State senators voted Wednesday to allow a teacher, administrator, custodian or even cafeteria worker at rural and some suburban schools to be armed.
Sen. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa, said SB 1325 would improve student safety. He said while better mental health screening and more police officers at schools are important, it is also necessary to provide schools with a "self-defense component.''
But Crandall joined with other Republicans to beat back an effort to require that whoever is designated to carry a gun must report to police if the weapon is lost or stolen. That brought derision from Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix.
"The only reason that gun owners do not want to report they lost their gun or they misplaced it is because they're too embarrassed,'' Gallardo said. "They don't want people to know that they're an irresponsible firearm holder.''
And Gallardo said that notice of an errant gun really should not be limited to police.
"At the very least, I would believe every parent would want to know that their child is going to a school that may have a gun roaming around,'' he said.
Crandall's legislation needs a final roll-call vote before going to the House.
The measure is limited to schools with fewer than 600 students which also are more than 30 minutes and 20 miles from the closest law enforcement facility. He said the most isolated schools, like those in Crown King and Wikieup are far too far away from anything to be able to depend on prompt police response.
The Republicans who control the Senate also killed an attempt by Gallardo to scale back the legislation so it would apply only to schools of fewer than 200. Crandall said larger schools need similar self-defense capacity, specifically mentioning the elementary and high schools in Elfrida.
But the Senate action may not be the last word. Rep. David Stevens, R-Sierra Vista, already has said he hopes to expand the scope of the legislation when the measure reaches the House.
Stevens had crafted a proposal to allow an armed teacher at all of the state's more than 2,000 public schools. But it was introduced too late to get a hearing of its own.
Crandall said his legislation is modeled after laws in Texas which give school districts similar permission to let school employees be armed.
Aside from the school size and location limits, the legislation spells out that weapons either must be carried concealed by the designated employee or secured in a storage locker.
Senate Minority Leader Leah Landrum Taylor, D-Phoenix, questioned the whole premise of allowing a school board to decide that one of its employees is qualified to be armed and potentially walking around the building with a loaded weapon.
But Senate Majority Leader John McComish, R-Phoenix, brushed aside those concerns.
"Who better to decide than the local school board, elected by the local community,'' he said. And McComish said if the community is opposed to the whole concept of armed school employees "it's not going to happen because it's the local school board that's going to make that decision.''
The legislation does have some training requirements for the designated employee, ranging from weapon care and maintenance to marksmanship, judgmental shooting and legal issues relating to the use of deadly force.
jataga5000 posted at 9:20 pm on Thu, Mar 14, 2013.
Ok, I'll bite. Now lets just say its ok ( for the record I don't agree with this law) for Goober the janitor or Mr I ran out of meds the other day or Mrs I'm having a really bad pms dayto be armed to the teeth around school kids. Shouldn't we as parents minimally expect for that person to report to law enforcement if the weapon is lost or stolen. Exactly what is the motive behind wanting to keep something like that a secret? Hypothetically, little Johnny and his friends finds Mr Goobers gun that he dropped, misplaced, laid down, you pick it. But they don't turn it in. Now what could go wrong with that? As far as the School Boards, do we really want to put that much responsibility/power in their hands. Once they get elected they don't nessecarily inform or care what the parents say or think. They usually decide at the meeting before the meeting. Being a parent of four kids and having my best friend elected and serve as a board member, I know that they do this as fact. I think some of our elected officials have gone off the rails.
retired03 posted at 8:03 am on Fri, Mar 15, 2013.
I agree with the legislation in part. If we are going to arm the teachers, then training in judgement, use of force laws and marksmanship is essential. This is where the same legislature departed from common sense when they passed the law that does not require this training with it's citizens before they carry concealed. I do not agree with not reporting a lost or stolen gun to the cops. jataga5000 is right, what were they thinking? Parents have a right to know that and so do the employees colleagues.
Thane Eichenauer posted at 11:50 am on Fri, Mar 15, 2013.
"Senate Minority Leader Leah Landrum Taylor, D-Phoenix, questioned the whole premise of allowing a school board to decide that one of its employees is qualified to be armed and potentially walking around the building with a loaded weapon."
If the school board is qualified to decide the what and how of childhood instruction I would hope that they are just as qualified to decide which employees are competent to protect children from harm.
jataga5000 posted at 12:47 pm on Fri, Mar 15, 2013.
Sorry Thane but I don't agree with your logic. I am guessing that 99% of school board members were trained if only indirectly in academia and not law enforcement. If they approve a bad lesson plan or text books you may end up with a child with wasted potential. If they err in their choice of " which employees are competent to protect children from harm " , the child could end up injured or dead. As a veteran I can recall times when the whole squad questioned whether certain troops should be armed and that was with training. My belief is that weapons and student populations don't mix. Never have and never will.
Arizona Willie posted at 3:58 pm on Fri, Mar 15, 2013.
I'm not saying that arming teachers is a good idea.
But it's the ONLY idea that < could > work at all.
Having one person in the building, per previous proposals would do NOTHING.
A shooter could just wait till they saw him go to the other end of the school then start his rampage.
But the whole thing is a terrible over-reaction. Considering how many thousands and thousands of schools there are -- shootings have been rarer than a Republican Politician with a concience.
LiveInGilbert posted at 10:07 pm on Fri, Mar 15, 2013.
This is a really BAD idea all the way around - especially with letting the School Board decide who gets to carry a weapon and what the qualifications and requirements are for that person that make them "qualified" to carry a weapon and attempt to protect our children in schools. It's one thing to be trained on how to fire a weapon and get some sort of training on engaging an armed attacker - its another thing to have a long, thorough training program on both weapons and tactics and the preparation to aim and fire a weapon to kill another person...it's not for everybody. And School Boards are a mishmash of people who found a way to get elected - not necessarily having any background in education and often not being able to make the simplest of decisions. Just watch the archive of any recent 2013 GPS Board meeting - the majority of this group shouldn't be making a decision about when to take the trash out, much less about who should carry a weapon and what training they should receive.