Two weeks after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a Florida high school, an Oklahoma House committee approved a bill to expand school employees' access to guns.
House Bill 3192 would let school boards allow employees with a valid Oklahoma gun license carry on campus. Rep. Jeff Coody said force must be met with force.
"The only reasonable solution in many of these cases is to have someone on the inside who knows these kids and knows the teachers and who can eliminate the threat before it becomes more catastrophic than it already would be," Coody said.
Coody said current state law sets the bar for school personnel to carry guns too high. They must attend 72 hours of armed guard training and a concealed weapons permit.
Rural lawmakers supported HB3192, saying it would take law enforcement too long to respond to schools in their districts if a shooting occurred.
Rep. Emily Virgin said letting school boards approve employees with handgun licenses to carry on campus is setting the bar too low.
"If you're going to have someone in a school who is potentially going to be confronting an active shooter and there are lots of students, children, around, don't you think it would be responsible to require at least armed security guard or [Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training] training, not just demonstrating that you know how to shoot a gun at a range as is currently required by the Self-Defense Act?" Virgin said.
Rep. Jacob Rosecrants said there are other potential ways to prevent school shootings.
"How about we fully fund our schools, first of all? I mean, they’re starved out to survival, basically, so, if we looked at that," Rosecrants said. "Also, allow our counselors to counsel rather than having to take care of all the scheduling and the tests. Why don’t we invest in mental health? I mean, we’ve cut it down to the bone."
HB3192 passed committee 11–5.
