MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — In the wake of a deadly Nashville elementary school shooting last month, two Republican lawmakers are proposing legislation for Wisconsin that could lead to staff carrying guns in school.
State representatives Scott Allen, R-97th District, and Cory Tomczyk, R-29th District, released a bill on Monday that would create an exception to the state law banning guns on school grounds, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
State and federal laws bar guns in schools. However, the federal Gun-Free Zones Act of 1990 creates an exception for people licensed by states to carry a handgun. The proposal from Allen and Tomczyk would extend that exception.
Under the proposed bill, a staff member could carry a gun on school property if they hold a concealed carry license and are employed by the school. Additionally, the school board would need to have adopted a policy that allows licensed employees to bring a gun to school. The proposal also waives the fees associated with obtaining a concealed carry license for teachers.
Allen and Tomczyk say the proposal is in response to a resolution from the Germantown School Board last summer, after the Uvalde school shooting.
The school board requested “that Wisconsin Concealed Carry Weapon statues be amended to allow a license holder to possess a firearm on school grounds and within school buildings if authorized by the local school district,” according to the board’s July meeting minutes.
Additionally, the board said that “the ‘gun-free school zone’ signs do nothing but notify a criminal there will be few, if any, people in the building that can defend themselves.” The board then goes on to write that “a sign stating STAFF IS ARMED AND TRAINED TO USE DEADLY FORCE’ sends a message that the school will not be an easy target.”
The resolution also calls on the state to provide “advanced defense and firearm training to all school staff that wish to attend.”
While the bill, and the resolution it is responding to, may be an effort to increase school safety, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has already vowed to veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.
Evers went to Twitter on Monday to denounce the bill.
“Wisconsinites have been desperately demanding commonsense proposals that will reduce gun violence and keep our kids, our schools, and our communities safe,” said Evers. “This bill isn’t among them.”
The governor continued, saying that he’s already vetoed a Republican-backed bill to allow loaded guns on school grounds. He said “increasing firearms on school ground won’t make our schools or our kids safer. So, let me be clear: I’ll veto any bill that weakens Wisconsin’s gun-free school zone law. Period.”
The proposed bill comes less than a month after the state Assembly passed a bill that would require schools that experience a high number of crimes to hire police officers and station them in their buildings.
