West Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow teachers and other school staff who undergo training to carry guns in K-12 public schools.
The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would allow teachers, administrators and support personnel with concealed carry permits to volunteer to bring a firearm into school with the intention of using it to defend the school in case of an active shooter event. Designated a “school protection officer,” the staffer wouldn’t receive any additional compensation for doing so.
Supporters say not every school system in West Virginia can afford to hire a full-time school resource officer. This program would provide another option.
Before the vote, Republican Del. Dave Foggin of Wood County, a physics teacher, said he can’t think of anything worse than shooting someone in his classroom. But he said if that person came into his school trying to hurt his students, he would do it.
I’ve asked advocates of this before what happens if a student somehow gets a hold of a teacher’s gun and I’ve essentially been told by them that it would be impossible.
Which is weird, because kids sure can get access to everything else that is inside a school.
I mean for fucks sake, what if a teacher just shouts for everyone to be quiet with his hand on his gun. That is a scary, oppressive environment. The gun doesn’t even need to be used to easily see how terrible this idea is.
It’s easy to find stories about SROs leaving their gun in the school bathroom.
No way for a kid to be the one who finds it…
There’s an expectation of competency here that I cannot condone.