Local officials expressed concerns this past week about a new law that would allow teachers to carry concealed handguns in the classroom under certain conditions.
Last week the Tennessee State Senate approved legislation to give approved school faculty and staff who complete specialty training the ability to carry a concealed weapon on campus if certain strict requirements are met.
A faculty or staff member who qualifies to carry a concealed firearm at school must be approved by three different authorities: the principal, the director of schools, and the chief of the local law enforcement agency.
If approved, that faculty or staff member must train alongside local law enforcement to complete at least 40 hours of POST-certified, hands-on training specific to school policing every year. In addition, the trained staff must pass a psychological evaluation, background check, and possess a valid Tennessee handgun carry permit.
Senator Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, who sponsored the bill, said that due to a shortage of law enforcement officers there are more than 500 schools in Tennessee without a school resource officer, despite available funding.
“This leaves schools vulnerable to deadly attacks, particularly in rural communities where it might take law enforcement 15 to 30 minutes to respond to an active shooter,” Bailey said. “In the Nashville Covenant School shooting, law enforcement’s rapid response saved lives. In many rural communities, that type of rapid response from law enforcement is simply not possible. This legislation seeks to close that gap by providing a pathway for qualified school staff to carry a firearm to defend their school if necessary.”
The legislation is permissive, meaning it is up to each school to determine if it wants to allow faculty or staff to carry a weapon. Senate Bill 1325 now moves to Governor Lee for his signature before becoming law.
Local reaction
Rogersville City School Director Edwin Jarnagin said RCS is fortunate to have a highly qualified SRO n duty every day.
“I am glad there is local control in the bill,” Jarnagin said. “It is my understanding, a teacher that has a desire to carry a concealed gun must be approved by the principal, superintendent, and the sheriff (at Rogersville City School it would be the Rogersville City’s Director of Public Safety). Also, the 2024 bill senators passed requires a school employee to get 40 hours of training, a background check, enhanced gun carry permit, and a psychological evaluation.
Jarnagin added, “Rogersville City School is very fortunate and blessed to have a full-time School Resource Officer and an excellent police force that is seconds to minutes away. Not all schools have a police force with such a short response time.”
Hawkins County director of schools Matt Hixson said he has logistical concerns as he looks at the wording of the bills.
“We have a great working relationship with Sheriff Lawson, his team, and our local police departments,” Lawson said. “We are already trying to wrap our heads around the implications of this bill.”
Hixson said there are questions he still has about the law including:
Who will pay for the required psychological exam?
Who will pay for the 80 hours of required training?
How will we identify staff who have carry permits if/when we have emergencies on one of our campuses?
“As we witnessed several years ago with the response to the reported active shooter at VHS, all local and regional law enforcement will respond in force,” Hixson said. “We do not want to be in a position where we have a carrying staff member wrongly identified. We also do not want our staff impeding or making law enforcement response difficult.”
“I am a gun owner and support the Second Amendment to the Constitution,” Hixson said. “However, when it comes to staff and student safety, we have one chance to get it right. We are afforded the opportunity to practice, run drills, and make improvements as we go, but when something truly happens that threatens any of our schools, we want to make sure whatever we put into place is effective at neutralizing the threat and preserving student and staff safety.”
Hixson added, “Whatever happens at the state level, I will continue to work with our sheriff’s department and local police departments to develop procedures with which all parties are confident.”
Sheriff Ronnie Lawson told the Review a main concern for him is wrongly identifying a teachers as a suspect.
Lawson said that when his officers respond to a school for an active shooter, it might be difficult for his officers to determine which armed person is the bad guy, and who is the teacher/staff member.
“When we go in the building, we’re going in looking for a gun, and if there’s a lot in there we don’t know if it’s a teacher, a bad guy, or what,” Lawson said. “It’s just a dangerous situation. On the other hand, you never know what the teacher will think or see if we have an officer coming in. He’s got a vest on, but all they see is a gun coming around the corner. They don’t know if that’s an undercover officer, a plain clothes officer with a vest. The vest might have our marking on it, but they might not see that. They might just see the gun.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0