North Texas school district will let teachers carry guns | Front page | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle

A tiny Texas school district may be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection when classes begin later this month, a newspaper reported.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a district policy change last October so employees can carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings, provided the gun-toting teachers follow certain requirements.

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.

Curiously, this will probably work to lower gun-related violence. I think we should all be packing heat.

Found by John Ligums.




  1. Somebody_Else says:

    It’s sad that teachers need to carry weaponry, but I’m all for concealed carry laws.

  2. McCullough says:

    I’m packing right now.

  3. lmj3325 says:

    If this prevents just one senseless death then it is worthwhile. I just hope it doesn’t cause any senseless deaths either.

  4. GigG says:

    #3 Since states started implementing concealed carry laws in the 80’s I’ve not heard of one shooting that would have been considered senseless. Now I’m not saying there hasn’t been one but I haven’t heard about it.

    I am and have been a big supporter of concealed carry laws but I’ll admit I’m actually surprised that it has worked as well as it has.

  5. raydoc says:

    Wow, I don’t believe it! This is the first time
    I can agree with John Dvorak.

  6. DaveW says:

    Actually, I’d much prefer concealed carry with the option for open carry, just because open is so much easier to do. But since I live in Califnoria, I won’t be doing either. Although I feel that CA’s laws are unconstitutional, and I should be able to carry if I want to, I really don’t think I’d want the responsibility that goes with it every time I step outside.

    I hope this works in Texas. I’ve often been told that I would make a great teacher, but I always reply that I wouldn’t take th job unless it came with carry privilages and ironclad immunity…but that’s just me. :).

  7. Raster says:

    Is this to intimidate students, or to train them to face people wielding guns?

    If teachers fear students then it’s not schooltime anymore…

  8. TomB says:

    Carrying a pistol is not a sign of fear. It is a sign that you are willing and able to defend yourself against all comers.

    Carrying a pistol in school shows the teacher is willing to defend the life of his students and friends against some crazed lunatic.

    It also shows that the teacher is willing to put his own life on the line for those students and friends. There is nothing more scary than being in a gunfight — except being in a gunfight without some way to defend yourself.

    I approve of this measure.

  9. bobbo says:

    Last week or so DU posted the story of the teacher being blind sided punched by a student and she was knocked unconscious while it was being filmed.

    Why risk buying a gun from a stranger in an alley when you can just blind side all the teachers known to carry guns?

  10. Billy Bob says:

    There won’t be any more classroom discipline issues in that district, I guarantee you that much.

    Then there’s this:

    http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html

  11. Fair Trade says:

    That’s going to keep the little buggers quiet!

  12. GigG says:

    Excellent bobbo, the old could people shouldn’t have guns because bad people can steal them argument. I haven’t heard that one in a long time.

    I like to balance that one with the “we need to get rid of the freedom of speech because bobbo learned to talk and write” argument.

  13. Paddy-O says:

    “and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.”

    Hollow points?

  14. >>Carrying a pistol in school shows the teacher is
    >>willing to defend the life of his students and
    >>friends against some crazed lunatic.

    Well heck. All the students should be packing too, then. Many students would be fine please to protect their friends against a crazed lunatic.

    What if the crazed lunatic is sitting in a second-grade classroom where the teacher couldn’t get a CC permit? What, wait 5 minutes until a teacher with a Glock 9mm or a S&W .44 magnum can get into the classroom? F&ck no! Little Johnny just whips out his 1911-A1 Colt .45 w/ hi-cap mag and blows the motherf&cking crazed lunatic to kingdom come!! Ten rounds, plus one in the chamber. That crazed lunatic is turned into chowder before you can say “pow! pow! pow!”

  15. Paddy-O says:

    #14 – A 2nd grader would probably be better off with one of these. http://tinyurl.com/6p8fq6

    It’s similar to the Mk II I had when I was in 2nd grade.

  16. eyeofthetiger says:

    Where I live (central midwest) every school has a police officer. Even the elementary schools have one. Intellectually I agree with their rights to carry arms to work, but knowing teachers I have to disagree. I swear, some of them are more cynical than the most inner of city cops.

  17. Special Ed says:

    I can’t wait until Darnell mouths off to his teacher and gets a cap popped in his ass.

  18. Stephanie says:

    [Duplicate comment deleted. – ed.]

  19. Stephanie says:

    And teachers NEVER go crazy like kids do… just like postal workers don’t either!

    I will just remember all you supporters out there when a nut job teacher shoots a class full of elementary kids because their meds are off.

    I can’t believe I live in this state…

  20. #14 – O’Furniture

    A .22?? Haw haw haw! That caliber is for pussies. Unless you shoot ’em in the eye, you can’t really do any damage. When I was in second grade, I had one of these.

    http://tinyurl.com/2ms8qp

    If the tommy gun didn’t work, I’d decimate the mofo’s with the anti-tank rocket. And if that didn’t work, it was the anti-bunker missile, followed by a few pops from the grenade launcher.

    I was the safest kid in town. At least until Christmas came around, and some of the other kids got them too. Then I had to upgrade to anthrax, C4 and recoilless rifles.

  21. Dallas says:

    Yes! That’s what this country needs – an arms race in the schools. Another gift to society from the right.

    All I can say, is mixing guns, religion and school prayer in schools is a bad idea. When I was in high school, I just had to deal with desegregation, racial tension, etc. This is far worse.

  22. bobbo says:

    Funny how guns make people think they are safer when ALL the statistics show they make us less safe.

    Guns in the USA are like mosquitoes in a swamp–a source of injury and death. For mosquitoes, we know we should drain the swamp and get rid of the mosquitoes. But for guns, we think adding more is the solution.

  23. TomB says:

    #18, If a teacher wanted to kill a classroom full of kids, a gun would not be needed. Just a bucket of ammonia and bleach and couple of door stops would do the trick.

    If someone wants to kill, they are going to kill whether they’re sportin’ iron or not.

  24. Canucklehead says:

    I still don’t understand why, if guns make one safe, the US isn’t the safest place on Earth? And Japan the most dangerous?

    And I also don’t understand why, if carrying a gun is a sign of bravery, do we keep hearing stories of cops firing 80 bullets into unarmed black immigrants?

  25. MikeN says:

    How common were school shootings decades ago? Did the press just not cover them, or did they not happen? And this was in an age when there were no rules against bringing guns to school. Kids bringing guns to school was fairly common, and in some places still is. They just leave them in their trucks until school’s out.

  26. Dallas says:

    #24 Two reasons :
    (1) Follow the money. The gun lobby is about business hiding under the constitution. Nothing wrong with that, just a fact. Selling guns to the general population is, well, you know. Nice!

    (2) Guns are grown up toys. Remember that plastic rocket launcher when you were a kid? Well, when you’re 45 and fat it looks pretty silly. A REAL gun is the ticket. Again, the cover of the Constitution is a perfect cover to justify the toy.

  27. deowll says:

    Heck and here I was thinking of bringing my shootgun to school and just keeping a few rounds in a pocket for use in emergancies.

    On a more serious note those of us in education know we aren’t equiped to deal with armed intruders and by the time the police show up most likely what you will really need is somebody with body bags.

    You think you have the answer? Give.

  28. GregAllen says:

    I can think of at least one or two teacher from my high school WHO ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CARRY A GUN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

  29. Cap'nKangaroo says:

    My first thought on this is how fun for the police responding to a call of shooting at a school (unkown number of perps). Is that fellow with the Glock going down the hallway a teacher or administrator or the crazed lunatic? It will really add to an already crazy situation.


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