Bill to arm school teachers on hold, for now
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Kevin Richert and Ryan Suppe, IdahoEdNews.org
BOISE (IdahoEdNews.org) — The House has put off a debate on a bill that would give school teachers the right to carry guns on campus.
Rep. Ted Hill’s bill was scheduled for a vote Tuesday, but members voted to keep it on the calendar, for now. Hill told Idaho Education News that he’s hoping to bolster support for the bill and address concerns from the Senate, to avoid amendments once it crosses the rotunda.
“We are trying to get the buy-in and we’ve got to give it some time,” said Hill, R-Eagle. “But we haven’t changed the bill, or anything, yet.”
The House State Affairs Committee last week voted along party lines to give House Bill 415 the go-ahead. That was after a tense public hearing in which associations representing school boards and administrators as well as the statewide teachers’ union expressed fervent opposition.
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The bill would give school employees the right to carry guns on public school campuses and grant them legal immunity if they engage in a gunfight. An employee would need an enhanced concealed carry permit, but wouldn’t need permission from school administrators or trustees, to carry on campus.
The legislation is designed to give teachers a fighting chance in a school shooting in the minutes before law enforcement arrives, Hill argues. “The police never stop these things, almost never,” he told EdNews. “We’re trying to close this gap.”
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But law enforcement groups have said they’re concerned that the eight-hour training required for an enhanced concealed carry permit is inadequate and that the bill is taking the wrong approach to addressing school shootings.
The Idaho Association of School Resource Officers announced Monday that it’s opposed to the current proposal, and lawmakers should instead focus on preventing school shootings. Strategies should include mandating behavioral threat assessments, establishing research-based emergency protocols and investing in school resource officers, Morgan Ballis, president of the association, wrote in a column.
“Rep. Hill, and those who support this legislation, have demonstrated their resolve to protect our students and educators,” Ballis wrote. “However, these efforts are focused in the wrong areas.”