Perry supports school district’s decision to allow guns

By JANET ELLIOTT 

Houston Chronicle

Aug. 18, 2008, 6:08PM

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that local school districts should be able to decide whether to allow concealed weapons on their campuses.

“I’m pretty much a fan that if you’ve been trained, if you are registered, then you ought to be able to carry a weapon,” he said.

Perry was asked about the policy of a tiny school district west of Wichita Falls, which may be the first in the nation to allow employees who are licensed to carry concealed handguns to bring their weapons to campus.

After the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech University, Perry expressed support for allowing Texans who are legally licensed to carry their concealed handguns anywhere, including churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.

Those premises are now off limits by state law to concealed handgun license holders. The chairman of the House Law Enforcement Committee said he plans to introduce legislation next year to allow concealed weapons at colleges and universities.

Harrold Superintendent David Thweatt said his school board unanimously passed the concealed weapon policy last October to protect employees and students in the case of an armed intruder or hostage situation.

The district’s lone K-12 school, with 110 students, sits near a major highway and is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff’s office.

Texas’ penal code prohibits firearms at schools “unless pursuant to the written regulations or written authorizations of the institution.”

A federal law bans guns on or near schools but has an exception for persons licensed by a state where the school is located to carry concealed handguns.

James Dark, executive director of the Texas State Rifle Association, said both federal and state law allow exemptions to support the policy adopted by Harrold ISD.

“I think they have a pretty clear and compelling reason to consider their security arrangement,” Dark said. “They’re out there on their own.”

Dark said he has not heard of other school districts considering similar policies. Houston school districts said last week they won’t follow Harrold ISD’s lead.

Marsha McCartney, president of the North Texas Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the training for a concealed carry license isn’t up to the level of law enforcement.

“It’s ridiculous to think that these people are going to have the expertise that law enforcement officers have,” she said. “I’m not sure a teacher with just a concealed carry permit is the person you want protecting your school.”

McCartney added that she is concerned about the message children in Harrold ISD may be getting.

“They are showing their children there’s lots to be afraid of. You’ve got to have a weapon on your body at all times or you’re in danger,” she said.

Perry mentioned the 1991 massacre at a Luby’s cafeteria in Killeen as an instance where allowing concealed weapons likely would have saved lives. The killings of 23 people, including the parents of former state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, by a lone gunman who then shot himself was a catalyst for passage of Texas’ concealed handgun law in 1995.