GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – All schools across Wisconsin are gun free zones, but a proposal in the state legislature could change that and allow teachers to be armed.
Right now in Wisconsin, state law prohibits guns from being brought onto school property. Scott Allen, R-97th District, is proposing a change to that law. He says, “When it comes our kids, our schools and protecting them in schools, I think we should keep all options on the table.”
Allen authored a bill that would allow individual school boards to voluntarily choose to create their own concealed carry policies. It’s a move that could legally arm teachers who possess concealed carry permits.
“If one community doesn’t want to do that at all, then they voice that to their school board, and their school board acts accordingly. If another school district says, this is entirely appropriate for us, they can then implement their own policies,” adds Allen.
Critics of the idea are vehemently opposed to arming teachers.
According to State Rep. Lori Palmeri, D-54th District, “I absolutely do not agree with that; my constituents don’t agree with that. Folks who work in the school system, students — that is not what they’re looking for as an answer to this.”
But one state lawmaker, State Rep. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-19th District, who’s taught in a college setting and found herself facing a potential threat in her classroom, understands this is a controversial topic but one that needs to be discussed.
She says, “All of our chairs are screwed to the ground, our tables are screwed to the ground, the doors are up on the top of the pod and there’s nothing to lock them with. For me, personally, I wish I would have been able to carry to protect my students because I don’t know how I would have.”
Others, however, don’t see how they could harm one of their students, even if they were posing a threat.
“I think that would be probably the most difficult decision to make for an educator because you take on those students as your own. They’re your family, you treat them like your own kids and that would be like shooting your own child,” says Brent Bergstrom, President of the Green Bay Education Association.
Allen says when a school is under attack, every second counts and he believes his proposal is one that should at least be considered for everyone’s safety, adding, “Is this a perfect solution? No, it’s not a perfect solution. Is it a possible solution? Yeah.”
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says even if this bill receives enough support to pass the state legislature, he will veto it.
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