SALT LAKE CITY — Gun violence prevention advocates who gathered at the Utah State Capitol on Monday called on Gov. Spencer Cox to veto legislation they said could endanger children by training more teachers to carry firearms in the classroom. campus.
The bill to fund tactical training for Utah educators who want to defend their classrooms with weapons received final approval from the Legislature last week when the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to send it to the governor’s desk.
Cox, a Republican, has not directly stated whether he will sign the bill, but he told reporters Friday that he is “very concerned about school safety” and favors arming and training school staff so they can “very quickly respond when the worst happens. to happen.”
Under this measure, teachers who hold a valid concealed carry permit can participate for free in an annual program that trains them in defending their classrooms against active threats and in the safe storage, carrying, loading and unloading of firearms in a school environment.
The program would cost the Department of Public Safety about $100,000 a year under the bill and would start May 1 if signed into law. County sheriffs would appoint instructors to lead the course, which participating teachers are expected to take every year.
Some Utah educators, including retired public school teacher Stan Holmes, worry that the half-day training might not be enough to prepare teachers to respond appropriately in an emergency, which could result in injuries to students to lead. The U.S. Army veteran said he took state-provided tactical training, which he called “a joke” on Monday.
“I wasn’t convinced that all graduates could handle themselves in a crisis situation,” he said. “Parents of children in Utah schools have no reason to trust that the training provided by the so-called ‘educator-protector’ program would be any better.”
The purpose of the program, as stated in the bill, is to “incentivize” teachers to responsibly carry weapons on school grounds. It builds on a state law enacted last year that waived concealed carry permit fees for teachers as an added incentive to bring guns into their classrooms.
Rep. Tim Jimenez, a Republican from Tooele and the bill’s lead sponsor, characterized it as a “strictly defensive” measure that he said would benefit teachers who already own firearms but cannot afford tactical training.
Utah is one of 16 states that allow school staff to carry weapons in elementary schools. State law currently allows people to carry firearms on public school grounds if they have permission from the school board or possess a concealed firearm permit, which requires a criminal background check and completion of a firearms literacy course.
The bill does not prevent a licensed teacher who is not involved in the program from carrying a weapon on school grounds. But those who participate will be protected from civil liability if they use the gun at school while “acting in good faith” and without gross negligence, the bill says. School districts also cannot be held liable if a participating teacher fires their weapon.
“What we’re looking at here is not teachers running through the hallways acting like police officers,” Jimenez said. “What we’re going to train them on specifically is how to defend their classroom, gymnasium or whatever room they’re in with the students.”
Other teachers, like Brian Peterson of Lake Ridge Elementary School in Magna, have applauded the bill because it gives them a way to protect students and themselves.
“We have a lot of teachers who can do something, and the training is invaluable,” the sixth-grade teacher said. “Knowing how to defend your classroom, whether it’s with a weapon or an improvised weapon, is what teachers need.”
But for Nia Maile, a 23-year-old from West Valley City whose brothers were killed in a 2022 shooting outside Hunter High School, the possibility of more guns in Utah classrooms is a terrifying thought. She worries the law would give a troubled child, like the 14-year-old who shot her brothers, easier access to a gun.
“We don’t need more guns in schools,” Maile said through tears. “We must eliminate the ways and reasons for a child to become a shooter.”
Teachers who participate in the program and choose not to carry the gun must store it in a biometric gun safe, which uses unique biological data, such as a fingerprint or retinal scan, to verify the owner’s identity. They would have to pay for the storage device out of their own pocket.