Texas School District Will Let Teachers Carry Guns

[GoodOlBoy]

A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack heat when classes begin later this month.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

Superintendent David Thweatt told FOXNews.com the policy was initiated because of safety concerns.

"We have had employees assaulted before by people in the last several years," Thweatt said. "I think that safety is big concern. We are seeing a lot of anger in society."

He wouldn't comment further on the nature of the assaults.

The Texas superintendent linked gun-free zones with the uprising of school shootings in recent years.

"When you make schools gun-free zones, it's like inviting people to come in and take advantage," Thweatt told FOXNews.com.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and must use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Thweatt said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office, leaving students and teachers without protection. He said the district's lone campus sits 500 feet from heavily trafficked U.S. 287, which could make it a target.

The kindergarten through 12th grade school district is home to 110 students.

Thweatt said officials researched the policy and considered other options for about a year before approving the policy change. He said the district also has various other security measures in place to prevent a school shooting.

"The naysayers think [a shooting] won't happen here," Thweatt said. "If something were to happen here, I'd much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them."

He told FOXNews.com he doesn't think students will think twice about the new policy.

"I hope they forget all about it," he said. "We want them to pay attention [to their school work]."

Texas law outlaws firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorization of the institution."

It was unclear how many of the 50 or so teachers and staff members will be armed this fall because Thweatt did not disclose that information, to keep it from students or potential attackers.

Wilbarger County Sheriff Larry Lee did not immediately return a call placed to his office by FOXNews.com.

Barbara Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Boards, said her organization did not know of another district with such a policy. Ken Trump, a Cleveland-based school security expert who advises districts nationwide, including in Texas, said Harrold is the first district with such a policy.

The district is 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,404721,00.html

I knew we could do it!

GoodOlBoy

[Rudy507]

Good for them! Sounds like somebody in the school district is actually starting to think. I wish it were true elsewhere too.

Far too many people want to limit our rights even more, and they don't realize that if they do, we are even less protected.

I'm all for registering guns though, and all for "required training" as the article states for CCW.

Once I graduate next spring from college and start earning a little money, maybe I'll be able to afford a handgun sometime. When I do, getting a CCW is the first thing I'm going to do.

[rattus58]

Amen....

[44mag]

the only reason for registering guns
is so they know where they are
when they come to pick them up.

just my opinion, but you can check
the statistics on how much actual
use registration is for solving crimes,
and you can check history for how
many nations have registration that
did not later pick the guns up.

i'm not a big fan of concealed carry
either, as the 2nd amendment should
be your ccl, but i did give in and get
it. realistically, it's never going to change
back to the way it should be, short
of another american revolution.

[skeet]

When you grow up one day I hope you see that registering guns is a really bad idea. It doesn't stop gun crime..it doesn't help police solve crime(mainly cause most guns used in crime are stolen) and it isn't very good for your freedoms. Many people have gone before you helping to give you the freedoms that you have. One is no necessity for gun registration. But the LAW really thinks it is a reasonable rule. Law meaning government...the gummit always thinks any restrictions on your rights are "reasonable". I mean we register cars don't we?? Main thing you hear. Reason for car reg is to get the money. Gun reg is control of the people. Think on that a little before you get fired up. Control the people!! Odd reasoning, don't you think??

[Rudy507]

Well, I will have to say that I haven't researched this topic much, so I can't argue or make points based on my knowledge a whole lot. But I think we can all agree that the right to own guns and the right to carry are our RIGHTS and should never be taken away.

I think we could also agree, as you partially allude to, that registering guns doesn't stop crime. Criminals are going to find a way to commit the crime.

I'm not so sure that gun registration is so much control of the people as it is promoting responsibility. I don't mind registering my gun or getting a CCW because I know I'm not a criminal. Obviously there's holes in this argument, and I haven't spent a great deal of time thinking about it, but that's my first gut-reaction to what you said.

In short though, I hate the fact that the rights of carrying are as restricted as they are. The only ones who are going to break those laws are the law-breakers & criminals, as I see it. That just takes away each law-abiding citizen's RIGHT to self defense even more. This should not be.

[skeet]

Understand..that registration can and will lead to only one thing. Confiscation. What you are saying is somewhat understandable except for the fact that if you trust the government you will be heartbroken. Name a purely honest politician on the national level. Almost impossible ya know. People that have power really do not trust anyone who may be able to take that power away. An armed American populace CAN do that but only if they are armed. Registration means they know where your guns are...all of them unhappily. (See... Britain) They have confiscated almost all handguns and many long guns. A semi auto if owned can only hold 2 rounds. Heck they have gone so far as to confiscate the old family Scottish Claymores(a large broadsword if you didn't know). Like the average Scotsman is gonna go cut a guy in half with his 300 yr old sword. Only thing I can say..if you WANT to register your guns by all means do so but leave me out of it. And don't come looking for help when they come and get them. That is right up Obama's alley. He really doesn't believe you need a gun and SURELY don't need to carry one. Every country that has registered all firearms has gone to confiscation of most. Heck many don't know this but the 1968 gun control act of the US is in some places word for word a copy of the 1938 Gun Control act of Nazi Germany. Not many know...but it is the truth.. That of course was a great experiment that cost the jewish people a great deal.. They were, like you quick to embrace the idea to register their firearms, Cost them horribly. Even if they were killed fighting...it would have been better than their later fate. Of that I hope you agree.

Don't remember the quote exactly but Churchill(Winston...prime minister of England during WWII and later) said it..When young if you aren't (liberal) you have no heart..when older if not conservative..you have no brain.. Maybe not the exact words..but the same intent. I have never been liberal or foolish enough to register my guns

[MacD37]

In the late 1930s, the German gov, told the people there was so much crime, and that it was done mainly with stolen guns! This, they said, made it necessary to make an armory in the local police stations of each town to store the people's firarms, so the criminals couldn't steal them. When the owner wanted to go hunting, all he had to do was check his old shotgun out, and go get some ducks for the table, clean his gun and bring it back to the police armory, for safe keeping! In less than one year, when they were sure they had all the honest people's guns, the locked the armory, and told the owners that their guns would not be available any longer, because crime was still rising, and because of that, they had decided only the police, and the army were allowed to have firearms.

Then the book burnings started, and within another year, the Jews, and all relegions that were not Hitler's religion, would be enemies of the state, and forced to live where they were told. Their property was seized, and they were first moved into the slums of the cities, then to work farms, and factories, and finally to concentration camps, and the crematoriums!

Gun regulations,like regesteration, other than for "CONVICTED" criminals, and unstable individuals, will always lead to oppression of the masses.

The only reason the 2nd amendment was placed in the bill of rights, was to keep our OWN government honest, not to fight a foreign enemy! An armed citizenry is hard to oppress!

The second amendment is the only thing that is totally different about the USA, from other countries, and sets us apart from the imperialest regimes! I, for one, would like to keep it that way!