West Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates has voted to allow teachers and other school staff who undergo training to carry guns in K-12 public schools.

West Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow teachers and other school staff who undergo training to carry guns in K-12 public schools.

The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would allow teachers, administrators and support personnel with concealed carry permits to volunteer to bring a firearm into school with the intention of using it to defend the school in case of an active shooter event. Designated a “school protection officer,” the staffer wouldn’t receive any additional compensation for doing so.

Supporters say not every school system in West Virginia can afford to hire a full-time school resource officer. This program would provide another option.

Before the vote, Republican Del. Dave Foggin of Wood County, a physics teacher, said he can’t think of anything worse than shooting someone in his classroom. But he said if that person came into his school trying to hurt his students, he would do it.

  • Behaviorbabe
    2•9 months ago

    Hey, specifically to address the hide question and no other part of the conversation: I’ve worked in a lot of schools. So, in many classrooms, it’s absolutely impossible to hide effectively. I told my last room if something real happened we just needed to take our kids and run. It was a death trap in a shooter situation. Some examples would be doors in-between rooms, doors that don’t lock, doors that do lock with glass panes, outside doors that were mostly glass. Single-exits with no locking doors and no windows so you’d be trapped. I hate having to think like this. Certain rooms are insanely vulnerable. I’ve consulted in a middle school that was like a fortress too. But all the elementary schools were pretty much the same.

    • Flying Squid
      2•9 months ago

      Sounds like there’s nowhere for a teacher to hide a gun either in that case.

      Also, students in Uvalde literally talked about hiding from the shooter.

      https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/s-time-die-students-describe-harrowing-moment-gunman-entered-uvalde-te-rcna30617

      Not only did they hide from him, they hid from him in the cafeteria. And they still survived.

      So I’m still suggesting maybe “hide and die” isn’t the only option other than “teachers with guns.”

      • Behaviorbabe
        2•9 months ago

        Yeah there’s no place for a gun in a school. Even on the best days staff are all over the place. It’s a bit of organized chaos, ya know. And some schools are really small. So if someone comes in the front door your chances of getting to safer spot are slim. My last one was literally a hallway and booking it out the back door was our crisis plan (like I said, death trap).

      • @fuckwit_mcbumcrumbleEnglish
        -2•9 months ago

        Sounds like there’s nowhere for a teacher to hide a gun either in that case.

        You don’t hide a gun, you carry it. Tucked away inside your clothing hidden in a way that nobody should be able to see it. A gun hidden away during an emergency is useless.