Texas School District Allows Teachers to Carry Guns in School
A small, rural school district in Texas is allowing teachers to carry guns to class and at special events beginning this fall. This could be a first in the U.S.
The board of the Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and received no objections from parents, said Superintendent David Thweatt.
"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said, according to news reports. "It's just common sense."
The 110-student district is located near Wichita Falls. The lone campus is just off a heavily trafficked highway and about 30 minutes from the nearest sheriff's office.
Ever since Columbine, school shootings have proliferated. This has prompted some calls for school officials to allow students and teachers to carry legally concealed weapons into classrooms for protection.
"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in the online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry endorsed the idea at an August 18 news conference, citing that mass shootings could have been stopped if the victims had been armed. Texas law prohibits firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution." There is an exception for police.
Congress once barred guns at schools nationwide, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck the law down, although state and local communities could adopt their own laws. One newspaper editorial addresses the legal liability of teachers who might accidently shoot a student.
Harrold ISD teachers wanting to carry a gun to school will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, Thweatt said. They must also agree to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.
Thweatt did not reveal how many of the 50 or so teachers and designated staff will be armed when school starts.
posted by John Rosales @ Tuesday, August 19, 2008
7 Comments
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7 Comments:
I think this is a mistake. Why would you allow teachers to carry guns at school. When teachers and students have conflicts, this may become an issue. You should rethink this through again and again. If teachers are allowed to carry guns, then students are possibly going to be getting their hands on guns and bring them to school as well, what do you want????? Do you want a Columbine at your school? You should have a policy that all doors be locked and a buzzer has to sound from the office to find out who is outside and what business they need to be allowed inside. What happened to having police security and grounds keepers for your schools. I feel this is just a graveyard experience waiting to flourish.
Laura Howard
Educator
South Carolina
Careful reading of the news article indicates that this school is way in the country with the Sheriff 30 minutes away - did you catch that? one half hour away! Such small towns have few resources. They certainly can't put a police officer on campus. Allowing techers to protect themsleves and their students makes a lot of sense if you trust professional teachers. Do you? (If not, what does that say about professional teachers?)
This is great news! Teachers should be allowed to defend themselves and their students if necessary! Hopefully the whole country will be moving in this direction!
This is loss of life waiting to happen. You know they have these things out called metal detectors. If the school was that concerned for the safety of students, teachers and staff, they would put up the money to have them installed. This is what our school systems have come to now. Please believe that other schools are going to follow suite and before you know it a lot of schools are going to be passing a plan similar to these.
I believe guns will always be a controversial topic. I hope the students don't know where the guns are located. I am slightly concerned a student might try to use it to be tough. I am sure it is stored properly so it would be challenging. I believe that if their is no metal defectors or near by police then it should be allowed.
I think that the mere fact that this school district allows the teachers to carry weapons to school is good warning for those who may potentially try to put the students and teachers in a negative situation. If someone coming in to cause a crime in a school knowing that there are 60 armed teachers ready to defend themselves will cause them to think again. the issue with Columbine and Virginia Tech shotings, were that the only people that had the guns were the students who reaked havoc on those schools. in a situation where more guns were available, there would have probably been less loss of life and the students may not have even thought about doing what they did. They may have been alive today getting the mental help that they needed.
I think it is about time that the law and schools allow educators to not only teach students but to protect them from twisted individuals that want to harm them. Police can't be everywhere and are usually there after the crime has happened. Who would you want at your school when the unthinkable happens? An educator with the will, training and tools needed to stop a heinous crime or police investigating the heinous crime after it happened?
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