Barely 12 hours after Rick Snyder had the good sense to veto a bill that would have allowed concealed weapons in schools and day care centers, word comes out that a state rep in South Carolina has tabled a bill that would allow public school employees with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns on school property. Apparently the bill's author must be taking his cue from Louie "Defensive Wounds" Gohmert.
The bill comes less than a week after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people – including 20 children – at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. It was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
“The people who are doing these heinous crimes realize that there are no guns at all in a school. All they have to do is get ... in the door,” said state Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence, who proposed the bill. “Even with one person watching the door, all (a shooter) has to do is take that one person out and they know the rest of the school is completely defenseless.
“This (bill) would put doubt in that person’s mind.”
Read the full text
here. It's not much better than the bill Snyder just deep-sixed in Michigan. At least this bill allows school boards the final say on whether a teacher or another school employee can bring his or her gun onto school property. But it's still a wrongheaded move. All you need is one gun to accidentally go off and kill a five-year-old.
Scott Price, general counsel for the South Carolina School Boards Association points out that the bill is not only dangerous, but it's unnecessary. Most schools already have armed resource officers on site.
Kossacks in South Carolina need to pester their legislators--tell them to make sure this bill doesn't get out of committee.