April 10 marked a crucial moment for schools all across Iowa as the Iowa Senate voted in House File 2586 with a vote of 30-40. This bill would allow teachers and other school staff to obtain a permit that would allow them to carry guns while on school grounds.
On Feb. 28 this bill was proposed by Republicans in the Iowan Senate in response to a shooting at Perry High School where sixth grader Ahmir Joliff and Perry’s principal Dan Marburger were killed and 12 others were wounded.
For any school staff to obtain this permit, they must receive one-time in-person legal training, which includes training on qualified immunity, annual emergency medical training and annual communication training that the Department of Public Safety approves.
School staff with this permit would have qualified immunity, which means they are protected from being prosecuted for any damages they may cause.
Along with that, this bill would require school districts with more than 8,000 students to employ a school resource officer unless their school board votes against it; it also encourages school districts with less than 8,000 students to do the same.
A school resource officer, or SRO, is a law enforcement officer who either works full or part-time in schools. If this bill is passed these officers will be trained with annual live training and quarterly live firearms training.
The bill would have also set up a School Security Personnel Grant, which would provide schools with up to $50,000 to match the cost of employing school security officers. According to the Legislative Services Agency, it would have taken the State an estimated $17.2 million per year to fund this grant. However, the Senate amended the bill to remove this grant.
During a House meeting on the bill, Iowa’s House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl spoke about how he believed that this bill would give schools the same opportunities and protection that others have.
“If some of our politicians out in Washington, D.C. are going to have guns that protect them, if we’re going to have business leaders that have firearms that protect them, if we’re going to have very rich people that have private security protect them, why would we not afford the same opportunity on a voluntary basis for people that are willing to go through the training, willing to take on this risk, willing to put their lives on the line for our children in an active shooter situation?” Windschitl said. “Why would we not give them the same opportunity and the same protection that all of those other people have?”
Those who oppose the bill believe that the bill is targeting the wrong problems. They believe that arming school staff will not make students safer, and instead, they should work on legislation on gun control.
“The Republican solution to combat gun violence is more guns,” Rep. Lindsay James said, “The Republican solution to school safety is more guns. Iowans are crying out to us for common sense gun safety laws.”
During a session in the Senate Senator Molly Donahue spoke about how with her experience as a teacher this bill would not make schools safer, and that giving teachers firearms would not help students in the case of an emergency.
“As a teacher, I know what this training is for us working with students. We have 30 seconds of proximity, if you’re lucky, to figure out if you are going to run, hide, or fight, and you got a room full of kids. That leaves very little time for somebody who might be carrying a gun to protect the school, to run out and do that.” Instead, Donahue believes that we need to focus on preventive measures “There are a lot of ways that we can be proactive instead of reactive to protect our students and our schools.”Donahue said.
However, other Senators believe that this bill would act as a preventative measure. “But what happens when a policy like this gets adopted?” Senator Chris Cournoyer asked the Senate. “Just having a policy is different. An evil individual will not go into a place where they know there is armed resistance.”
According to a poll by USA TODAY where they interviewed 804 Iowans after the school shooting at Perry a majority of Iowans support teachers and school staff being armed in schools.
60% of Iowans support arming teachers and other school staff, while 38% are against it and 1% are undecided. Support for arming teachers is much more prominent among Republicans and independents, with 80% of Republicans and 38% of independents supporting arming teachers and other school staff.
In contrast, 74% of Democrats are against arming teachers, with only 25% of Democrats in favor of it.
Currently, this bill is awaiting to be signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds. If you want to keep track of this bill or any other Iowan bill, Iowa has bill tracking tools that can help you find out more about a bill and where it is going.
