{"id":32491,"date":"2020-03-12T06:02:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T11:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=32491"},"modified":"2020-03-11T17:01:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T22:01:00","slug":"loosening-gun-regulations-may-put-more-firearms-in-oklahoma-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/03\/12\/loosening-gun-regulations-may-put-more-firearms-in-oklahoma-classrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Loosening gun regulations may put more firearms in Oklahoma classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_32492\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32492\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-1920x1163.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-1920x1163.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-672x407.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-768x465.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-150x91.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-300x182.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-620x375.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-1784x1080.jpeg 1784w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7070-560x338.jpeg 560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kent Lemons, Sterling Public Schools Superintendent. Lemons said getting guns into his school district was a difficult process and required training did little to actually prepare teachers for a mass shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/44fb2d94-0940-4f13-bfee-e2f1fefae31d?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>The sign outside a locked door at Sterling High School is probably the best crime deterrent the school has, says Kent Lemons, Superintendent of Sterling Public Schools.<\/p><p>\u201cPlease be aware that the staff is armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students,\u201d the sign says.<\/p><p>It\u2019s the ultimate warning to anyone who might want to harm students, he says.<\/p><p>\u201cWe get that out there and make sure that everybody in the community knows that we do have firearms here at school and we\u2019ll do whatever we can do to take care of our kids,\u201d Lemons said.<\/p><p>Getting the sign and guns into Sterling Public Schools wasn\u2019t an easy process, Lemons said. In order for school personnel to take in guns, they had to go through a 240 hour class to become an armed security guard through Oklahoma\u2019s Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. Oklahoma&#8217;s legislature first passed a law mandating the training and allowing guns in schools in 2015.<\/p><p>Lemons said he\u2019s talked to other superintendents in nearby districts about it, and when they find out the time required, they decide it\u2019s too costly and too much work to arm their staffs.<\/p><p>But because nobody with the state is keeping track, it\u2019s difficult to know how many school districts across Oklahoma have similar signs or &#8211; more importantly &#8211; actual armed teachers.<\/p><p>Despite that, state lawmakers want to loosen regulations on training requirements for teachers armed in schools. They hope fewer regulations will lead to more guns in schools. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB2336&Session=2000\">House Bill 2336<\/a> would reduce the amount of training required to a curriculum determined by local school boards.<\/p><p>Republican Sen. David Bullard, one of the bill\u2019s authors, said customization would mean more teachers could be armed and their training would be more relevant to their unique communities.<\/p><p>\u201cWhat we want is campus specific so that teachers can react and save lives on the spot, right there, in case of an active shooter situation,\u201d Bullard, a former school teacher, said.<\/p><p>Bullard says he trusts local school districts, with consultation from local law enforcement, to make the right, informed decision that works best for them by coming up with independent training requirements for armed teachers.<\/p><p>And he has backing from rural superintendents like Lemons, who said 240 hours of training that features exercises like patrolling in a car, or watching people in a mall, is a waste of time.<\/p><p>\u201cThe training needs to be changed so that it is relevant to schools,\u201d Lemons said.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What can armed teachers actually do?<\/strong><\/h3><p>Because school shootings are relatively rare events, there is little research conducted on the topic.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/education\/archive\/2018\/03\/teachers-are-not-soldiers\/554783\/\">But school safety experts<\/a> do use statistics about how police officers use their weapons in dangerous scenarios, said Sheldon Greenberg, a Johns Hopkins University professor and former police officer who studies school safety.<\/p><p>\u201cWe know concretely that they don\u2019t shoot accurately in a crisis situation,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p><p>Greenberg said well-trained officers who are prepared to enter a crisis situation at any moment shoot accurately about one-third of the time. He said it\u2019s impossible to know for certain, but it\u2019s unlikely that a teacher would be able to shoot accurately in a mass shooting scenario.<\/p><p>But he said if arming teachers is what Oklahoma lawmakers want to do, the worst possible way would be to allow individual districts to make determinations about who is armed and what training goes into getting guns in teachers\u2019 hands.<\/p><p>\u201cIt fosters inconsistency, which is the worst possible approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32496\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32496\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1920x1440.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-672x504.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-620x465.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1440x1080.jpeg 1440w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1832x1374.jpeg 1832w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1376x1032.jpeg 1376w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-1044x783.jpeg 1044w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-632x474.jpeg 632w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Resized_20200203_104858-536x402.jpeg 536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarah Burdine speaks at a Moms Demand Action rally at the State Capitol in February 2020. She holds a picture of her son Ciar Pierce, who was killed in a 2012 shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Most teachers don\u2019t want guns in schools<\/strong><\/h3><p>Sarah Carnes physically shudders when she thinks about armed teachers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32501\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1411px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-32501\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-1411x1920.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1411\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-1411x1920.png 1411w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-494x672.png 494w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-768x1045.png 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-110x150.png 110w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-220x300.png 220w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-620x844.png 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994-793x1080.png 793w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/Screenshot_2016-09-16-00-22-02-1-e1583963919994.png 1797w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1411px) 100vw, 1411px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy Sarah Carnes<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Art teacher Sarah Carnes<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The longtime Oklahoma City area art teacher and gun owner said she doesn\u2019t think that responsibility should fall on teachers who already have enough responsibilities.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re there to educate students and protect them and create a nurturing, safe environment,\u201d Carnes said. \u201cPutting a gun on our hip or around our ankle is going totally against that.\u201d<\/p><p>A majority of teachers in the United States agree. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/229808\/teachers-oppose-carrying-guns-schools.aspx\">A 2018 Gallup poll<\/a> found that 73 percent of school teachers oppose allowing staff to carry guns in schools, with more than half of them saying it would make schools less safe.<\/p><p>Carnes also volunteers with the gun control group Moms Demand Action. She said loosening restrictions would likely mean unqualified people would be armed in schools.<\/p><p>She questioned why guns would be allowed in schools if they are banned in the Oklahoma Capitol.<\/p><p>\u201cThere are a lot of places that we don\u2019t allow guns,\u201d Carnes said. \u201cYet they are thinking this is the perfect environment to allow guns?<\/p><p>\u201cI totally disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32494\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32494\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-1920x1057.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1057\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-1920x1057.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-672x370.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-768x423.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-150x83.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-300x165.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/03\/IMG_7104-620x341.jpeg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The gymnasium at Sterling High School. Staff at the school district have gone through training to carry guns in schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>\u2018A few seconds make all the difference\u2019<\/strong><\/h3><p>Senate staffers told Bullard they estimate that about a dozen schools have armed staffers in Oklahoma.<\/p><p>But it\u2019s impossible to know how many actually do have plans in place. School districts don\u2019t submit their plans to any state agency and CLEET doesn\u2019t monitor how many teachers have completed armed security guard training.<\/p><p>That doesn\u2019t bother Bullard, though. He said he trusts school boards to make their own decisions and believes local districts should have control of what happens in their communities.<\/p><p>Lemons, the superintendent in Sterling, said in rural communities like his, there hasn\u2019t been a mass shooting and there\u2019s never been a media report of a school shooting that features a sign like his.<\/p><p>But if a mass shooting event happens in his community, he trusts that the teachers in his school have a plan to combat an armed intruder.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen something\u2019s happening just a few seconds make a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sign outside a locked door at Sterling High School is probably the best crime deterrent the school has, says Kent Lemons, Superintendent of Sterling Public Schools.\u201cPlease be aware that the staff is armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students,\u201d the sign says.It\u2019s the ultimate warning to anyone who might want [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":32495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32491"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32503,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32491\/revisions\/32503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}