Tell Your Senators: No Arming Teachers!

From Moms Demand Action & Everytown for Gun Safety: 

 

The “arming teachers bill” has passed the House, and has been sent to the Senate. HB 4299 is referenced to two Senate Committees, Judiciary and Finance. 

Under a recent egregious amendment, school districts no longer would have a choice about who is chosen as a “school protection officer” or “SPO”. Instead districts are forced to accept any teacher or staff member who volunteers to be an “SPO”, as long as they complete certain minimal requirements (including completing less than 24 hrs of training). 

Even if the school already has employed a trained school resource officer (SRO, usually former law enforcement) whose only job is school security, that school would still be obligated to add  “SPO’s” if teachers and staff volunteer. 

If HB 4299 bill is passed, a school could even have more armed personnel than classrooms, since it draws not just from teacher volunteers but from school “service personnel” volunteers as well. 

Finally, nothing in the bill entitles parents to know who the SPO’s are in their child’s school!

 

To take action, please contact Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump and ask him to keep this dangerous bill off his Committee agenda. 

Suggested message:

Senator Trump: 

My name is (               ) and I’m from (            ). I am calling/writing to urge you to keep dangerous HB 4299 off of your Committee’s agenda. [Tell your own  story of your fear about this bill. If you want to say more, further suggestions follow.]

This bill would provide for minimally trained individuals to be carrying concealed weapons in our schools without any choice in the matter by local school districts, and without any knowledge of parents as to who these gun carriers are once they are forced on the school system. We do not want to lose more teachers and students from the state as they would justifiably fear for their safety should such a bill be passed. 

Again, please DO NOT put HB4 299 on your agenda. 

Click here to send a message urging your lawmakers to keep guns out of schools.

Schools should be safer; and there is plenty of research that proves that ensuring secure storage of firearms and implementing Extreme Risk laws are the policies that will make that happen, not arming teachers.

Tell your lawmakers: NO to arming teachers, YES to keeping our students safe.