Groups call on Gov. Cox to veto bill incentivizing teachers to carry guns in schools

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Critics of a Utah bill that seeks to incentivize teachers to carry guns in schools are urging Gov. Spencer Cox to veto the legislation, saying that more guns in the classrooms won’t make students safer.

Nancy Halden, spokesperson for the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, said at a Monday morning press conference that House Bill 119 was rushed through at the end of the legislative session with hardly any discussion from lawmakers.

Bill would reimburse gun-carrying Utah teachers for tactical firearms training

“The groups represented here have serious issues with this bill,” Halden said, adding that the groups planned to deliver a signed letter to the governor, asking him to veto the bill.

HB119, which was passed by the Utah Legislature last week on a party line vote, would create the “Educator-Protector Program,” which would reimburse gun-carrying Utah teachers who undergo annual firearms training.

State Sen. David Hinkins, R-Ferron, the bill’s floor sponsor, said on the Senate floor that the program was designed to “incentivize school teachers to responsibly secure or carry a firearm on school grounds” by providing reimbursement for training and liability protection.

Under the bill, teachers in the program wouldn’t be liable for “any civil damages or penalties” when carrying or using firearms in a school, so long as they are not “grossly negligent.”

“This is the most dangerous part of this bill,” Halden said, while speaking at the Utah Capitol Building. “If a person decides to carry a firearm, they must take responsibility … to be liable if that firearm harms another person.”

Stan Holmes, a retired Utah public high school teacher who also spoke at the press conference, said the bill was loaded with false assumptions about teachers.

“It wrongly assumes that teachers in a crisis with firearms will use them at least as responsibly as trained law enforcement officers,” he said.

Holmes, who described himself as an Army veteran, said he once participated in one of Utah’s half-day conceal permit classes, which a gun-carrying teacher would have needed to complete in order to be enrolled in the Educator-Protector Program.

“The class was a joke,” Holmes said. “Everyone passed, no problem. I left unconvinced that all the graduates could handle themselves in a crisis situation.”

Dee Rowland, of the Utah Citizens Council, said that the bill was the product of non-educators and gun lobbyists who think that arming teachers is the best way to keep classrooms safe in the event of an active shooter.

“Putting more guns in schools for safety’s sake is ludicrous,” she said.

Speaking to ABC4 in January, State Rep. Tim Jimenez (R-Tooele), the bill’s sponsor, said teachers who already carry concealed firearms came to him with the idea of reimbursement for tactical training.

“That way they feel a little bit more confident with the firearm they are carrying,” Jimenez said.

Under the bill, teachers in the program would remain anonymous, and they’d have to undergo approved tactical training once a year to stay in the program.

Additionally, these teachers would be able to store their guns on school grounds if the weapons are in a biometric safe. They’d also be able to have them in their car.

Should the governor sign the bill, or let it become law without his signature, it would go into effect on May 1.

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