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US school district lets teachers tote guns

A tiny Texas school district will allow teachers and staff members to carry concealed firearms to protect against school shootings when classes begin this month, provided the gun-toting employees follow certain requirements.

The small community of Harrold in north Texas is a 30-minute drive from the Wilbarger County Sheriff’s Office, leaving students and teachers without protection, Harrold Independent School District Superintendent David Thweatt said. The lone campus of the 110-student district sits near a heavily traveled highway, which could make it a target, he said.

“When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that’s when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can’t defend themselves? That’s like saying sic ‘em to a dog,” Thweatt said in a story published on Friday on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Web site.

Barbara Williams, a spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Boards, said her organization did not know of another district with such a policy. Ken Trump, an Ohio-based school security expert, said Harrold was the first district with such a policy.

Trustees approved the policy change last year. For employees to carry a pistol, they must have a license to carry a concealed handgun, be authorized to carry it by the district, receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have ammunition designed to minimize the risk of ricocheting bullets.

“The naysayers think [a shooting] won’t happen here. If something were to happen here, I’d much rather be calling a parent to tell them that their child is OK because we were able to protect them,” Thweatt said.
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