Watch Live: Second House Hearing on IRS Scandal

The 7 Key Moments From Wednesday’s IRS Hearing

Two More TX School Districts Will Allow Teachers to Carry Guns in the Classroom

Jan. 25, 2013 8:40am Billy Hallowell

Texas School Districts Increasingly Allowing Teachers to Carry Guns in the Classroom

Credit: Getty Images

Should public school districts allow teachers to carry concealed weapons? This is a question that continues to be posed — and debated — in a wake of ongoing concerns surrounding school violence.

Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, TheBlaze told you about Harrold, Texas, a tiny town that has allowed its teachers to arm themselves since 2007. With little money to hire armed security, affording educators the right to carry guns has widely been seen as a successful work-around in a town that only has one public school for K-12. Now, additional districts in southeast Texas — and across the state — are following Harrold’s lead and will also allow teachers to have firearms in the classroom.

Ganado and Louise, a city and a town, are two of the most recent localities within the state to implement this new-found change. While critics of arming teachers would cite security concerns and argue against such a policy, Ganado Superintendent Jeff Black told KHOU-TV that the entire premise behind the notion is that allowing teachers to carry will make the district safer for students and faculty, alike.

The Ganado district educates 650 students in its public school system. Already, the community has a low crime rate, with the local police chief claiming that not a single murder has occurred in the city since he became an officer 15 years ago.

Rather than serving as a blanket policy with little oversight, teachers who wish to carry guns in the classroom in Ganado must have approval from the board of education. If granted the ability to do so, their identities will be kept anonymous.

The actions being taken in these areas mirror similar decisions of late by other Texas school districts. The Union Grove Independent School District in Gladewater, Texas, also recently made the same decision, announcing that its local schools will allow teachers to carry guns. Other institutions and districts in the state are also considering similar measures in an effort to better protect faculty and students.

Earlier this week, the San Antonio Express-News reported that the movement going on in Texas isn’t just a local phenomenon. Officials at the state level are also considering expanding current law to include special training standards and funding methods for those school districts that do, indeed, decide that arming teachers is the best foot forward.

Texas law currently bans guns unless schools have given written permission — something that is now on the rise in the wake of Sandy Hook and increased security concerns. So far, at least five districts in Texas have allowed for guns, with others currently considering similar provisions.

–

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (56)

Flag-Man
Posted on January 26, 2013 at 2:05am
God Bless the Republic of Texas
Semper Fi

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
kiwee
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:23pm
Van I.S.D., Texas as well:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Van-ISD-Implements-New-Security-Plan–Allows-Board-Authorized-Conceal-Carry-on-Campus.html?soid=1109200548033&aid=N7Stb1vH8M0

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
MCLOVINIT
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:46pm
Cool!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
pma_guy
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:42pm
Right on GANADO!! I LOVE livin in Texas!!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ThreeDee
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:30pm
When I was in school, my teacher was always armed whether openly or not, and when not armed he could reach a gun awfully quickly. I was homeschooled, and the teacher was my father. My other teacher wasn’t so quick with a gun, but was awfully good with a belt, razor strop, old fashioned paddle or whatever else was handy. I sometimes feared her wrath more; she was my mother. THEN there was my grandmother…..Lord, save me….and I’m grateful to them all. I also graduated with an “A” average from some VERY tough subjects at the age of sixteen. Then I went to work…..sigh….

As a fourteen year old kid grown up in a tiny town of two churches, one bar, post office, butcher shop/general store, one gas station, I could walk anywhere with my old .22 rifle over my shoulder and a fishing pole in my pack. I would go into that old general store for a couple of things and they thought it strange if I didn’t have my rifle! I NEVER committed any firearm related crime and later in years was forced to defend my life with nothing more than a Ruger .22 semiato pistol. I was glad for the extra magazine as I needed it to stop an attack carried out by three armed individuals. One died, one hospitalized (and then incarcerated), one gave up and ran and was later incarcerated. Bullets flew, I didn’t like the way my b**ls tasted in the back of my throat, and I survived to tell the tale.

THAT”S gun control. And a bit of luck…

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- lcuvillier
  Posted on January 26, 2013 at 8:16am
  Amen
  
  Report this comment
Tickdog
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 3:10pm
Yea Texas!!!!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Constitutionalist
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:52am
What if the teacher turns out to have some undiagnosticated mental problem? We would be back to square one.
The solution is being searched everywhere except where it really exists: Bring back prayer and spirituality in the classroom; replace teachers that don’t believe with theachers that hold christian values as fundamental principles for a respectful, harmonious society. Replace evolutionism with Creationism; after all we are human beings, not animals, we were made in resemblance to God’s image, we have not evolved from any human-looking animal.
That would set us in the right path to avert many evils taking over society in these days.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Chuck7884
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:11am
  Unless you are born with mental illness there will always be a chance of becoming mentally ill.
  
  Report this comment
- encinom
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:22am
  Another two school districts putting their children at risk. Unless the teachers have special forces training and expert shots, they are a danger and a risk with loaded weapon around children.
- Chuck7884
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:30am
  @encinom You only need training in safety and marksmanship training to protect children special forces training would disqualify MOST officers of the LAW.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:30am
  ENCINOM, Here you on cue whining again as usual when you don’t know what you are talking about. BTW, how many of the cops around you have SF training?
  
  Report this comment
- ShootStraight
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:33am
  Many Teachers do have an undiagnosed mental health issue. Its called Liberalism.
  
  Report this comment
- henryKnox
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:31pm
  @encinom Sorry you don’t get away with such a ridiculous comment here. “Gun Nuts care little about children, this is becoming clear”. That is a totally unfounded statement and I believe to be backwards. 1st, what is a ‘gun nut’? 2nd, where is the proof that these ‘gun nuts’ don’t care about children? I believe those that you would describe as ‘gun nuts’ have been publicly showing that they do care about children because they want to do something positive to improve school safety. Those that simply use a tragedy to advance a political agenda I would propose have shown that they don’t care about children. BTW, you should watch some hunting shows to witness the patience taken by experienced hunters to wait for a perfect shot on a deer to make sure that they humanely harvest the animal.
  
  Report this comment
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:35pm
  @Encinom
  
  Hmm..where should I start…I usually don’t respond to you because you are typically misinformed, absolutely lying, or simply trying to start a fight…none of which particularly interest me unless of course you want to antagonize me in person and then we can settle things Man to whatever you are. But being the child of an educator, in a family with multiple gun owning and hunting educators, and a gun owning educator myself, I just had to SMACK you in the back of the head for your ignorance and outright antagonism.
  
  First – in a mass murder/school violence situation…every school has a signal whether it be by announcement or bell, a simply word spoken in email or over the intercom that IMMEDIATELY sends the school into LOCK-DOWN.
  A lock-down situation means all interior and exterior doors are locked and chained closed if able. Next all students and staff are immediately pulled into the closest room, physically if necessary, and made to seek cover as far away from doors and windows as possible, even at times turning over desks and using them as barricades and for protection. Next, no child or staff is to leave a room or open a door until the all clear is sounded or the doors are opened by the responding police and emergency personnel.
  
  There would not be a teacher roaming the halls with their conceal gun shooting at anybody. They would be behind the door of their class, protecting their students.
  
  Report this comment
- A_CALL_TO_CONSCIENCE
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:41pm
  @ENCINOM
  
  I’ll let you in on a little secret my Uncle told me who is a cop, former Marine, and is on the SWAT team: more cops than you think are actually bad shots. It’s a little fact that is kept hidden from the public.
  
  Report this comment
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:41pm
  @Encinom Part 2
  
  Next, as an educator and gun owner – most gun owners train themselves by learning gun safety and going to a range to practice.
  But as an armed educator in a lock-down situation, I would be in my room with the students behind me and as far from the doors or windows as possible. If an intruder, armed or otherwise, broke into that room, the only one in the line of fire would be said intruder and the only one being shot would be the intruder.
  
  THIS is the problem with the MSM and the government. NOBODY bothers to find out what a lock-down situation and procedure for a school are before they MOUTH off with their IGNORANCE.
  
  Arming a teacher is just like arming a pilot. The pilot isn’t going to unlock the cockpit door and start shooting wildly into the cabin of the airplane trying to shot the terrorist hijacker. They lock the door, bunker down, and land the plane as quickly as possible. If the hijacker tries to break in.. THEN you shot THEM…not wildly spraying bullets into the cabin area.
  
  Encinom…i know you only come here to be a pain in the ARSE of everyone..but don’t you honestly, really have something better to do than purposely try to bait and antagonize people you supposedly disagree with. Is your life that PATHETIC? or are you just paid to do it making you a Social Media Prostitute? Seriously…get a LIFE and debate with fact or go away…
  
  Report this comment
- Wolf
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 6:20pm
  “…Constitutionalist
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:52am
  What if the teacher turns out to have some undiagnosticated mental problem?…”
  
  Then why is that teacher even ‘teaching’, or allowed in the building? That kind of argument is rediculous, Constitutionalist. Perhaps we should look under the bed for boogeymen, too- just in case one happens to be there.
  
  Report this comment
- Constitutionalist
  Posted on January 26, 2013 at 2:52pm
  I don’t mean to criticize anyone who commented on my post, however, it seams that no one read past the first sentence. The point was that to solve this problem, we need to bring back prayer and spirituality in the classroom. Nothing else will work. Nothing!
  
  Report this comment
Chuck7884
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:44am
This will be a great Idea, Until you have a Teacher go postal. And there have been some recently but they were unarmed.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:03am
  Damn CHUCKIEPOOH, get this through your thick skull, we don’t live in a perfect world. Evil people and the criminally insane do exist. Utopia was a fictional city in a work of fiction. In the mean time the rest of us have to work together and do the best we can to protect ourselves, each other, and especially our children.
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:12am
  RJJ
  
  Swish nothing but net!
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck7884
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:38am
  Case of ignoring the facts lol. yes but which one is in a fantasy world you or me I state fact you state fantasy.in a perfect world there would be no mental illness. as for net ???????
  
  Report this comment
- brother_ed
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:14am
  @RJJUNGADSDEN
  
  But…but…but…what if the ‘experts’ put ‘experts’ in charge of making regulations that were reviewed by ‘experts’? Wouldn’t that make us safer?
  
  Report this comment
- jgrant
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:18am
  Chuck7884,
  
  You have not thought this through at all. If a teacher is sick enough to “go postal” with a gun do you think they are going to respect the “gun free zone” rule and that will be the thing that prevents them from going on a shooting rampage? Putting a gun in the hands of rational teachers is a great solution. It allows the good teachers to protect the kids from bad people. Why can’t people get this through their head? Why do people think that “allowing” people to carry concealed is somehow connected to making it more likely that someone is going to go postal and shoot people? If someone is sick enough to do something like that they don’t need permission to carry concealed before doing so. In fact they will be MUCH MORE LIKELY to go postal because they will know that nobody with equal force will be there to stop them! Hello? How hard is that to understand? It’s such a simple concept. I’m so frustrated that people can’t see this obvious fact. Sorry Chuck I’m not really going off on you in particular here just voicing my frustration.
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck7884
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:44am
  @jgrant few things you forgot
  1 you are not Born a Criminal you become one
  2 You maybe born with a mental illness but most become mentally Ill
  3 Every Human-being Has a Good-side and a Evil-side Most choose the the good-side thankfully.but we all have used our evil-side at some point and and learned from our evil ways.
  
  This is just a few meaning 3
  
  Report this comment
- Chuck7884
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:14pm
  I Do agree that we should take the chance and place armed guards and or teachers in schools .But remember it is a chance or should it be a reminder?. To Arm those mentioned.
  
  Report this comment
Cavallo
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:43am
Has there been any mass shootings outside of “gun free zones?” They’ve ALL been in places firearms are not allowed by statute or policy, right? The firearms have all been different. Not all of them were insane either (Nadal). The only common element has been a banning of firearms.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Sosorryforyou
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:21am
  But mass shootings are still very rare, even if they shock us the most. Most gun-violence in this Country does not happen in gun-free zones, and the “most common element” in gun-violence in this Country is guns, not gun-free zones. I am not for banning guns, although I see absolutely no reason for a citizen to own an assault rifle of any kind, but I am for gun-free zones. I think having teachers carry loaded guns around school all day (which is the only way it would be useful if ever needed to protect students) is the CRAZIEST IDEA I’VE EVER HEARD! Because mass shootings in schools are still a very rare thing, students will be in MORE danger with permitted, loaded guns in school than they ever would be if a mass shooter happened to decides that their school, out of the thousands of other schools in this Nation, is the one to shoot up.
  
  Report this comment
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 12:18pm
  @SoSorry
  
  you are right…mass murders by gun are down and have been going down since their peak in 1929…
  the Assault Weapons Ban from 1995-2004 did absolutely NOTHING to reduce the violence..
  
  Why? 3X more murders are performed in the USA by blunt instrument and nearly 2X as many by edged weapons…not to mention the 10X more by vehicle due to intoxicated drivers… but we have not banned baseball, fencing, or automobiles.
  
  And you are right, most gun related violence does not come in the way of mass murder, 8 out of 10 times due to a person of questionable mental health. Over half of gun violence, resulting in death or injury, comes from gang on gang criminal activity. Once you filter out police related and gang vs gang related, accidental and other criminal gun violence amounts to only about 25% of all gun violence in the USA.
  
  Drownings kill as many people each year as accidental and criminal (home invasion, assault, murder) related gun violence. Yet there is not CRY to ban all swimming pools and bathtubs when a young child dies due to negligence of the parent (not gating the pool) or just accidental slip-fall-head trauma-drown deaths.
  
  As little as 100 years ago, the citizenry was much more armed, even in schools, even by school age children. Kids open carried BB guns and 22 rifles and NOBODY cared and nobody tried to kidnap or molest the child either… HMMM…makes you wonder…
  
  Report this comment
- stablepar
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 2:10pm
  soon and very soon all schools will face serious liability problems if they don’t protect our children as well as obama’s and the very rich. no way anything will totally save every child but we have to think we can save at least one. semper fi
  
  Report this comment
- DrFreedom
  Posted on January 27, 2013 at 3:45am
  Soso no i feel sorry for you. tell me how a person trained in gun safety carrying a concealed weapon puts any one in grave danger by simply having a concealed firearm? A loaded firearm in a holster, concealed and out of reach of children is no more dangerous then a chair at a desk. Both are inanimate objects and incapable of doing anything unless a human dose something with them. Why is this concept so hard to comprehend?
  
  Report this comment
perry1980
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:39am
Arm your schools = protect your children

Gun Free Zones = killers delight

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
RANGER1965
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:28am
Stopping a determined man with a gun is hard. It always will be.

Having people on site, who know the terrain, have an active interest in protecting the kids, and are well armed and trained; is you best chance at stopping a bad guy.

Texas is manning up. HOOAH!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- VRW Conspirator
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:56am
  Now if we can just get TX to go back to the “open carry” standard they used to have. One of the selling points in my move to TX from CA was their gun policy. UT and ID were also contenders but it was easier to find work for my wife and I in TX.
  Being a science teacher, I would have, if allowed, a handgun in my class in a handgun biometric box, of course. Being a science teacher, we could even install a gun safe in our prep-room where students are not allowed and would never know it existed. 90% of the male teachers own and have used gun. We even have a teacher on campus that is REQUIRED to open carry due to his private security training, what better “captain” of on campus defense do you need than a man that the Criminal Court System in DFW uses to clean out the project housing from the gangs in DFW…
  
  Report this comment
RJJinGadsden
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:10am
Imagine that, adults finally acting like adults. Come on ENCINOM, cry all over this one like you have been lately. But, this school system is actively protecting their children.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:19am
  RJJ
  I’m going to have to report you to the Bully Police.
  LOL
  
  BTW what happend to Eeyore??
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:26am
  OLDSURFRAT, I just had Eeyore up for about 24 hours in hopes of making a point with SENDTHEMEATEEYORES. Every once in a while I’ll put up a different avatar like I did with the Crimson Tide banner when Alabama played for the SEC Championship then again for the National Championship. I had a great “Bite Me” avatar up for a short time quite some time back when JZS ticked me off one night.
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:44am
  Yea I responded a while back about you being a bama boy. I figured that’s why we get along since I am a FL boy and we are basically southern neighbors.
  I was doing a contract job accross AL last year. Birmingham was great and I loved the place. However was not much on Dothan.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:52am
  OLDSURFRAT, I hear you, I never cared much for Dothan myself. Florida, hunh? I lived in Tampa for about five years back in the ’70s before I joined the Army.
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:05am
  I stay away from Tampa / St Pete and also south FL other than the keys.
  I like northern FL where we acctually have trees (:
  Hey my home town boys wrote your states best song (sweet home AL)
  You know when I was a young kid one of them was dating our neighbors oldest daughter. They used to play sometimes in her garage. This was before they became famous.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:27am
  OLDSURFRAT, LOL, that song is the ring tone on my cell. I was driving down Armenia Ave in Tampa the first time I heard the song. That was back in the days when we used to go to Dino’s on South Dell Mabry to catch The Outlaws.
  Funny you should mention the Keys. The last time I was there was when my BN at Ft Bragg deployed there for the Mariel Boat Lift. A few hours after we were alerted we drove out Jeeps off the C130s and 141s at Homestead. Put the tops up, then our team convoyed out to Key Largo to the old missile sites at Card Sound.
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 11:16am
  Love me some green grass and high tides.
  
  Report this comment
thibx
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:08am
get the damn unions out of the classroom if teachers are not doing their job fire them. why should taxpayer keep uping your wages and paying your health care and retirement. nobody does it for me. do it yourself you are to greedy and lazy. arm the teachers. good at least texas get it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
OldSurfRat
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:06am
“The stars at night are big and bright”
clap clap clap clap
“Deep in the heart of Texas”

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- civilwarcometh
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:14am
  Texas has just as much progressive BS going on in it’s state as any other.http://twitchy.com/2013/01/25/sign-in-cairos-tahrir-square-obama-you-jerk-muslim-brotherhoods-are-killing-the-egyptians/
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:17am
  OLDSURFRAT, Dittos
  
  Report this comment
- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:24am
  Civil
  
  Yea but they got teachers with guns. Thats a step in the right direction.
  
  Of course I was such a punk a$$ in high school I may have been gunned down by some little old lady teacher and I would have deserved it. LOL
  
  Report this comment
Comeandtakeit
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:59am
In most rural areas of Texas and elsewhere there are already many people trained in gun safety who have handled guns all their lives. It makes all the sense in the world to let these people protect their schools with guns and should be left up to the local community to set the standards and select the people they know are good and responsible and willing to do this job. Cost effective and common sense; God bless Texas.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
kaydeebeau
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:57am
A few comments from an expert about the “Unarmed Victim Zones” in America.

http://blutube.policeone.com/police-training-videos/2098816784001-concealed-carry-in-schools

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
progressiveslayer
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:51am
It’s a great idea arm up and when the next nut case rolls in at least you’ll have a chance of winning.
Gun free zones are a dangerous place,too many deaths associated with them.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Sosorryforyou
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:02am
  Hardly. Gun-related violence most often DOES NOT happen in gun-free zones. Although gun violence in schools and other gun-free zones shocks us the most, it is still where gun-related violence happens the least. But pro-gun advocates are using this argument as one of the reasons to keep our children safe. In gun-related violence in this country, the one common denominater is GUNS – not gun-free zones.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 10:25am
  ‘Gun free zones’ are the product of idiot politicians pandering to their constitutionally illiterate constituents,they have no value other than convincing stupid people that politicians are trying to protect them with yet another unconstitutional law.
  
  Report this comment
- r3dbull4dd1kt
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:42pm
  Gun Free Zones = Target-Rich Environments…Anyplace that doesn’t recognize my RIGHT to carry my firearm (after an extensive background check which is an intrusion to my RIGHT of PRIVACY I might add) is a “No Fly Zone” for me–I avoid anyplace that doesn’t respect my right to self-protection…however, my son doesn’t have that choice!
  
  Schools are protected as “Gun-Free” by the Liberals…hiring professional armed guards is a pathetic attempt at further controlling citizens, wasting tax money and just the kind of idiotic thing I would expect from inept bleeding-heart Liberals
  
  Arming teaching staff, after proper training, is an EXCELLENT idea and anyone who thinks otherwise is unfathomably stupid
  
  Report this comment
MDECKER
Posted on January 25, 2013 at 8:49am
I think it is a great idea to arm teachers, unless they are members of the Wisconsin Teachers Association. Wisconsin teachers have demonstrated their lack of maturity and common sense over the last few years and they should probably be a group that is prohibited to possess any kind of weapon.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- flipper1073
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 9:18am
  That’s real simple.
  Ask them if they are a member of the NRA
  or a member of the NEA.
  If they are a member of the Union they have already
  proven that they are NOT Mentally Stable enough to
  Conceal Carry.
  This will work in the Red States
  not so much in the Blue States.
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.