Tennessee bill to allow armed educators
What’s next for the legislation?
Tennessee Senate Republicans this week passed legislation that will allow some teachers to go armed in school classrooms over the objections of Democrats and parents of school shooting survivors during a contentious floor session.
But the measure isn’t yet law.
The House companion bill, HB 1202, technically only needs a final vote in the lower chamber after passing through committees last year. However, the bill is currently being “held on the desk,” a procedural term that means the bill is in a holding pattern unless someone moves to remove it from the table.
If that happens, it would likely quickly move to a full floor vote within days or, potentially, immediately if the House suspended its rules. House leadership last week indicated they’re supportive of the bill, while opponents this week said they’re engaging in a “Hail Mary” effort to dissuade the House from taking it back up.
Meanwhile, the General Assembly is reaching the tail end of its legislative session. Though there’s no set final date, many lawmakers hope to adjourn within the next two to three weeks.
What does the Tennessee arming teacher bill do?
Senate Bill 1325 allows Tennessee school faculty or staff to carry a concealed handgun on the grounds of the school they work at. Tennessee law already allows school resource officers, assigned through an agreement between local school districts and law enforcement, to carry firearms on campus.
What training will teachers have to complete to be able to carry a gun in Tennessee schools?
Faculty or staff must do the following to carry on school grounds:
Maintain a valid Tennessee handgun carry permit.
Undergo a background check and submit two sets of fingerprints to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The TBI is directed to determine the person’s eligibility to carry a firearm and conduct a criminal history check within 30 days, in addition to forwarding the second set of fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a federal background check.
Receive psychological or psychiatric certification from a licensed health care provider.
Complete 40 hours of basic training in school policing.
Does the school have to give permission to allow their teachers to carry guns on campus?
Yes.
The school district’s director of schools, the school principal and the chief of the “appropriate” law enforcement agency must sign off on a staff member’s authority to carry a concealed handgun.
The Senate bill appears to require this of each individual teacher seeking to carry a gun on campus, rather than allowing a joint blanket authorization for any qualified staff to carry.
Sen. Paul Bailey, RSparta, sponsored the legislation and said Tuesday a school principal could make a blanket decision not to participate and notify a director of schools they don’t want to allow any teachers to carry.
However, the legislation itself does not directly outline this opt-out mechanism that Bailey referred to, and rather directs school administrators to consider each certification individually.
Will parents be notified if there is a firearm carried in their child’s classroom?
No, the bill does not require schools to notify if a gun will be in their child’s classroom. Further, the bill specifically outlines confidentiality measures to protect the identity of armed staff.
It’s possible other teachers and staff at a school would not be informed if one of their colleagues is certified to carry a gun on campus.
The legislation does not require schools to inform parents of any armed faculty members, and in fact requires records regarding concealed carry authorization be kept confidential.
The legislation seemingly prevents school administrators from telling other teachers and staff who might be carrying a weapon on school grounds. The bill allows law enforcement to disclose a certified employee’s identify to an administrator response for “school facility security,” but only if that administrator is not the employee’s immediate supervisor or a “supervisor responsible for evaluating the employee.”
Can certified teachers and staff carry the gun at all times?
The legislation outlines certain scenarios where concealed carry is disallowed:
Stadiums, gym or auditoriums during school-sponsored events
Disciplinary meetings Tenure meetings Medical environments where medical or mental health services or provided
Can families sue a school if something goes wrong?
No.
Under the Senate bill, the school district and law enforcement agency are immune from liability, as long as the staff member was properly certified to carry under the law.
What are lawmakers saying about the bill?
Republicans have overwhelmingly supported the bill, which was initially filed in January 2023 but has been cited as a potential school security measure in the wake of The Covenant School shooting last March. Democrats oppose the measure, which has also attracted hundreds of gun-reform protesters who oppose a GOP supermajority-led trend of expanding access to firearms in Tennessee.
Republicans argue it’s needed security option for schools that have been unable to hire a school resource officer or more rural schools where law enforcement response might be delayed during a security crisis.
Shortly after the Covenant School shooting last year, state officials approved new funding to place a school resource officer at every public school in the state. However, personnel shortages have slowed the placement, and hundreds of Tennessee schools still lack an SRO.
“We are not trying to shoot a student but protect a student from an active shooter whose sole purpose is to get in that school and kill people,” sponsor Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said Tuesday. “In counties like I serve, rural counties, where they may only have two deputies on a shift, it might take 20 or 30 minutes to get to that school. What havoc can be wreaked in that 30minute period? This bill tries to fix that problem and protect children.”
Senate Democrats sharply criticized the bill, arguing it was “irresponsible” and could put students at risk to have guns in the classroom, open to be stolen or misused in a panicked crisis situation.
“The level of irresponsibility here is befuddling,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro, DNashville, said. “We’re sending people to a 40hour — one week, less time than kids spend in summer camp — to learn how to handle a combat situation that veteran law enforcement officers have trouble dealing with. It is complicated, to say the least, for someone to handle a firearm accurately, responsibility, effectively with an active shooter and literally hundreds of innocent children in the area. And we’re letting people do that with a week’s training.”