Utah Schools Prohibited From Asking Teachers If They Carry Concealed — With Stipulations…

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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — According to Utah legislators, the interpretation of the law does not grant school districts the ability to ask teachers if they are carrying a concealed firearm or not.  This was determined after KSL was asked by a parent if there was a list of teachers who concealed carried in the state of Utah and which school systems they worked in.

By Utah law, teachers are legally allowed to carry a concealed firearm into the classroom with them and administrators are not allowed to ask which teachers have them.  But there is a catch.  According to Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsely, many districts prohibit their teachers from using school property to store their firearms.

“District property may not be used to hide, cover or secret of firearm. A lawfully concealed firearm must be within the employee’s immediate control at all times. Employees must recognize that students could gain access to a firearm that is not properly concealed or controlled.”

The fear, as illustrated by Horsely’s statements to KSL, is that a student may somehow purposefully or inadvertently gain access to a teacher’s desk and discover a firearm.  Thus, a teacher is not under any obligation to disclose her firearm so long as she doesn’t use school property or doesn’t print or show.

via KSL

“The state office has indicated that, frankly, under the interpretation of the law we can’t ask,” said Horsely. The State Office of Education confirmed: districts are not allowed to ask teachers whether they have a concealed weapons permit and whether they are carrying a weapon.

So it’s settled.  In Utah, teachers can carry concealed.  Administrators can’t legally ask.  That sounds like a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy we all can live with.

 

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About the Author

GH is a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and has served as a defense contractor in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His daily concealed carry handgun is a Glock 26 in a Lenwood Holsters Specter IWB or his Sig Sauer SP2022 in a Dara Holsters Appendix IWB holster.

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