Cookeville Representative Ryan Williams has withdrawn his bill allowing school teachers to have concealed carry weapons.
Montgomery County Sheriff Jeff Fuson spoke against the bill during last week’s House K-12 Education Subcommittee meeting.
“It doesn’t take long for folks to figure out you’re carrying a gun… Also, there’s the concern about that gun staying concealed and on the person carrying it,” Fuson said. “You have folks that leave weapons in their purses, desks, jackets, etc, and that makes the accessibility to these weapons by others, which could be a deadly consequence.”
Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Derek Stewart said more information is needed before school districts start allowing armed teachers.
“The training of a handgun carry permit holder is just not adequate in this very, very delicate environment that they would be operating in,” Stewart said. “We do believe that there is just not enough data out there for us to really make a strong decision as to whether or not this is good legislation. Perhaps some more time is needed to study this issue.”
Brink Fidler is the owner and founder of Defense Systems and served 18 years in law enforcement. He too opposed the bill, saying teachers will need to go through extensive training in order for the legislation to work.
“Can you imagine, under stress, trying to deliver accurate shots with a small concealable firearm? If anybody knows anything about firearms, the smaller [they are], the less accurate they are,” Fidler said. “I’m not opposed to the concept that the only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But we have to go so much further than just the carry permit, and really take a deep dive into this thing about how we’re going to do that.”
Williams cited data collected following the Parkland High School shooting in Florida last year and said a teacher with a gun might have helped in that situation.
“I’m not saying this is the ‘do all to be all’, but I will say it’s worth to admit with my colleague here, who says it’s about training too, and about ‘how to’, I think there’s a discussion to be had here,” Williams said. “My fear as a parent and as a taxpayer whose kids are in public school is that we have this discussion after [a school shooting] and not before.”
Williams said during last week’s meeting that he was open to discussing ways to adjust and improve the bill with teachers and law enforcement.
The bill was originally scheduled for Wednesday’s House Committee meeting.
