EDUCATORS THAT ARE CONCEALED CARRIERS SPEAK OUT
After the school shooting in Parkland, Fla. In February, calls to arm teachers and school personnel have intensified. Both President Trump and the National Rifle Association argue that enabling school officials to shoot back could save lives and could deter potential assailants from entering a school.
Teachers are already carrying concealed guns in a handful of states. Officials who support concealed carry for teachers say they’re not just handing out guns but carefully considering who and how they should carry.
Keith Countryman, superintendent of Hicksville Schools in northwest Ohio, carries a concealed gun.
“The people I’ve chosen to carry,” he says, “I’ve instructed them that they are to never have the gun off their body for any reason nor have it shown for any reason unless it’s needed in a threatening situation.”
Colorado law prohibits firearms in schools, but a loophole lets districts designate armed safety officers. Armed teachers are required to pass a three-day firearms and trauma response course, which includes a simulated school shooting scenario.
Karl Donnelson, a teacher in Colorado, is a concealed carrier. Donnelson volunteered to carry a gun in his classroom. He’s one of about 100 armed staff in schools across Colorado.
“We can’t afford security guards, and if teachers are willing to and go through the training I think they should have the opportunity to help protect ’em. My biggest fear is missing and hitting a student. But that’s the risk you take by carrying a gun. May I miss? Yeah, possibly. But would you rather have 50 kids killed or one?”
In Utah, residents with a permit can legally carry almost anywhere, from elementary schools to local restaurants and bars to municipal parks.
Kasey Hansen, a special needs teacher in Utah, is prepared to take down any armed gunman that barges through the doors of one of her classrooms. Hansen carries her pink handgun “Lucy” with her every day in each of the 14 schools at which she teaches. The 27-year-old teacher works with elementary, middle and high school students with hearing impairments in the Granite School District.
“I think every teacher should carry,” Hansen said. “We are the first line of defense. Someone is going to call the cops and they are going to be informed, but how long is it going to take for them to get to the school? And in that time how many students are going to be affected by the gunman roaming the halls?”
On the federal level, firearms are prohibited in school zones under the Gun-Free School Zones Act passed in 1990. The law stipulates that it’s illegal for anyone to wittingly possess a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. The Gun-Free School Zones has exceptions. A teacher can bring a gun to school “as part of a program approved by a school in the school zone.” Currently, there are at least 18 states, which allow armed adults on school property with relatively minor conditions. The federal law doesn’t apply to people licensed by a state or locality to possess a gun on school campuses, an exception that applies to many people allowed to carry concealed firearms.
