Guns in Schools: Should They be Allowed?
One school board is discussing the pros and cons of allowing employees to carry firearms on school property – before committing to a decision
The Evanston Wyoming school board held a recent meeting to discuss whether or not they should allow their employees to bring firearms on campus. The decision is up to the school board after the Wyoming Legislature passed the House Enrolled Act 93/House Bill 94.
The law has several requirements, but the school board can make them even more strict, but the school board can also waive training requirements to some rural schools.
During the meeting school board clerk Jami Brackin discussed how the resent shooting at the Congress charity baseball could’ve been much worse had it not been for the quick response of the police. When compared to some shootings, such as Columbine, seeing an active shooter event end with no fatalities seems like a huge success.
“We see what that can do to stop something worse,” Brackin said, “but ... for non-law-enforcement officers to have that kind of authority and that kind of power, I want them to have the same kind of training.”
Some of the school principals have mixed feelings about having guns on campus, and Superintendent Ryan Thomas says it’s a no-win situation because the school will face some backlash no matter what they decide.
During the end of the meeting, board members were favoring the act. Trustee David Bennett said they would like to have employees volunteer to carry guns on campus and the board would keep the list of employees confidential, with only the building principal, school board and law enforcement having access to the list.
No matter the decision of this Wyoming school and others, the key objective here is to keep students safe while they’re on campus. Though there may be no quick and easy fix-all solution, every school district has security at the top of their list – and that’s all we can hope for.