Townhall reported last year how a woman who identified as a “transgender” person committed a mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter, Audrey Hale, 28, was a former student at the school. The shooting left six people dead, and students and staff fled for their lives.
Hale gained access to the Covenant School by shooting through the glass doors at the front. She gunned down six people – identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9, and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, custodian Mike Hill, both 61, and school headmistress Katherine Koonce, 60.
Hale was fatally shot by two Nashville police officers 14 minutes after authorities received a call that there was an active shooter.
Predictably, this school shooting prompted discussions about so-called “gun control,” among other things. And, it instigated the discussion of arming teachers.
This week, the Tennessee House passed a bill that would allow some teachers and staff at public schools to carry concealed handguns on school grounds and barring parents and other staffers from knowing who was armed.
According to the Associated Press, the bill passed 68-28 and was sent it to Republican Gov. Bill Lee for consideration (via AP):
Members of the public who oppose the bill harangued Republican lawmakers after the vote, leading House Speaker Cameron Sexton to order the galleries cleared.
Four House Republicans and all Democrats opposed the bill, which the state Senate previously passed. The measure would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to students’ parents and even other teachers. A principal, school district and law enforcement agency would have to agree to let staff carry guns.
“What you’re doing is you’re creating a deterrent,” the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Ryan Williams, reportedly said before the vote. “Across our state, we have had challenges as it relates to shootings.”
According to USA TODAY, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Mississippi and South Dakota allow teachers and other employees to carry if they are designated school guardians or part of a program.