Image Credit: Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
State legislators passed a law last spring that allows faculty and staff in Tennessee public schools to carry concealed weapons on campus, but many school systems are not choosing to take advantage of that option.
In 2016, Tennessee legislators first passed a law that would allow rural school districts to arm teachers if they did not have a school resource officer. However, many local law enforcement agencies were unable to get the liability insurance necessary to be able to train teachers.
As legislators continued to push for even more expansive gun rights for teachers, law enforcement agencies across the state argued that placing more guns in schools would open up the possibility of even more gun-related deaths.
However, in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in 2023, lawmakers made the decision to allow all teachers to be armed, if they choose, provided they meet the requirements as listed in the law.
Currently, no school system has given any indication of plans to implement procedures or to provide training to employees who wish to voluntarily carry a gun on campus. In fact, several districts have publicly stated that they would not be arming teachers.
However, there is no requirement in the law for districts to publicize whether or not they are participating, and documents that must be filed with law enforcement agencies in regards to the program are not available for public review, so it is hard to know exactly what is being done.
The new law requires that teachers who want to carry a gun must complete 40 hours required training, along with a mental health evaluation and background check, and they must obtain written permission from the district superintendent, the school principal, and local law enforcement.
Teachers, however, are not jumping on board, primarily because the law also states that teachers are liable for mishaps that may occur, such as an accidental shooting or a failure to prevent a tragedy from taking place, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee.
Some critics state that the lack of schools preparing for teachers to carry guns shows that lawmakers and educators do not share the thought that armed teachers would make schools safer.
Others argue that allowing guns in schools would disrupt the educational process, create more “prison-like environments” in schools, and place greater responsibility on teachers who are already stretched thin.
2 Responses
The problem is most public school teachers are lucifer’s dimmercraps. College makes them that way if they weren’t already.
It appears the staff, and the population, misreads the law. The TN General Assembly (legislators) actually affirmed the right of citizens to bear arms which comports with past legislative measures such as open carry, etc. While affirming the right to bear arms, the TN GA went further by indicating that right doesn’t end at a school’s entrance. Instead, the TN GA affirmed the right to bear arms in the classroom and prescribed some additional measures attached to that right, but not infringing upon it. Now, what is misunderstood is the language that appears to improperly confer upon unelected administrators the power to prohibit a citizen (teacher) from exercising their Constitutional right to bear arms. Unfortunately, it appears people misread the law to provide Superintendents (LEAs) and school principals the power to terminate/restrict/inhibit/infringe upon a citizens’ right to carry. While it’s possible the TN GA intended this, such intentions do not result in hardened schools that deter those who want to kill school children.