Kentucky school district moves to let teachers carry concealed guns

A Kentucky county school board has voted in favor of a preliminary measure that would allow faculty members to carry concealed guns in schools.

During a public safety meeting Monday night, the Pike County School Board voted unanimously to allow its attorney to work with the Pike County Sheriff to begin formalizing a program that would allow teachers to pack heat on campus.

The measure would allow school employees to volunteer as concealed-carry guards at schools throughout the county, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

“Each volunteer would be subject to a background test, drug test, mental evaluation, and a qualification course, including firearms training, led by the Sheriff’s Office, which offered to provide the training for free,” the newspaper said.

Pike County Schools Superintendent Reed Adkins told the Herald-Leader that he expects the board to approve the program in the coming weeks, and to have armed staff in schools by the fall.

“You hope you’re making the right decision for kids, but I know right now something’s got to be done,” Mr. Adkins said. “We may be criticized, but at the end of the day, I’ll take criticism to protect my students.”

Nearly all the teachers, parents and administrators who spoke at Monday’s meeting supported the measure, the Herald-Leader reported.

“This program … could be a model for the rest of the state and, possibly, the country,” said Democratic state Sen. Ray Jones.

The measure was prompted by a deadly shooting last month at Marshall County High School in Western Kentucky, where two 15-year-old students were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded, as well as the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting on Feb. 14 that claimed the lives of 17 students and faculty members.