North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns

[Bono]

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5945430.html

North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns
Associated Press
Aug. 15, 2008, 4:41AM
icon 173 Comments
18 Recommend

HARROLD, Texas — A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.

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.

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 have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Superintendent David 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.

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in Friday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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. 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," Thweatt said.

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 was out of the office Thursday and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, the newspaper said.

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

[HappyWarrior]

Finally teachers get to pack heat!  No more corner for pre-kers who will not obey their teachers.  Instead they can perform a wild west dance

[Associate Justice PiT]

     If only San Francisco teachers were allowed to pack heat. They're the ones who need it.

[War on Want]

God Americans are so ing stupid. No instead of improving the police force and trying to crack down on people with pyschological problems lets just let teacher's have guns! So smart!

[War on Want]

God Americans are so ing stupid. No instead of improving the police force and trying to crack down on people with pyschological problems lets just let teacher's have guns! So smart!

Shut your mouth.  This is the right thing to do.  Now all we need is to let the students have guns and we'll be set.

lolz another classic quote. Sigged.

But if you are being serious(yeah right), wtf is wrong with you. Surely you realise this would be a massive disaster in real school districts that are not lilly white and filled with McMansion suburbanites(even then wtf)

[Ban my account ffs!]

Wow.  This would *NEVER* fly here.  Ever.  And we love our guns up here.  There are places for guns (shooting ranges, hunting), and there are places not meant for guns (school being near the top on the list).

[exopolitician]

Only in Texas I suppose.

[WalterMitty]

our gun culture is sickening.  sickening.

but im sure obama supports this decision.  he is a different kind of democrat.  he isnt going to automatically cede the ignorant vote to the gop.

[AkSaber]

Ah. So when some sicko arrives packing a piece, a teacher can put him down.

[War on Want]

our gun culture is sickening.  sickening.

but im sure obama supports this decision.  he is a different kind of democrat.  he isnt going to automatically cede the ignorant vote to the gop.

Plz shut up. K thanx.

[Хahar 🤔]

Has there been a rash of school shootings in Wilbarger County?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Good decision, but carrying in a school shouldn't be taken lightly, and should be regulated.  Now the teachers in TX just don't have to hide their guns!

[War on Want]

Good decision, but carrying in a school shouldn't be taken lightly, and should be regulated.  Now the teachers in TX just don't have to hide their guns!

Why not just improve the police force or make gun control stricter on people with psycological disorders rather than letting teachers carry firearms?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Good decision, but carrying in a school shouldn't be taken lightly, and should be regulated.  Now the teachers in TX just don't have to hide their guns!

Why not just improve the police force or make gun control stricter on people with psycological disorders rather than letting teachers carry firearms?

Do both of those, but making gun control stricter on people with psychological disorders in school is harder because 1) you have to deal with the fact that a parent may own the gun, and the kid has the disorder and  2) the kid may not have been diagnosed with the disorder yet.  And improving the police force isn't going to have instantaneous results in the middle of a school shooting, unless you have a lot of cops in each school (which is a fiscal nightmare).

[War on Want]

Good decision, but carrying in a school shouldn't be taken lightly, and should be regulated.  Now the teachers in TX just don't have to hide their guns!

Why not just improve the police force or make gun control stricter on people with psycological disorders rather than letting teachers carry firearms?

Do both of those, but making gun control stricter on people with psychological disorders in school is harder because 1) you have to deal with the fact that a parent may own the gun, and the kid has the disorder and  2) the kid may not have been diagnosed with the disorder yet.  And improving the police force isn't going to have instantaneous results in the middle of a school shooting, unless you have a lot of cops in each school (which is a fiscal nightmare).

I figured you would say that but in the end can we really afford to have guns everywhere. What if one of the students in a criminally active school steals the gun from the teacher? There are lots of danger situations but I can already predict your response...

[Flying Dog]

Leave it to Texas.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Good decision, but carrying in a school shouldn't be taken lightly, and should be regulated.  Now the teachers in TX just don't have to hide their guns!

Why not just improve the police force or make gun control stricter on people with psycological disorders rather than letting teachers carry firearms?

Do both of those, but making gun control stricter on people with psychological disorders in school is harder because 1) you have to deal with the fact that a parent may own the gun, and the kid has the disorder and  2) the kid may not have been diagnosed with the disorder yet.  And improving the police force isn't going to have instantaneous results in the middle of a school shooting, unless you have a lot of cops in each school (which is a fiscal nightmare).

I figured you would say that but in the end can we really afford to have guns everywhere. What if one of the students in a criminally active school steals the gun from the teacher? There are lots of danger situations but I can already predict your response...

The teacher keeps it in a holster, and the school enforces that rule.  The gun isn't to leave the holster at the teacher's side, ankle, shoulder (as long as it's jacket covered), unless the gun is being drawn.

[dead0man]

How's this for a deal.  When a kid gets shot by a teacher in this school all the progun people will admit they were wrong and never bring up teachers with guns again.  On the other hand, if a teacher with a gun stops a bad situation from happening all the antigun people will admit they were wrong and will fight for more teachers with guns at school.

I have a feeling one side would be willing to agree to that and one side wont because we all know which event is more likely to occur (neither event will occur though, the odds are greatly against it).

[War on Want]

How's this for a deal.  When a kid gets shot by a teacher in this school all the progun people will admit they were wrong and never bring up teachers with guns again.  On the other hand, if a teacher with a gun stops a bad situation from happening all the antigun people will admit they were wrong and will fight for more teachers with guns at school.

I have a feeling one side would be willing to agree to that and one side wont because we all know which event is more likely to occur (neither event will occur though, the odds are greatly against it).

I will not agree. One situation does not make anything right or wrong and I am sure you will agree with me. Also I think our extremely gun centric culture will come back to bite us in the a$$ 50 years from now mark my words. We have 90 guns to every 100 people, think about that for a second.

[Conan]

God Americans North Texas School Districts are so ing stupid. No instead of improving the police force and trying to crack down on people with pyschological problems lets just let teacher's have guns! So smart!

[Хahar 🤔]

How's this for a deal.  When a kid gets shot by a teacher in this school all the progun people will admit they were wrong and never bring up teachers with guns again.  On the other hand, if a teacher with a gun stops a bad situation from happening all the antigun people will admit they were wrong and will fight for more teachers with guns at school.

I have a feeling one side would be willing to agree to that and one side wont because we all know which event is more likely to occur (neither event will occur though, the odds are greatly against it).

At this school? Sure.

[Iosif is a COTHO]

Been many school shootings in the Harrold Independent School District lately, have there?

There's no way in hell I would want a child of mine to be in a classroom where the teacher is carrying a gun around.

Go back to when you were a kid and ask yourself how comfortable you would feel knowing your teachers were packing loaded guns on them?

[dead0man]

If they seemed like normal people, why would I be concerned?  Guns aint magic ya know.

[Iosif is a COTHO]

'He seemed like such a friendly person, always nice and helpful' said a longtime neighbour...

and come on, everyone's had a teacher they thought was nuts or were a little bit scared of. how would them having a gun add to that equation?

Before anyone says I'm mentioning a worst possible-case scenario, this ruling is based on a worst possible-case scenario, and one that may not even prevent that scenario occuring.

[dead0man]

But any teacher that was a little bit nuts couldn't get a permit to carry a gun in the first place.

wait, you're anti-gun in the first place right?  nevermind