A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States.

The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt.

School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom.
Thweatt said it is a matter of safety.

"We have a lock-down situation, we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, 'What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?" he said. "It's just common sense."

Teachers who wish to bring guns will have to be certified to carry a concealed handgun in Texas and get crisis training and permission from school officials, he said.

Finally, a school district with some common sense.  I applaud their efforts.

  I doubt the teachers will be threatening with a gun, nor pistol whipping, students who fail to do their homework.

A school in our area last year had a gunman enter it.  I heard about it on the news as it was unfolding.  All the schools went into lockdown mode.  I could not get through to our school on the phone and nobody would say which school had the gunman in it for quite some time.  I didn't know if it was our school or not.  I cannot express the terror that I felt.  On that day, I wished that a teacher had a gun to protect my babies.  I would not have thought about it before this happened.  Now, I think about it.  There is no other form of protection once a crazy person gets inside the school.  They are left alone to do as they please and shot whomever they feel like.  The police, swat and so on will not enter the school until some time later which is often too late.  I don't blame them, they do a fantastic job but it takes precious minutes for them to even arrive on the scene after getting the call and then more minutes spent trying to assess the situation and make a game plan.  I respect them very much but when you have a child in a school with a gunman, you don't feel very secure that they are going to prevent further bloodshed.  As it turned out, our school was not the one targeted but for the time that I didn't know that, my heart was in my throat and I was completely helpless to take any action.

Most schools will not allow teachers to carry guns or weapons of any kind.  Instead, our kids are sent to school with the promise that they will be protected but that is impossible for them to promise as we all know.  The best we can do as parents is make a plan for our kids to follow in the event they are ever involved in such a horrible situation.  The school's plan is to have all the kids go hide in the nearest classroom and lock the door.  That is NOT good enough for me.  I tell my kids if they have the opportunity, get out the window and run fast!!!  I'm not about to let them die without a fighting chance.  The school cannot give that advice because it goes against their policy.  They are bound by the law to keep our children together in the school.  Kids are not allowed to leave the grounds because the school needs to have an accurate head count after any sort of disaster such as whether, accident or gunmen.  They are responsible for the whereabouts of our kids.  That was the response I got from the school.  Who cares about a head count when they are being shot at???  I will gladly call them after a shooting incident and tell them my kids are safe.  Go ahead and ask your schools what their policy is and I will bet you it is the same everywhere.  Talk to your kids and make a plan.  Give them some sort of tool to survive.  You may not like my idea of escaping out the window but from all the shootings that have taken place at schools, there has never been a gunman standing outside to my knowledge.  It is the best option I have come up with.  My children will be out the window and gone before the police even arrive.  I'm not about to let the schools pretend to protect my kids when they clearly cannot!!!  You shouldn't either.  Don't get me wrong, my kids follow all the rules and are great students but when their life is in danger, I give them my full permission to act against the school policy and protect themselves and hopefully others as well.  Perhaps the gunman will see them and try to shot them but they are a much harder target to hit while running away versus sitting on the floor in the classroom like a sitting duck.  Just my opinion.      

LOL, in my secondary substitute teaching days while in grad school, I joked about how nice it would be to have a whip, gun and chair like lion tamers.  Of course the lion tamers fire blanks.

Any more native Texans here?  Wonder if they will allow teachers guns in locations like Dallas or Houston? Is Houston still the crime capitol of the country? Where will the teachers carry? Maybe in a belly band holster like the AF used to issue to those charged with stopping high jacking on cargo planes? 

But there's not much out in that area of West Texas of this school district, but jack rabbits, rattle snakes an a few towns that might remind you of the one in "The Last Picture Show" for those who might remember that old movie.

Guess the late Charton Heston would be proud and the gun nuts ecstatic.

This is such a bad idea... it's scary.

 Hmmmm Guns in a school room... For some reason this video came immediately to mind;
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE3QAeYRk-A

  Number 1, The school district will allow them to carry after an extensive gun safety licensing ordeal.  Thats allow them, not force them. Second, After they have gone through the program they will learn that you never take the gun out of it's holster unless you are at home or the equivalent.  You are not allowed to just leave your gun lying around Willy-nilly, and you certainly are not allowed to leave it in your school desk.  Are you people afraid when the police are around you?  Are you afraid of the armed guard at the bank?  So then why should you be afraid of an armed, trained teacher?  They are sure to be more intelligent then many security guards.  I'm old enough to remember back when the public at large wasn't so terrified of guns in general. The media has been working the anti-gun issue harder then a catholic priest on a choir boys zipper.   With proper training, a firearm can save innocent lives. They are indispensable when faced with an armed assailant.  Thats why the police carry them.  Theres a lot of armed nuts out there.  It's time to level the playing field.

  If you have a CCP (concealed carry permit), the gun is on your person at all times when out in public, except in your car is the only time it is not in its holster.  Teachers will have their firearm on them at all times, NOT in their desk. Is that clear?