Texas School District is 1st to Let Teachers Pack Heat in Classrooms

Education Law

Texas School District is 1st to Let Teachers Pack Heat in Classrooms

Posted Aug 26, 2008, 10:43 am CST
By Martha Neil

When the school year started yesterday, a small district in Texas reportedly made history as the first in the country to allow teachers to carry concealed firearms.

"Teachers who wanted to participate had to be approved by the school board, obtain their concealed carry license, and complete extensive training in crisis management, including how to deal with hostage situations," writes the Times Record News.

There's another rule, too: David Thweatt, the superintendent of Harrold's 110-student school district, said teachers who opt to carry a gun must wear it all the time. Otherwise, he explains, he'd worry about a gun safe being accidentally left unlocked, or broken into. "It’s hard to pick a lock when it’s on a person," he says.

The district's new policy allowing teachers to pack heat, which was approved by the school board in October, has drawn national news media attention. While some have criticized the policy as an overreaction to much-publicized school shootings, such as the Virginia Tech massacre last year, others don't see a cause for concern.

Additional coverage:

Star Telegram: "Puzzled by fuss, district that allows guns has quiet first day"

Dallas Morning News: "Editorial: No guns in the classroom"

Gannett News Service: "No good will come of these bad ideas"

Central Florida Future: "Guns don't belong in school, period"

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