Missouri Bill Reconsidered to Allow Teachers to Carry Concealed

Missouri already permits school districts to appoint trained teachers or administrators to carry concealed handguns. But now, with Senate Bill 656, there will be a set criteria for the process that school districts can appoint and train teachers or administrators as designated school protection officers.

The process would go like this…

Currently, school districts may select and assign at least one teacher or administrator to carry either a concealed handgun or a self-defense spray device. However now, the school board seeking to do this would be obligated to hold a public meeting on the issue.

Following the public meeting, there would be a closed meeting with the school board. Here, it would be decided which of the proposed personnel would be selected as designated protection officers and what they would be allowed to carry concealed.

The protection officers’ personal information would be to be sent to the Department of Public Safety. The director would then compile a list of the designated school protection officers available to all law enforcement agencies. The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission would create the standardized curriculum for this training.

The designated school protection officer must personally hold onto the concealed gun or spray at all times while on school property. If a designated school protection officer violates this rule, he or she may be punished with a Class B misdemeanor, immediate removal from the classroom and being fired.

When Governor Jay Nixon vetoed the bill, he stated that arming teachers to keep schools safe “is simply the wrong approach” and “would not make schools safer.”

Long story short, the process to appoint school teachers or administrators to carry concealed is becoming a longer process. What are your thoughts on this issue? Would lengthening the process better protect students, faculty, and staff in schools?