Bill allowing Tennessee teachers to carry guns in schools advances in House committee

A bill that would allow Tennessee teachers to carry guns in schools was approved Wednesday in a House subcommittee, despite a top law enforcement official, educators and Republican lawmakers expressing concerns.

The legislation, House Bill 1380, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, made its way out of the K-12 Education subcommittee by a voice vote and will move on to the full education committee.

An effort last year led by Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, to arm teachers failed in the House.

Williams' legislation, filed as a general caption bill but amended in recent days to allow teachers to carry guns in schools, would permit staff members with handgun permits to carry concealed weapons on campus. 

No additional training would be required for the teachers to do so.

In addition to several educators who testified against the bill Wednesday, Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Dereck Stewart also voiced concern about legislation to allow teachers to carry guns in schools.

"The training of a handgun permit holder is just not adequate in this very, very delicate environment that they will be operating in," Stewart told the subcommittee.

Stewart said he spoke with a top state law enforcement official in Florida, where the governor recently signed a bill to arm teachers, and the official described the legislation as a "divisive issue."

According to Stewart, there is "not enough data out there" to determine "whether this is good legislation or not."

"Perhaps some more time is needed to study this issue," Stewart said.

More time and discussion on the topic are also what Rep. Iris Rudder, R-Winchester, suggested.

"As a mom, I would hope that someone, if there was an active shooter on campus, had a gun in my child's classroom," Rudder said.

But after talking with her local sheriff, Rudder said she is opposed to arming teachers unless they also had to undergo the same type of active shooter training school resource officers do.

Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, who also serves as chairman of the full education committee, said he is against the bill, based on his experience as a teacher.

He said he has met with school representatives from Marshall County, Kentucky, where a school shooting left two students dead and 18 injured last year.

"I asked them, after all this happened, don’t you think it'd be a good idea to arm your teachers?" White recalled. "And they said absolutely not. They said that would be the worst thing we could’ve done."

Williams countered by pointing to a report from an investigative committee in Florida after the deadly Parkland shooting that recommended arming teachers.

The report, however, suggests teachers should carry weapons only after being "properly selected, thoroughly screened and extensively trained to carry concealed firearms on campuses."

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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