Laws.
One wonders how this has worked out for them, in the 13 months between when the law was passed, and today. I've been unable to find a follow-up report on the Internet. Perhaps I didn't try hard enough ... or perhaps nobody in the media cares to report on "no problems". Is it reasonable to assume that if there WERE problems, they would be reported --- widely?
But I question the reports, in the details if not in the essential substance. For example, while I know that Oregon state law allows school employees with Concealed Handgun Licenses to carry on campus, Oregon State University policy is quite specific; any employee (regardless of CHL status) who brings a firearm on campus is subject to immediate dismissal. In fact, this "permission" in Oregon law has been in effect for several years.
There was a series of reports in the Medford, Oregon school district a couple of years ago (2007-2009) about a teacher (Shirley Katz) with a CHL who was concerned about a personal issue and had petitioned the school board to allow her to carry a handgun. Her petition was denied without much comment from the local school board.
It would be surprising if the academic 'community' in the other permissive states were any more amenable to the concept.
As is the case in all Gun Free Zones, Academia is less concerned about true protection of it's employees/customers/visitors/guests than about the appearance of supporting non-violence.
Forget the 2nd Amendment, forget allowing people to defend themselves. If a violent episode involving firearms should occur on their campus (such as Virginia Tech), the important thing is not the victims. The important thing is that the establishment be seen as having tried to do "The Right Thing".
The establishment is unable to keep people from illegally carrying firearms on the premises, so they do the next best thing ... they define it as verboten. That's the best and the worst they can do. Congress is the same way. They can't find a solution to "The Gun Problem" (probably because it's not a hardware problem, but a software/human problem), so they pass laws. This ignores, of course, that outlaws will never respect the law ... or the legislatures, or the establishments in their many forms.
If you can't solve the problem ... redefine it. And keep redefining it until you have a 'solution' which looks good in the Funny Papers. Then, outlaw it.
This is the reason why we so often suffer multiple murders in Gun Free Zones. It's not about substance, it's about perception.
2 comments:
Democrats know better than the voters what is best for the citizens of their state.
Crime rate is increasing and it become essential for a person to carry firearm for safety. It is nice to carry firearm by teachers in schools to protect students and themselves. But teachers should know about gun safety tips and concealed carry permit.
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