Tennessee Joins Growing Number Of States Allowing Armed Teachers

ANALYSIS – This is certainly good news. Tennessee has passed a bill to allow teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns in school. This, as more states are allowing teachers to be armed amid an increasing number of school shootings.

More than half of all states currently have some type of law allowing teachers and other school employees to carry concealed guns on school grounds, according to data compiled by the Giffords Law Centre.

The Tennessee bill was approved Tuesday in a 68-28 vote in the Republican-dominated House. The state's GOP-controlled Senate passed the bill earlier this month. The state has seen heated debate over gun laws after last year's shooting at a Christian elementary school – the Covent School – killed three kids and three adults.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee can now either sign the bill or allow it to become law without his signature. Lee has not vetoed any legislation as governor.

As USA Today reports: “Iowa is the most recent state to push for more guns, with lawmakers this week sending a bill to the governor that would allow teachers and other school employees to obtain permits to carry guns on school grounds.”

The outlet adds:

Just 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws specifically prohibiting teachers from carrying guns – Alabama, California, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Most states, including Tennessee, allow non-law enforcement school security to carry guns on campus, and of the states that allow teachers and other school employees to carry guns, many require permission from the school district.

Meanwhile, just over half of all states allow people with concealed carry permits to keep loaded, unlocked guns in their cars on campus.

In Tennessee, the legislation would allow vetted and trained teachers and other non-law enforcement school employees to obtain permits to carry guns on school grounds and grant them qualified immunity for using reasonable force. 

The latter is very important, so they can't get sued for protecting their kids with their guns.

“Time and math do not lie,” said Rep. Phil Thompson (R-Boone), the bill's manager on the Iowa House floor.

“The first 30 seconds in these scenarios are extremely critical. This bill does set a high standard for districts and staff that want to participate in this and go the extra mile to protect our kids,” he added.

USA Today explains that: “Those who want to carry firearms at school under the bill would have to go through a permit process that includes one-time, in-person legal training covering qualified immunity, emergency medical training and communication training, as well as quarterly firearm training and annual ‘live scenario' training.”

The outlet adds:

A teacher would have to follow these additional requirements:

Have a valid handgun carry permit,

Undergo a background check,

Complete 40 hours of additional training,

Pass a psychological evaluation.

The teacher or school employee is also required to get permission from the district and a law enforcement agency. Under the new law, the individuals would not be publicly identified, nor be required to notify parents if a gun is in their child's classroom.

Of course, protesting leftist anti-gun groups say the law will make students and school employees less safe by increasing the likelihood of gun accidents in schools. However, it is far less likely for a well-trained and vetted teacher to have an accident with a gun, or create the conditions to have an accident, than some random individual, or untrained teacher, at their school.

Radical Democrats in the Tennessee House have led protests inside the capitol, resulting in their brief expulsion from the body last year. During the recent hearings on Tuesday, protesters could be heard in the gallery chanting, “Blood on your hands,” during the floor proceedings.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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