Nashville teacher’s arrest for threatening preschool raises questions over arming teachers bill
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A teacher accused of threatening to shoot up a Nashville preschool has some parents questioning whether arming teachers is a good idea.
“We’ve done nothing, unfortunately, and we are just in the mode waiting for the next tragedy, and hopefully, after the next tragedy, we will act,” state Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) said.
This news comes as a bill allowing armed teachers in public schools moves through Tennessee’s legislature.
Teacher accused of threatening to pull gun on another teacher, students at Nashville preschool
On Thursday, April 18, authorities said they received a call about a teacher at The Academy of McCrory Lane — later identified as 29-year-old Sheneca Cowart — threatening to pull a firearm on another teacher and students, putting the school on lockdown.
According to a Davidson County affidavit, a coworker heard Cowart say things such as, “When I start shooting, you better run.” Another teacher reportedly heard Cowart say “she was going to shoot up the school and that she keeps her gun on her.”
The Metro Nashville Police Department said officers discovered a loaded handgun in her purse in the classroom where she was found, along with another firearm in the driver’s side door of her vehicle.
Mitchell said all of this happened very close to home: “It’s not only in my district, it’s at the end of my street, so, unfortunately, people in today’s times, they settle arguments these days with guns.”
The bill that’s already passed the Senate would allow faculty or staff members of a school to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds under certain conditions.
However, Mitchell said the bill would cause more problems than protective measures.
“Let’s say there is an active shooter in the school, and the police come,” Mitchell said. “How are the police going to know who’s a teacher with a weapon and who’s the active shooter? The police are going to take down anyone with a gun.”
Teachers who decide to carry would need 40 hours of annual gun training at their own expense. In addition, they need to pass a mental health evaluation, an FBI background check, and approval from the school director.
Is it effective to arm teachers? Gun safety advocates say look at other states
In a previous interview, state Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville), the author of the House bill, said that before this legislation is passed in the House, he looks forward to communicating its purpose so everyone can better understand it.
“I need the opportunity really to communicate well what the bill actually does,” Williams said. “And I think in the process of doing that, I think people might be a little bit more pleasantly surprised that the actual details of the bill don’t match the rhetoric or dialogue that they might hear on the news.”
A Republican spokesperson told News 2 the bill would not have applied in the case of Thursday’s incident because it’s meant for public schools.
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News 2 contacted several Republican lawmakers behind the House and Senate versions of the bill for an interview. Nobody was available for comment.
However, Republicans previously said armed teachers could save lives in rural areas without school resource officers.
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