Teachers increasingly carry guns to schools, as officials find ways around firearm restrictions

Leaders of rural schools have found ways around legal restrictions on guns in order to arm their teachers and administrators to defend against school shooters. One example is Supt. David Hopkins, who equipped 16 employees with guns to protect the 2,500 students who attend his school in Clarksville, Ark. Hopkins managed this through concealed-weapons laws, special law-enforcement regulations and local school board policies to arm teachers, Kim Severson reports in The New York Times.

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The five Clarksville schools lack funds to bring in security guards, so offering more than 60 hours of training to his current employees seemed like the best course of action. "Realistically, when you look at a person coming to your door right there with a firearm, you've got to have a plan," Hopkins said. "If you have a better one, tell me." Others see it differently.

Following the Newtown, Conn., massacre, most states considered allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns, but only five passed such laws. In the nation's 99,000 public schools, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of teachers bring guns to school. However, "It's been creeping up on us without a lot of fanfare," Bill Bond, a school safety specialist for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, told Severson.

In some states, such as Hawaii and New Hampshire, teachers with concealed-carry permits could bring guns to school under current legislation. Although plenty of states have changed or considered formally changing these laws, not many of them have proceeded. For example, in Kansas, a law passed July allowing employees possessing concealed-carry permits to bring their guns to school, but Kansas State Department of Education spokeswoman Denise Kahler told the Times she didn't know of any districts pursuing it.

Some states, however, have taken the idea and run with it. In Texas, teachers willing to be armed school marshals are required to possess a concealed-carry license, pass a mental health evaluation, and go through training to teach them what to do if a school shooting were to occur. These changes are bringing about fierce opposition, Severson reports. Director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Mark Glaze told her, "The idea that a single relatively untrained teacher is going to bring this person who is heavily armed down is a stretch." (Read more)