Arm Teachers In Florida? Parkland School Board Says No. One Teacher Disagreed - And Had A Gun Accident

After the Parkland shooting, there was tremendous pressure on the Florida Governor Rick Scott to take action.  He signed into law a bill called the "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act" which raised the age to buy all firearms to 21, imposed a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases, provides new mental health programs for schools, and restricted access to guns from people who show signs of mental illness or violence.

But, in a nod to the NRA and President Trump's call to arm teachers, the act also now allows Florida schools to choose to arm their teachers and staff.  It's a provision that is vocally opposed by teaching organizations, child advocacy groups, Florida school students, and even the families of school shooting victims. 

Nevermind that no school shooting was ever stopped by an armed civilian who wasn't law enforcement. And, as I've pointed out in a prior post, at least 23 incidents have been CAUSED on school grounds by armed individuals, including guards, who were supposed to be the sort the NRA claims will protect our children.

The Parkland school district isn't playing along -- the very school district where the shooting occurred -- and is refusing to arm their staff:

“I have not met one teacher or one student who is in favor of arming teachers in Broward County,” board member Laurie Levinson said. 

The school board instead wants the allotted money from the bill to go toward armed school resource officers, CBS Miami reported. 

“We should definitely launch a campaign to persuade the governor, for those districts who do not want to arm their employees, that they give us the money to keep kids safe in other ways,” board member Robin Bartleman said.

(And they aren't the only Florida school board to reject the notion).

Well, actually, there was one teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was open to the idea of packing heat on campus.  Science teacher Sean Simpson supported his students in their calls to bring tighter gun regulations, but he also stated about arming teachers: 

"I know there are some of us that are willing to take the training if it was offered and probably be another line of defense."

He was on campus when the shots rang out and the shooter killed 17 and injured 15. So why aren't the gun nuts trumpeting his assertion to arm himself on campus?  Probably because he promptly had an accident with his loaded gun:

[Simpson] told deputies he accidentally left the gun in a stall at the bathroom at the Deerfield Beach Pier during a visit to the beach Sunday. While going back to retrieve it, he heard a gunshot and once back inside the bathroom, saw 69-year-old Joseph Spataro holding the gun.  

He left his loaded gun unattended in a public bathroom and a homeless man found it and fired it "to see if it was loaded." Luckily no one was injured. Oopsie! So much for that NRA poster child!  According to responding deputies:

"There was a reasonable likelihood that the firearm could have ended up in the hands of a child or the discharge of the firearm could have wounded another person or child."

Imagine if he had left that gun in the school bathroom instead!  It's happened before, again, and again, and again.

Both Simpson and the homeless person are facing charges, but so far Simpson hasn't lost his job as a teacher.  I can only wonder what his students are thinking of him as they deal with their shooting-induced PTSD.  At least they can rest assured that neither he nor any of the other teachers will be allowed to carry on campus!

.

A List Of Incidents Caused By Legal Gun Owners On School Grounds

-- THIS POST IS UPDATED AS NEW INCIDENTS ARE FOUND --

Every time there's a school shooting, the NRA and pro-gun forces come out of the woodwork again to say that schools, as "gun free zones," are targets for shooters, and that arming teachers and school staff is the only way to insure safety.  It's the myth of the "conceal carry hero" made into a school drama.

This lunacy came to a peak after the Sandy Hook shooting, when, after shameless silence, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre stepped up to the microphone and shocked the world by actually suggesting arming all schools, a move that was soundly rejected as insanity by nearly every national organization representing parents, teachers, and law enforcement, as well as the citizens of Newtown, and has no merit with any historical context, including when it failed to stop the Columbine shooting. Since then, the idea has been floated many times, including by various GOP legislators, extremist gun groups, and even President Trump after the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. States like Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi have introduced bills to follow through with this. And a handful of school systems have decided to do it, including here in Oregon. Legislators have even tried to encourage armed vigilantes to prowl school grounds in return for tax credits.

Two different studies (HERE and HERE) have shown that armed guards in schools make students feel less secure, possibly affecting their academic performance. Not that student perceptions really matter to the pro-gun forces trying to make these decisions.

But could they be right? An analysis by Everytown found that there was an average of two school shootings at K-12 schools every month between 2013-2015. A more recent examination for 2018 by Everytown found an average of one school shooting every 63 hours. With all those school shootings, shouldn't there, by now, have been some good examples where armed civilians other than police have stopped a school shooting? 

Well, no, actually. There has never been a school shooting stopped by an armed teacher or a citizen conceal-carry owner. The closest case I ever found was of a school staff member (and Army reservist commander) who went out to their car and got a gun, but the shooting was over by that point, the shooter was out of ammo and was driving out of the parking lot (the only reason he was stopped was that the shooter crashed his car, allowing the staff member to get to him and hold him under arrest).

However, there HAVE been plenty of cases where gun owners, legally carrying guns on school grounds, have CAUSED incidents on campus, including incidents that wound children, other adults, or themselves.

Here is a list of those incidents that I have found, which will be updated as I find more.  So far, it is up to TWENTY SEVEN incidents, resulting in the wounding of five children and five adults. Sixteen incidents were caused by police officers or security guards.

• August 19, 2019: The district transportation director in Sparta, Ohio, who was allowed to carry a loaded, concealed handgun on campus as part of the district's conceal carry plan meant to "protect" students, left her gun in her desk unattended for around 30 minutes while she went to the bathroom and the nearby high school. A first grader found the loaded gun and pointed it at another student. No charges were filed and no one was fired, though the director was removed from the conceal carry program and was suspended without pay for three days.
• October 5, 2018:  A security guard at Somerset Academy Bay School in Kendall, FL, left his loaded gun in the bathroom. A fifth-grade child found the gun and immediately notified administrators at the school office. The guard was fired, but no charges were filed.
• May 23, 2018:  A parent visiting a classroom an Early Childhood Center in Pittsburgh, PA, when a 3-year old reached into her purse and pulled out her loaded handgun. Luckily, the child was stopped before pulling the trigger. The woman was charged with possessing a weapon on school property and four counts of recklessly endangering another person.
• April 18, 2018:  A parent visiting a school in Gladstone, Oregon, for a volleyball tournament left their loaded revolver in a bathroom stall. Luckily, a coach found the gun before any children, and turned it in to police. The owner had a conceal carry permit.
• April 4, 2018:  A county sheriff left his loaded backup handgun in the stall of a middle school gym bathroom in Shepherd, Michigan. A sixth-grade boy found the gun and reported it. Luckily, the gun was not handled.
• March 13, 2018:  A teacher and reserve police officer was giving a class on gun safety in his high school classroom in Seaside, CA, when he unintentionally fired his gun toward the ceiling. Bullet fragments wounded a 17-year old boy in the neck. Other students were injured by debris falling from the ceiling.
• March 13, 2018:  A school resource officer unintentionally discharged his handgun inside an Alexandria, VA, middle school. Luckily no one was injured.
• February 28, 2018: A high school social studies teacher in Dalton, Georgia, barricaded himself in a classroom and fired a shot from a handgun. Luckily, no one was injured, and he was taken into custody. He had a history of mental problems and violent behavior that had led, at one time, of having his guns removed.
• February 5, 2018: A police officer was at an elementary school in Maplewood, MN, "building relationships" with 3rd and 4th graders when one little boy reached over and pulled the trigger on the officer's holstered handgun. The gun fired into the floor. Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 13, 2016:  A school teacher at Cumberland Christian School, in Chambersburg, PA, left a loaded, unsecured handgun on a toilet in a bathroom. Four children, ages 6 to 8, went in the bathroom before one of the children reported the gun. Luckily, none of them fired the gun.
• February 19, 2015:  A school resource officer at Western Wayne School District in Pennsylvania unintentionally fired his handgun in the school.  Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 11, 2014:  A teacher was in the bathroom of a school in Taylorsville, Utah, when she unintentionally shot herself in the leg with her own handgun.
• January 18, 2014:  An armed security guard left his weapon unattended in the bathroom, fully accessible to K-8 students, despite being a retired police weapons instructor.
• January 18, 2014: Two police officers serving as school resource officers decided to clean their guns while on the grounds of an Akron, Ohio, high school. One of them unintentionally discharged his gun. Luckily, no one was injured.
• October 24, 2013:  A police officer left his loaded AR-15 assault rifle strapped to his motorcycle while visiting an elementary school.  A boy pulled the trigger, firing the weapon and leading to a shrapnel injury of three kids.
• August 24, 2013:  A SWAT police officer was giving a presentation at an elementary school in Lodi, California, when a 6-8 year old boy fired the officer's holstered gun, hitting the officer in the leg.
• May 15, 2013:  A Winchester, PA, police officer boarded a special needs school bus to calm a student. After the officer sat next to him, the child reached over and pulled the trigger on the officer's handgun, discharging a round into the bus seat and floor. Luckily, no one was injured.
• May 14, 2013:  A school staffer with a conceal carry permit was offering a ride to a student, in the parking lot of a high school in Aurora, Colorado, when he unintentionally fired his legally concealed handgun, hitting the student in the leg.
• April 16, 2013: A Boy Scout troop leader, who was also a retired police officer and conceal carry permit holder, dropped a fanny pack containing his gun while attending a scout meeting inside a Des Plains, Illinois, grade school. The gun discharged, striking him in the leg. No one else was injured.
• March 6, 2013:  A recently-started armed resource officer program at schools in Highland, New York, was suspended after one of the security guards unintentionally fired his weapon in school.  Children were present, but luckily no one was injured.
• March 1, 2013:  During a conceal carry training class, on school grounds, which was part of a new program to arm school staff, a school maintenance worker who was a student in the class unintentionally fired his weapon, wounding himself in the leg.
• January 17, 2013:  A charter school in Lapeer, Michigan, decided to start having an armed guard on campus.  Three days after hiring a guard, the man left his weapon in a school bathroom where kids could have found it.
• October 8, 2012:  A man with a concealed handgun visited an elementary school classroom in Moore, Oklahoma, to help the teacher with her computer.  His gun fell out and he left without it, only realizing it was missing after the media reported it.  Small children were present in the room at the time.
• March 22, 2012:  A volunteer track coach at John Mall High School in Walsenburg, Colorado, unintentionally shot himself in the leg with his new .40 caliber Glock handgun, nearly bleeding to death.  He was in his vehicle in the parking lot of the school sports complex.
• December 8, 2011:  A janitor with a conceal carry permit was working on ceiling tiles in a preschool classroom in Waterbury, Connecticut, when he took off his gun belt.  He then left the loaded gun in the classroom and forgot about it. Monday morning, teachers came in the room and found the gun, only moments before 3- and 4-year olds entered the room.
• September 12, 2011:  An armed security guard, patrolling schools at night in Salem, Oregon, unintentionally lost his loaded firearm somewhere during his rounds.  The gun was never found.
• May 12, 2011:  A school resource officer was cleaning his gun, while in the school building, and unintentionally fired the gun. The round went through the wall and into the nurse's room where there were two student, the nurse, and another adult. Luckily, no one was injured.

[By the way, this list doesn't include shootings by adults who are simply behaving badly on school grounds, such as arguments in the parking lot, like this one, this one, or this one, or shootings by children who bring guns to school. The list would be FAR longer. Instead, this list just focuses on "law-abiding" school staff, teachers, security, or anyone else who might be expected to protect kids with their guns, as the NRA argues.]

I urge you to save this list. The next time you hear a pro-gun supporter suggest that guns in school is a good idea, whether it is from a legislator, school board, or some gun guy off the street, please show them this list and challenge them to show you a comparable list of incidents that support their side. They'll come up with crickets. 

February 28, 2018, Dalton, GA

And you might also remind them that school shootings have been stopped by school staff... unarmed.  Like this one, who said "If I had had a gun on me, we'd have all been dead." There's also this one and this one. 

The idea of arming school teachers and staff is wrongheaded and flies in the face of the facts and common sense. Instead of turning our classrooms into guardrooms and our schools into fortresses, let's work to keep guns out of the wrong hands in the first place with better, common sense gun regulations.


ADDENDUM (5/7/18): A related article citing 30 incidents by armed adults at schools, collected from the Gun Violence Archive.

The Umpqua Community College Shooting Exposes Two Pro-Gun Myths

The last four days have been sickening.  Once again, a young loner with a history of deviant behavior came, heavily armed with handguns and an assault rifle, to a public place, and committed yet another heinous mass murder.

This time, as most of our nation knows by now, it was only an hour's drive south of where I live, at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.  It feels like it was next door.

The shooter entered a classroom and opened fire.  When the smoke cleared, nine people were dead and nine were injured.  The shooter, too, was dead, after having a shootout with sheriff's deputies and then killed himself.

Here is an article with a short biography and photo of each of the victims who died in the shooting:
http://koin.com/2015/10/02/umpqua-community-college-victims-identified/

What followed was a flurry of activity, repeated every time we have a mass shooting (which is more than once a day in America now -- yes, you read that correctly!).  There was initial shock, followed by varying news reports and chaotic flood of information -- some incorrect. Then there was outrage from the community and those of us who fight gun violence.  Next came the slow release of factual information, and statements from politicians.  This time some called for change, like President Obama.  Each mass shooting brings more public voices like his.  This was the 15th time he has had to come on to national TV and address another mass shooting.

And then came the usual parade of pro-gun comments about how the faculty and students should have armed themselves, and fluttering about "gun free zones."

The armed student at UCC, John Parker Jr.,
who didn't change the outcome (source)

Well, it turns out that there was at least one student who had a concealed handgun and permit, a vet named John Parker, Jr.  After considering whether to engage the shooter with others who may have been armed as well, he decided it would be wisest not to, for fear the deputies would mistake him for the shooter.  See a news interview with him, HERE.  I don't approve of having guns on campus other than in the hands of well-trained law enforcement or security, but he was in his state rights to do so.  I'm glad he chose not to play a vigilante hero and get himself killed.

And, surprise, Umpqua Community College wasn't a "gun free zone," either!  Umpqua Community College has a policy that firearms and ammo are forbidden unless expressly authorized by law, which would allow conceal carry with a valid permit since state law allows conceal carry on state campuses unless the institution disallows that, too (such as the University of Oregon, which can prohibit them in buildings or possessed by students, staff, faculty, or game ticket purchasers).

It should also be pointed out that the pro-gun myth that gunmen target places specifically because they are "gun free zones" has been debunked many times.  From a Mother Jones article:

Among the 62 mass shootings over the last 30 years that we studied, not a single case includes evidence that the killer chose to target a place because it banned guns. To the contrary, in many of the cases there was clearly another motive for the choice of location. ... 

No less a fantasy is the idea that gun-free zones prevent armed civilians from saving the day. Not one of the 62 mass shootings we documented was stopped this way.

A number of things kept the massacre from being worse: deputies arrived within just six minutes of the first 911 calls to shoot out with the shooter; the school had practiced active-shooter emergency response just a week before; faculty followed the rules and locked doors and took shelter; and a real hero stepped in to confront the shooter.  Chris Mintz was shot multiple times, but he will survive, and he bought a lot of time for others to escape and for law enforcement to arrive.

But having a student with a gun didn't solve any problems in this shooting.  Having a conceal carry vigilante shoot it out with the assailant very well might have led to bystanders getting killed or confusion by law enforcement.  Remember, in Oregon there's no requirement to even fire or own a gun in order to get a conceal carry permit, much less get training in how to remain calm in a shootout, negotiation skills, or a thorough understanding of the law -- unlike police. 

But the gun lobby, gun sellers, and their minions are happy to keep feeding us the myths of the conceal carry hero and "gun free zones" to stoke the fears of those who care more about emotional responses than the facts.

Securing Our Schools

Below is an interesting graphic which the administrators at Security Degree Hub asked us to share.  There are some good facts and references here, and they are an organization which is neutral on the issue of gun rights.

See additional text and source links at their site, HERE.


Source:
Security Degree Hub .

More Pro-Gun Arming Of Schools Despite Objections From Teachers

Even in the hands of police, accidents happen at schools

(This post is UPDATED with additional instances since first posting -- see below)

Well, it's happened again.  Another school board with some pro-gun extremists sitting on it has declared that concealed handguns are allowed in its classrooms, including in the hands of its teachers.  This time in St. Helens, Oregon.  As usual, though, they have done so against the wishes of the very teachers they want to arm.

Back in March, 2013, a ban against guns was put in place in that school district after teachers and parents were polled.  The vast majority were against guns.  Wisely, the school board put the ban in place out of respect to the wishes of those they served.

Unfortunately, school boards are not necessarily made up of people who have children in their district or have any teaching experience at all. 

From an article and news video which quotes one of the teachers in that school district:

A teacher at St. Helens High School says the school board ignored teachers’ opinions when they repealed a ban on teachers and staff members carrying concealed weapons on campus. 

Amber Horn said the board knew how the teachers felt about the issue, but didn’t care. 

“Totally unvalued. Our opinion doesn’t matter,” she said. “A teacher’s worst nightmare is a gun in school. I have a toddler there. That’s the worst nightmare there is.”

Since the ban was put in effect, some new, more conservative school board members have come on the board and decided, on their own, that guns around kids in their school would be a great thing.

From another article:

Board member Ray Biggs and chairman Marshall Porter, in particular, think teachers should be able to have guns in the event of a school shooting. 

“I would say that the risk is more likely that somebody who isn’t following the law is a higher risk to your child coming on to school property than the one that is going to do it legally,” Porter said.

Really?  It would seem that Mr. Porter doesn't have his facts straight.  If he had bothered to look, he would have found that there has never been a school shooting stopped by an armed teacher or a citizen conceal-carry owner.  The closest case I ever found was of a school staff member (and Army reservist commander) who went out to their car and got a gun, but the shooting was over by that point, the shooter was out of ammo and was driving out of the parking lot (the only reason he was stopped was that the shooter crashed his car, allowing the staff member to get to him and hold him under arrest).

On the other hand, I know of at least SEVENTEEN instances where they have CAUSED incidents, including injuring themselves or children, just in the last couple years, including one by a police officer just the other day.  Here they are:

• February 28, 2018: A high school social studies teacher in Dalton, Georgia, barricaded himself in a classroom and fired a shot from a handgun. Luckily, no one was injured, and he was taken into custody.
• February 5, 2018: A police officer was at an elementary school in Maplewood, MN, "building relationships" with 3rd and 4th graders when one little boy reached over and pulled the trigger on the officer's holstered handgun. The gun fired into the floor. Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 13, 2016:  A school teacher at Cumberland Christian School, in Chambersburg, PA, left a loaded, unsecured handgun on a toilet in a bathroom. Four children, ages 6 to 8, went in the bathroom before one of the children reported the gun. Luckily, none of them fired the gun.
• February 19, 2015:  A school resource officer at Western Wayne School District in Pennsylvania unintentionally fired his handgun in the school.  Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 11, 2014:  A teacher was in the bathroom of a school in Taylorsville, Utah, when she unintentionally shot herself in the leg with her own handgun.
• January 18, 2014:  An armed security guard left his weapon unattended in the bathroom, fully accessible to K-8 students, despite being a retired police weapons instructor.
• October 24, 2013:  A police officer left his loaded assault rifle strapped to his motorcycle while visiting an elementary school.  A boy pulled the trigger, firing the weapon and leading to a shrapnel injury of three kids.
• August 24, 2013:  A SWAT police officer was giving a presentation at an elementary school in Lodi, California, when a 6-8 year old boy fired the officer's holstered gun, hitting the officer in the leg.
• May 14, 2013:  A school staffer with a conceal carry permit was offering a ride to a student, in the parking lot, when he unintentionally fired his legally concealed handgun, hitting the student in the leg.
• March 6, 2013:  A recently-started armed resource officer program at schools in Highland, New York, was suspended after one of the security guards unintentionally fired his weapon in school.  Children were present, but luckily no one was injured.
• March 1, 2013:  During a conceal carry training class, on school grounds, which was part of a new program to arm school staff, a school maintenance worker who was a student in the class unintentionally fired his weapon, wounding himself in the leg.
• January 17, 2013:  A charter school in Lapeer, Michigan, decided to start having an armed guard on campus.  Three days after hiring a guard, the man left his weapon in a school bathroom where kids could have found it.
• October 8, 2012:  A man with a concealed handgun visited an elementary school classroom in Moore, Oklahoma, to help the teacher with her computer.  His gun fell out and he left without it, only realizing it was missing after the media reported it.  Small children were present in the room at the time.
• March 22, 2012:  A volunteer track coach at John Mall High School in Walsenburg, Colorado, unintentionally shot himself in the leg with his new .40 caliber Glock handgun, nearly bleeding to death.  He was in his vehicle in the parking lot of the school sports complex.
• December 8, 2011:  A janitor with a conceal carry permit was working on ceiling tiles in a preschool classroom in Waterbury, Connecticut, when he took off his gun belt.  He then left the loaded gun in the classroom and forgot about it. Monday morning, teachers came in the room and found the gun, only moments before 3- and 4-year olds entered the room.
• September 12, 2011:  An armed security guard, patrolling schools at night in Salem, Oregon, unintentionally lost his loaded firearm somewhere during his rounds.  The gun was never found.
• May 12, 2011:  A school resource officer was cleaning his gun, while in the school building, and unintentionally fired the gun. The round went through the wall and into the nurse's room where there were two student, the nurse, and another adult. Luckily, no one was injured.

Totaled up, that's four children and four adults who have been wounded out of sixteen cases.

What's more, these extremist school districts are discovering that, upon making their ruling allowing guns on campus, their insurance companies are pulling their coverage or drastically increasing premiums.  You see, insurance companies actually pay attention to the facts and statistics.  They understand that guns and kids are a deadly mix.

Arming schools is an idea that is very unpopular with nearly every national organization representing parents, teachers, and law enforcement, as well as the citizens of Newtown, and has no merit with any historical context.  It’s time to listen to them and put this whole, dangerous nonsensical suggestion by the NRA to rest.  Support commonsense gun regulation to keep guns out of the hands of children and bad guys to begin with.

(10/29/13: corrected to read St. Helens, Oregon [not Washington])


UPDATE (11/5/13):  A group of teachers, parents, and concerned citizens of St. Helens, Oregon, got together to hold a public protest of the school board decision.


UPDATE (11/11/13): The shooting at a high school in Walsenburg, Colorado, was added to the above list.

UPDATE (1/14/14):  Incident in Michigan added to above list.

UPDATE (9/11/14):  The unintentional self-shooting of a teacher in a school in Utah was added to the list above. 

UPDATE (1/13/16):  Added the incidents from February 2015 and May 2011.

Surprise, Schools Can't Afford To Arm Their Staff Due To Insurance Premiums

Following the Sandy Hook school massacre, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre and pro-gun lapdog Asa Hutchinson went to the podium to give the NRA’s solution to our gun violence problem.  But instead of embracing any commonsense reform to keep guns out of the hands of madmen to begin with (such as universal background checks, better mental health screening, or limits on assault weapons or high-capacity ammo magazines), the NRA’s solution was instead to arm all schools by insisting that all schools have armed guards.  They suggested not only having policemen on school grounds, but even arming school teachers, staff, and volunteers with conceal carry permits.

Of course, in their rush to sell more guns arm all schools, they had absolutely nothing to say regarding where the funding for all these guns and guards would come from.  Hutchinson suggested that the guards be 100% volunteer.  I've been involved with various volunteer organizations for decades, including Ceasefire Oregon (which is also 100% volunteer), and I can say with a great deal of certainty that this isn't a solution.  Volunteers come and go, have all sorts of different motivations, and usually have higher priorities in their lives than the volunteer activity in question.  These problems are a nightmare in the making, when it comes to our children’s safety.  And if we talk about paying people to guard schools, where is the money coming from?  Schools everywhere are already pushed to the financial breaking point.

As I’ve pointed out, there are no incidents where a school guard has actually stopped a mass shooting at a school by pulling their weapon, or any other mass shooting, for that matter, but I know of at least 6 accidents CAUSED by armed guards and conceal carriers on school grounds, including one where a student was hit in the leg.

Nonetheless, some states and municipalities are following the NRA call for creating armed camps of our kids’ schools.  Here in Oregon, for instance, schools in Eagle Point and Harrisburg have been discussing it.  It’s currently legal for schools to set a pro-gun policy for staff in Oregon, and conceal carriers can freely carry guns in schools if they aren't staff. 

As stated in a New York Times article yesterday:

During legislative sessions this year, seven states enacted laws permitting teachers or administrators to carry guns in schools. Three of the measures — in Kansas, South Dakota and Tennessee — took effect last week. 

But, oopsie, the NRA forgot to think of one, tiny, little detail:  Insurance companies, whose job it is to rationally consider statistical risk, aren't interested in insuring armed schools.  It's simply too risky, particularly around children.  From that same article:

But already, EMC Insurance Companies, the liability insurance provider for about 90 percent of Kansas school districts, has sent a letter to its agents saying that schools permitting employees to carry concealed handguns would be declined coverage. 

“We are making this underwriting decision simply to protect the financial security of our company,” the letter said. 

In northeast Indiana, Douglas A. Harp, the sheriff of Noble County, offered to deputize teachers to carry handguns in their classrooms less than a week after 26 children and educators were killed in a school shooting in Newtown, Conn. A community member donated $27,000 in firearms to the effort. School officials from three districts seemed ready to sign off. But the plan fell apart after an insurer refused to provide workers’ compensation to schools with gun-carrying staff members. 

The Oregon School Boards Association, which manages liability coverage for all but a handful of the state’s school districts, recently announced a new pricing structure that would make districts pay an extra $2,500 annual premium for every staff member carrying a weapon on the job. 

Scott Whitman, an administrator at the Jackson County school district in southern Oregon, where a committee is looking at arming school staff members next year, said costs would be a factor in the decision. With 10 buildings, the expense of arming and training more than one staff member at each school would easily exceed $50,000 a year. 

“Pretty much every last bit of our money is budgeted,” he said, adding, “To me, that could be quite an impediment to putting this forward.”

From a USA Today article:

As of Saturday, no Kansas school districts had adopted a policy of allowing people with concealed carry permits on their campuses as permitted under the new law, said David Shriver, director of the Kansas school board association's insurance program.

Bob Skow, chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, said he's not surprised by the companies' decisions. Insurance is all about risk and about pricing the cost of coverage in a way that correctly reflects it. That's one of the reasons many schools have gotten rid of their trampolines, he said.

"It's one thing to have a trained peace officer with a gun in school; it's a completely different situation when you have a custodian or a teacher with a gun," Skow said. "That changes the risk of insuring a school and magnifies it considerably."

Naturally, the pro-gun folks are scratching their heads.  Nothing says “safety” more to them than having a plethora of lethal weapons available.  But, of course, the rest of us agree with insurers, whose job it is to determine risk in a statistical manner. 

Arming schools is an idea that is very unpopular with nearly every national organization representing parents, teachers, and law enforcement, as well as the citizens of Newtown, and has no merit with any historical context.  It’s time to listen to them and put this whole, dangerous nonsensical suggestion by the NRA to rest.  Support commonsense gun regulation to keep guns out of the hands of children and bad guys to begin with.

Guns In School Make Our Kids LESS Safe

(UPDATED -- see below)

A little less than a week ago, the little town of Harrisburg, Oregon, just north of where I live in Eugene, held a meeting to discuss the idea of arming some of its school staff, following the lunatic advice of the NRA. 

From an article:

At the meeting, [state representative Dennis] Richardson said that upgrading fences and locking doors make schools feel like prisons, and that building prison-like schools are an ineffective deterrent to school shootings, as determined shooters will find access to a campus. 

Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller agreed and added that Sandy Hook Elementary was locked down and secured when the attack happened and that no matter what schools do, a shooter will gain access if desired. 

Richardson suggested that Oregon schools should consider allowing several staff members to act as campus responders by bearing a concealed weapons permit, with permit bearers partaking in frequent training and practice.

(Maybe you remember Sheriff Tim Mueller?   He's one of the insurrectionist Sheriffs who, before President Obama had even unveiled his proposals to reduce gun violence, declared that he would rebel against his sworn duty to uphold and enforce the laws of our nations by refusing to enforce any gun legislation that was passed.  But I digress...)

We wouldn't want to add sensible security features like fences and locking doors.  Let's instead arm our teachers!  We don't pay them enough to actually teach our kids, with 30+ students per class, and expect them to sometimes parent our kids, too, and serve other roles, like street-crossing guards, coaches, or even bus drivers, for little-to-no additional pay, but now they are expected to be the school armed security, too?

What representative Richardson failed to acknowledge is that there isn't a single instance -- ever -- of an armed school security guard actually stopping a shooting by pulling out their weapon.  In fact, they have tried and failed.

Perhaps this is why teacher and parent organizations have roundly come out against the idea of guns in schools.  From one article:

The American Federation of Teachers called the suggestion "irresponsible and dangerous," while the National Education Association described it as shocking and based on the "delusional assumption that everything other than guns contributes to these tragedies."

From another article:

The National Parent Teachers Organization said today it was pleased with many of President Obama’s new proposals to improve school security but that his call for more armed guards at schools “comes as a disappointment.”

But there HAVE been instances where conceal carry permit holders, including armed security guards, have had accidents at schools.  Consider the following SEVENTEEN examples in recent years:

• February 28, 2018: A high school social studies teacher in Dalton, Georgia, barricaded himself in a classroom and fired a shot from a handgun. Luckily, no one was injured, and he was taken into custody.
• February 5, 2018: A police officer was at an elementary school in Maplewood, MN, "building relationships" with 3rd and 4th graders when one little boy reached over and pulled the trigger on the officer's holstered handgun. The gun fired into the floor. Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 13, 2016:  A school teacher at Cumberland Christian School, in Chambersburg, PA, left a loaded, unsecured handgun on a toilet in a bathroom. Four children, ages 6 to 8, went in the bathroom before one of the children reported the gun. Luckily, none of them fired the gun.
• February 19, 2015:  A school resource officer at Western Wayne School District in Pennsylvania unintentionally fired his handgun in the school.  Luckily, no one was injured.
• September 11, 2014:  A teacher was in the bathroom of a school in Taylorsville, Utah, when she unintentionally shot herself in the leg with her own handgun.
• January 18, 2014:  An armed security guard left his weapon unattended in the bathroom, fully accessible to K-8 students, despite being a retired police weapons instructor.
• October 24, 2013:  A police officer left his loaded assault rifle strapped to his motorcycle while visiting an elementary school.  A boy pulled the trigger, firing the weapon and leading to a shrapnel injury of three kids.
• August 24, 2013:  A SWAT police officer was giving a presentation at an elementary school in Lodi, California, when a 6-8 year old boy fired the officer's holstered gun, hitting the officer in the leg.
• May 14, 2013:  A school staffer with a conceal carry permit was offering a ride to a student, in the parking lot, when he unintentionally fired his legally concealed handgun, hitting the student in the leg.
• March 6, 2013:  A recently-started armed resource officer program at schools in Highland, New York, was suspended after one of the security guards unintentionally fired his weapon in school.  Children were present, but luckily no one was injured.
• March 1, 2013:  During a conceal carry training class, on school grounds, which was part of a new program to arm school staff, a school maintenance worker who was a student in the class unintentionally fired his weapon, wounding himself in the leg.
• January 17, 2013:  A charter school in Lapeer, Michigan, decided to start having an armed guard on campus.  Three days after hiring a guard, the man left his weapon in a school bathroom where kids could have found it.
• October 8, 2012:  A man with a concealed handgun visited an elementary school classroom in Moore, Oklahoma, to help the teacher with her computer.  His gun fell out and he left without it, only realizing it was missing after the media reported it.  Small children were present in the room at the time.
• March 22, 2012:  A volunteer track coach at John Mall High School in Walsenburg, Colorado, unintentionally shot himself in the leg with his new .40 caliber Glock handgun, nearly bleeding to death.  He was in his vehicle in the parking lot of the school sports complex.
• December 8, 2011:  A janitor with a conceal carry permit was working on ceiling tiles in a preschool classroom in Waterbury, Connecticut, when he took off his gun belt.  He then left the loaded gun in the classroom and forgot about it. Monday morning, teachers came in the room and found the gun, only moments before 3- and 4-year olds entered the room.
• September 12, 2011:  An armed security guard, patrolling schools at night in Salem, Oregon, unintentionally lost his loaded firearm somewhere during his rounds.  The gun was never found.
• May 12, 2011:  A school resource officer was cleaning his gun, while in the school building, and unintentionally fired the gun. The round went through the wall and into the nurse's room where there were two student, the nurse, and another adult. Luckily, no one was injured.

There’s no clear evidence that having armed guards has reduced the violence rate.  The vast majority of schools have never demonstrated a need, nor likely ever will demonstrate a need, for armed interference.  One report for armed schools in Mississippi reported that the guards engaged in “overly harsh school disciplinary policies,” unnecessary arrests, and racial prejudice.  Further, two different studies (HERE and HERE) have shown that armed guards in schools make students feel less secure, possibly affecting their performance.

Conceal carry gun owners are all-too-often responsible for leaving loaded guns where children find them, sometimes resulting in injuries or death, unintentionally discharge their gun in public or leave it behind in public, or, yes, purposely use their guns to murder people. 

And God forbid if a troubled child were able to get the gun off of the concealed carry permit holder to arm themselves.

Walking onto the grounds of a school won't magically change human nature, including for conceal carry permit holders.  It is an unacceptable risk to our children.


ADDENDUM (4/3/13):  A related and more updated posting at the Common Gunsense blog.

UPDATE (5/14/13):  Another shooting by a "law abiding" gun owner on a school campus, in Aurora, Colorado, unintentionally shooting a student in the leg.  From an article:

Police spokesman Ofc. Frank Fania says a staff worker at the school accidentally shot the student in the leg in the staff worker’s car. The student was getting a ride home. 

The gun accidentally fired while the shooter was putting it away in the glove box of his vehicle.
Fania says the staff worker has a second job as an armed security officer, so it’s legal for him to have the gun. He is not a teacher at the school and his job as a security guard is not associated with Aurora Public Schools. 

The worker drove the victim to Aurora Medical Center South for treatment. The victim is expected to recover.

UPDATE (8/12/13):  A reader alerted me to an update on Harrisburg, Oregon, school district. They are still considering arming staff, but naturally are facing big problems with insurance (as have other school districts who have attempted this).  When the local paper contacted the school board president for a statement on the issue, he told them, "Go to Hell."  Nice.

UPDATE (8/24/13):  A SWAT police officer was giving a presentation at an elementary school in Lodi, California, displaying "tactical equipment," when a 6-8 year old boy fired the officer's holstered gun, hitting the officer in the leg.  The boy was not identified.  The officer will recover.

UPDATE (10/24/13):  A police officer was visiting a Chino, California elementary school to take part in a school assembly. He left his loaded AR-15 assault rifle on his motorcycle. An elementary school child then pulled the trigger.  The bullet hit a metal plate, creating shrapnel that injured three children.

UPDATE (11/11/13): The shooting at a high school in Walsenburg, Colorado, was added to the list above.

UPDATE (9/11/14):  The unintentional self-shooting of a teacher in a school in Utah was added to the list above.  From another article on the incident:

"State law allows it, and the district has no authority to prevent concealed weapons permit holders access to our campuses," Horsley said. "Additionally, permit holders are not required to disclose their status as a permit holder, and/or whether they are carrying a weapon or not, to their employer, or in this case, the principal or school district." 

UPDATED (5/14/15): Added the May 13, 2015 incident where a child got hold of school guard's loaded gun.
.