By filling out this form, you are signing on to the following letter. Signatures will be added to the electronic version of this letter, displayed here. We also intend to print the letter with signers and deliver it to Governor Bill Lee, and Tennessee Legislators including bill sponsors Representative Williams & Senator Paul Bailey.
Dear Tennessee General Assembly,
As educators, faculty, staff, and parents in Tennessee, we ask you to oppose
SB1325/HB1202. We were devastated to see this pass the senate April 9th and must take action prior to going to the house floor. We strive to create a learning environment where students and staff feel safe and are provided with adequate security including highly trained security professionals should the school choose.
HB1202/SB1325 would permit teachers with direct student responsibility as well as other school personnel to carry firearms on school property and in classrooms, without allowing parents or school staff other than the principal, to know who these individuals are. These individuals would be required to complete 40 hours of training.
Both the FBI & National Association of School Resource Officers recommendations for violence prevention in schools do not support arming individuals with direct student responsibility.
In the event of an active shooting, the main purpose of armed school security is to neutralize the threat and prevent loss of life and bodily harm. Anyone who hasn’t received extensive training, such as that provided to law enforcement officers, will likely be mentally unprepared to take a life, especially the life of a student assailant. Such training should include many things such as threat assessment, deescalation, how to work with students with disabilities, school law, trauma informed practice, and most importantly - specific armed assailant response. Many of these requirements were specifically voted down in proposed amendments for SB1325 against NASRO and FBI recommendations.
Armed staff and civilians in schools are not law enforcement and complicate any law enforcement response to an active shooter, which puts students, teachers and staff at risk.
The range of accuracy for a pistol in the hands of a trained police officer is 10-15 yards. The range of accuracy for an amateur shooter with a rifle, the weapon of choice for most school shooters, is greater than 100 yards leaving even a highly trained police officer at risk to be outgunned, much less an untrained civilian. Anyone possessing a firearm on campus must be able to keep it both ready for immediate use and absolutely secure. They must receive training that enables them to overcome attempts to access their weapons. Firearm skills also diminish quickly, which is why most law enforcement agencies require their officers to practice on a shooting range frequently, under simulated, high-stress conditions. While we all want safe schools and an end to gun violence, arming teachers with guns is not the way. It ignores research that shows the presence of a gun increases the risks posed to children: There have been multiple incidents of students and teachers finding misplaced firearms in bathrooms, locker rooms and sporting events. Discharging a firearm in a crowded school is an extremely risky action, with consequences that can include the wounding and/or death of innocent victims.
Governor Lee and our general assembly have already taken steps to improve school safety including $230 million dollar school safety funding package that provides $140 million for armed SROs at schools, $54 million to increase physical safeguards and security upgrades, $30 million for homeland security agents to coordinate school safety responses, and $8 million for enhanced mental health services for students. Additionally, there is a statewide school resource officer program grant that can be used by both public and private schools.
We must ensure every student, at every school, has proper security to ensure they are truly safe when their parents drop them off each morning, not improper security measures that could place students and staff at risk for harm. Ultimately, we need preventative measures against gun violence so no other community in our state experiences the tragedy that took place at The Covenant School did on March 27th, 2023.
Please, in honor of the lives lost March 27, 2023, and for the safety of all Tennesseans, we ask that you oppose any proposal that allows teachers, especially those with direct student responsibility, to carry firearms.
Signed letter can be found here
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