Well, this is a headscratcher. While doing some citizen lobbying today at the N.C. General Assembly with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, we spoke with legislators about a bill filed earlier this week, H139. H139 would permit teachers and staff at certain private schools in Forsyth County, North Carolina, to possess and carry handguns on school grounds -- even in classrooms.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT AN EXECUTIVE HEAD AT ANY PRIVATE SCHOOL FUNDED EXCLUSIVELY WITH PRIVATE FUNDS AND LOCATED IN FORSYTH COUNTY MAY ADOPT A SCHOOL POLICY TO ALLOW CERTAIN SCHOOL EMPLOYEES TO POSSESS AND CARRY A HANDGUN ON THE EDUCATIONAL PROPERTY OF THE PRIVATE SCHOOL.
The bill is shrouded in mystery. Which private schools want to arm their teachers? Is it just one school, or more than one? Who made the request to the bill's sponsors, Rep. Debra Conrad (R-District 74, Forsyth Co.) and Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-District 75, Forsyth Co., and a former public school board member in Forsyth Co.)?
And why weren't the county's other NC House lawmakers, Rep. Evelyn Terry (D-District 71, Forsyth Co.) and Sen. Paul Lowe Jr. (D-District 32, Forsyth Co.), notified of the request for this bill? Oh. I see the reason for that. R = notification of bills affecting their districts; D = no notification of bills affecting their districts. Simple.
By this morning, it was announced that the private school in question is Salem Baptist Christian School, a privately funded school that teaches children in grades K-12. Their mission is simple:
THE MISSION OF SALEM BAPTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL is to challenge students to achieve in an academically excellent environment while nurturing their love for and service to God and others.
It should be noted that Salem Baptist Christian School is not in Rep. Conrad's district. It is not in Rep. Lambeth's district. It is, however, in both Rep. Terry's and Sen. Lowe's respective house and senate districts.
That's right: the bill is for one specific school, and that specific school doesn't lie within the districts of the two sponsors of the bill to arm teachers and staff at said school.
And this requires firearms? Maybe there's something about that quote from the Bible that says, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me," that I just don't understand. Or maybe Christian schools in Forsyth County aren't safe for children. We just don't know. It's a mystery.
And is Salem Baptist Christian School a truly private school funded exclusively with tuition and private donations, a criterion specifically written into the bill? Well ... actually, no. The school has a sizable population of students who attend with vouchers paid for by local, state, and federal government funding. So the school doesn't operate solely on private tuition. Hmmmm ...
When our Moms Demand Action group members visited Reps. Conrad and Lambeth, they were unable to point to any particular threat the school is facing that would require arming teachers and staff.
The plot thickened later this afternoon, when Winston-Salem's Camel City Dispatch reported that the school's headmaster, Martha Drake, responded to press inquiries: "We have had no contact with either Representative Conrad or Representative Lambeth regarding this bill."
Drake was adamant that the school's administration has never asked to have any such legislation pursued, and that she knows of no one who would be comfortable with guns on campus -- not in the hands of anyone.
However, at some point in the interview with Camel City Dispatch reporter Chad Nance, she did consider it possible that former Forsyth County Commissioner Mark Baker, who is Salem Baptist Christian School's secondary principal and assistant administrator, may have had private conversations with Reps. Conrad and Lambeth, but she added that as an assistant administrator, Baker doesn't represent the school.
As of this hour, Baker himself has made no statement.
So the mystery remains. For now.
But I'll be finding clues. So watch out, Miss Scarlett in the library with a handgun. Be careful, Col. Mustard in the kindergarten nap room with a Ruger. Take heed, Miss Peacock in the cafeteria with a Glock. We're going to find out who you are and why you want to arm Salem Baptist Christian School so bad that you went around the headmaster's back and ghostwrote some legislation.