Arizona Bill Allows Guns in Schools

(Phoenix, Arizona) Out of concern that existing policies do not provide adequate protection, Arizona Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, and Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, have proposed allowing concealed-weapons permit holders to take guns on school grounds.

The proposal, Senate Bill 1214, would exempt concealed-carry permit holders from a state law that bars individuals from knowingly carrying deadly weapons onto school property.

If it becomes law, the measure would allow teachers and anyone else with a valid permit to carry their weapon onto the grounds of any public or private K-12 school, college or university in the state.

Supporters say the measure would provide an additional ring of security on campuses hit with a string of shootings in recent years. The most recent of which was last year's at Virginia Tech, which left 33 dead. The shootings have come in spite of heightened campus security and policies that are increasingly aimed at scrubbing any and all weapons from school grounds.

Obviously, gun control measures to keep weapons out of schools simply haven't worked. Even so, gun-control advocates are uncomfortable with the proposed measure. Expect heated debate.