Bills to let Tennessee teachers and citizens carry guns in schools advance in legislature
BY PGF
8 months, 2 weeks ago
This smells like an NRA bait and switch, offering a carrot to a select few, while the real purpose is general gun control. The Tennessee special session of the legislature for gun control is now being held. It was called by Governor Bill Lee because he’s probably being paid off. It’s always about the money with politicians. Of course, mad cat ladies against guns have taken a break from drinking box wine to be there, along with “covenant moms” weeping on cue for the cameras. Throw in the added effect of staged ejections by the self-proclaimed pious (probably paid) demonstrators, and it’s all so very tiresome. Suffrage is ruinous.
Both GOP-sponsored bills that advanced in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee would open the door to people other than law enforcement officers having guns in schools.
One measure would let a teacher or school staff member carry a concealed handgun after completing 40 hours of certified training in school policing at their own expense, as well as passing a mental health evaluation and FBI background check.
It would be up to the local district whether to let employees carry firearms under the legislation sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams of Cookeville and Sen. Paul Bailey of Sparta.
But the school’s parents and students would not have to be notified under this legislation, which runs counter to the GOP’s emphasis on parental rights and notification in other areas of education, such as curriculum and library materials.
A second bill would allow a person with an enhanced permit, which requires eight hours of training, to carry a handgun openly or concealed in any K-12 public school building, campus, or bus. The proposal also would apply to law enforcement officers and military personnel, whether on duty, off duty, or retired.
The bill, sponsored by Bailey in the Senate and Rep. Chris Todd of Jackson, is opposed by Lee’s administration, which budgeted an extra $140 million this spring to place a full-time, armed officer in every public school in the state, beginning this school year.
Todd countered that many schools still don’t have SROs because of a shortage of law enforcement officers. And he noted that private schools already can set policies so that some employees carry handguns.
Several citizens spoke against any measures that would place additional burdens on teachers.
Sarah Shoop Neumann, a parent at The Covenant School, said she believes the tragedy would have been worse if teachers had focused on anything but keeping students safe in their classrooms as the shooter walked the hallways.
Fighting back tears, she recounted conversations with Covenant teachers who described how their hands shook while they worked to keep their students quiet, hidden, and secure.
“They are heroes,” she said. “They enacted every protocol in place perfectly, and they could not have done those things if they were also meant to be armed and go out and attack the shooter.”
[…]
Currently, special session business is scheduled through Thursday, although leaders could extend it several more days.
Also Tuesday, three bills to create so-called extreme risk protection orders failed in the same House subcommittee where members of the public were kicked out. Those bills, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Bob Freeman of Nashville, would allow courts to order temporary removal of firearms from people at risk of hurting themselves or others.
I don’t trust any of this. Never trust a politician with life, rights, liberties, or money. I won’t believe this is over until the lights are off and doors locked, and then I, along with millions of other Tennesseans, will hate Governor Lee forever for even thinking of calling this special session. I never trusted him from the time he told me that police would have to be consulted about the feasibility of Constitutional Carry, as though the king’s armed guard grants rights. Many prominent people are saying this special session stunt has finished his career. All he had to do was nothing.
Authorities said the 28-year-old shooter at the Covenant School was seeing a doctor for an “emotional disorder” and had legally obtained multiple weapons.
Sodomites don’t have an emotional disorder; they have a devil!
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On August 25, 2023 at 4:39 am, Wes said:
“They enacted every protocol in place perfectly, and they could not have done those things if they were also meant to be armed and go out and attack the shooter.”
Horsehockey. This is a false comparison. If hunkered down protecting children, protect them and kill the invader if they come. Absent that, kill the invader. There is no diktat that says do both simultaneously.
Now, about that manifesto….
On August 25, 2023 at 8:53 am, Frank Clarke said:
Relying on ‘trained professionals’ has proven to be less than ideal. We have at least two examples where the trained professionals escaped to safety, abandoning the task we thought they were charged with. There is a class of people who tend to be on-site regularly and rarely off-site. They’re teachers. They are nearly always either in a classroom, in the teacher’s lounge, or in the cafeteria. During the school day, they are almost never NOT in school.
The drawback here is that teachers’ skills do not necessarily encompass ‘gun savvy’; sometimes, but not always. That isn’t, however, a serious problem. It isn’t necessary that ALL teachers have such skills, merely that SOME do. Coupled with a localized “don’t ask; don’t tell” rule, teacher A will not know that teacher B is part of the ‘armed and dangerous’ cadre, nor will the students, nor will any potential school shooters. In fact, it’s probably a good idea that only the Principal knows who is authorized to make loud noises.
But teachers aren’t trained professionals! Yeah, right. Deputies fire their weapons when it’s time to requalify, annually, maybe. They fire 50 rounds or 100. Untrained civilians who are serious about the craft typically burn through 1,000 rounds each year, and there are some whose ammunition consumption runs to 5 figures. Bet on them being better trained than those who wear the badge. Besides, they have ‘skin in the game’: cops are rarely killed in school shootings; you can’t say that about teachers. They are in immediate danger when a school shooting happens. They have an elevated incentive to shoot back. That alone may be the single best reason to make sure they can.
Provide a small “training and readiness” stipend — maybe a 4% bump — and pay for any state-required training out of the state budget, and don’t worry about not having an SRO on site.
On August 25, 2023 at 10:14 pm, Chuck said:
Make it really simple. Those who have a carry license can carry where ever the police can.
On August 30, 2023 at 11:44 pm, Michael (from Utah) said:
In Utah, those with a Utah concealed firearm permit are allowed to carry into public K-12 schools and onto public universities. No additional training or permission required.