On April 11 the Kingsburg Joint Union High School District’s board voted unanimously to adopt a policy allowing teachers and staff with concealed carry permits to be armed on campus for self-defense.
In the days leading up to Monday’s vote in the community south of Fresno, California, Breitbart News reported that district superintendent Randy Morris supported the policy, and believed arming teachers and staff was the best way to provide an “immediate” response to any attacks on a school.
The policy allows up to five teachers and staff to be armed on campus at a time. It also protects the anonymity of the armed teachers, so would-be attackers do not know which teachers are armed.
The Fresno Bee reports that the policy passed unanimously at the board meeting, and that superintendent Morris commented by saying, “I am a proponent of the Second Amendment, and I’m also the biggest proponent of protecting the kids.” Going forward, teachers and staff who wish to carry “will have to complete training approved by…Morris, and their discipline record, evaluations and school conduct also will be considered.”
Kingsburg police Chief Neil Dadian supported the push to arm teachers and even helped the school district craft their gun policy. The Bee reports that he referenced the heinous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012, saying, “Imagine if one of those teachers was also armed. They could have stopped that. … The loss of life would’ve been much less. My opinion? If a staff member wants to put themselves at risk like that, I’m all for it. I think what they’re doing is everything they possibly can to protect their students, and God bless them for that.”
The policy arming teachers and staff “is effective immediately.”