Colorado Senate Majority Leader Chris Holbert is on to something with his bill to help school districts train personnel and teachers to arm themselves with guns on school grounds. But we see the Parker Republican’s bill as problematic, and ask lawmakers to consider as a starting place for legislation that, with revision, could better fulfill the senator’s good intentions to provide protections for students and faculty.
Just so we’re clear: We are not fans of arming teachers with guns. The classroom hardly seems the place for them. But we’re not inclined to reject Holbertap goals simply because of that belief, and for some pretty good reasons.
For one thing, we get it that our views are likely colored by the fact our city’s schools benefit from a robust police force at the ready. But many Colorado school districts are in rural areas far from such law enforcement protections. Some have only the sheriff’s office to turn to, and in many of those areas deputies can be far away.
Finally, the question of arming teachers already has been answered, as some districts, working within existing school-safety law, have reclassified teachers as security personnel.
In a state too often rocked by mass shootings, these districts understandably wish to make any potential bad actors think twice about a paying an unholy visit.
Indeed, as The Denver Postap Monte Whaley , several rural districts are taking big steps to train teachers and coaches who have concealed-carry licenses, and have volunteered to carry on campus, to multitask as security personnel.
Here is where Holbertap training bill comes in. The districts out there going it alone are reclassifying teachers as security personnel with little guidance from the law.
Holbert seeks to establish the ability for county sheriffs to design gun-training programs for exactly these kinds of districts. Local control remains key to Holbertap plan. Districts could use their local sheriff, or adopt a plan written by another office. Or they could sit tight and keep guns out of the classroom.
Like the current exemption that allows security personnel to carry guns on school campuses, Holbertap bill sets no minimum standards for training. We worry that it is possible, though unlikely, that a rogue district and a rogue sheriff’s office could conspire to arm teachers with little to no training at all.
Thankfully, there are existing blueprints to consider when looking for best practices in gun safety. Districts can turn to guidance provided by the Colorado School Districts Self Insurance Pool. The guidance, which addresses exactly the kind of situation that exists in the districts Whaley writes about, is done to promote safety and to keep insurance premiums reasonable. Holbert says that when he wrote the bill he was not aware of the insurance pools standards.
Itap reasonable to expect that if insurers are good with a training plan, it must be sufficiently rigorous. If lawmakers find that to be the case, then why not simply direct districts to the insurance pool’s wisdom?
We would think that any legislative plan to address training school teachers to weaponize should set minimum standards. We urge lawmakers to ask these questions as they give real consideration to SB 5.
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