Insurance companies and the National Rifle Association (NRA) don’t see eye to eye when it comes to plans to arm teachers with rifles, with one company claiming it refuses to cover districts that choose to put guns into the hands of educators.
Following the Newtown, Conn. school shooting that left more than 20 children dead, solutions to the dilemma of America’s gun violence began to pop up from across the political spectrum. Gun buyback programs were launched among those who sought to rid the streets of dangerous weapons, yet Second Amendment advocates called for more guns, especially in the hands of teachers.
The latter was the direction taken by the Kansas lawmakers, who in July passed legislation that allowed teachers and custodians to carry weapons in school, so long as they held a concealed carry permit.
The move comes after the May arrest of a Wichita, Kans. teacher who was caught carrying a gun on school property. While the teacher, Daniel Nagel, had a permit to carry, he was in violation of the law, and was charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon.
The new law, if implemented by school boards, would encourage teachers to do the very thing that got Nagel arrested, a scenario that has one insurance company threatening to drop coverage if implemented.
Now, Iowa-based ECM Insurance is warning Kansas school districts that it will refuse to issue new coverage plans for those districts that adopt policies allowing teachers to wield guns in the classroom. The company holds insurance policies for nearly 90 percent of the state’s school districts, creating a major roadblock for any school board that choses to move in that direction.
The scenario playing out in Kansas isn’t hindering other states from moving ahead with similar legislation. One district in Arkansas is implementing a policy that would allow teachers to carry weapons, as long as they complete 53 hours of training.
Similar laws exist in South Dakota, Arizona and Alabama. Prior to Sandy Hook, Texas was already allowing teachers to carry weapons, as long as they went through school marshal training.
ECM recognizes heightened danger
While rationale for more weapons in schools relies on the argument that the only way to stop a shooting is for a “good guy with a gun” to stop the bad one, insurance companies don’t agree.
“We’ve been writing school business for almost 40 years, and one of the underwriting guidelines we follow for schools is that any on-site armed security should be provided by uniformed, qualified law enforcement officers,” EMC Vice President for Business Development Mick Lovell told the Des Moines Register. “Our guidelines have not recently changed.”
EMC claims its announcement isn’t political, it’s just simply a reflection of the formula it uses to assess the risk of its investment.
“We understand that school districts have every right to decide which way they want to go,” ECM’s Wichita-based resident vice president told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “But we have to make the decision based on what we perceive to be our best financial interest.”
While Kansas schools have armed security guards, allowing teachers and other employees to do so falls into a different category — even if they have their permit to carry, in the eyes of the insurance company, they’re not equipped to handle emergency situations.
The claims made by ECM Insurance serve only as a warning at this point, as school boards would have to pass measures allowing weapons in the school before any action is taken.The insurance company did, however, send out a cautionary letter, informing districts what would happen if they chose to implement the new rule.
“We are making this underwriting decision simply to protect the financial security of our company,” the letter stated.
For the lawmakers who worked to pass the piece of legislation, insurance companies have it all wrong.
“I’m not an insurance expert, but it’s hard for me to believe that if schools and other public buildings allow law-abiding citizens to carry them that it increases risk — it’s news to me,” Republican Kansas State Sen. Forrest Knox, who rallied for the bill’s passage, told the Register. “Law enforcement responds better (to school shootings now), but it still takes a few minutes, and a lot of damage can be done in a few minutes.”
A look behind the legislation
The risk of lost insurance policies wasn’t on the minds of legislatures when they debated the bill that now gives school boards powers to allow teachers and custodians to carry guns on school grounds.
Known as the Personal and Family Protection Act, the bill was passed in the wake of the Newtown shooting and the release of the NRA’s task force report outlining how best to deal with the issue of school violence.
Yet it didn’t just touch on issues related to weapons in schools.
In addition to opening the door for weapons to be allowed on school grounds, it also created a loophole for weapons to be welcome in all public areas, libraries and legislative buildings included.
While being debated in the House, Democratic Rep. John Wilson warned fellow legislatures that the revised Act could take the state in the wrong direction, rolling back limits to areas where weapons are allowed to be taken.
“This is not an insignificant mistake,” Wilson told the Wichita Eagle.
The Northeast Kansas Library System has since posted a resource on its website for other state libraries to follow. Its post details the choices libraries have under the new version of the Personal and Family Protections Act.
To comply with the Act, libraries have to either ensure that no weapons would enter the building by installing “adequate security measures” that often exceeded budget, seek a temporary exemption from the Act, or allow people with permits to enter the building with their guns.
NRA’s influence
The National Rifle Association’s National School Shield Task Force, directed by former Arkansas Republican Rep. Asa Hutchinson, included robust support for training and arming teachers to carry guns in the classroom.
“Teachers should teach, but if there is personnel that has interest and is willing to go through 40 to 60 hours of (firearms) training, then schools should be willing to (arm them),” Hutchinson said, according to the Huffington Post, adding that teachers were in the opportune position to respond to security threats.
The task force proposed 40 to 60 hours of training before teachers would be permitted to keep weapons in their desks. The report pegged the price at roughly $1,000 per teacher. As part of the report, the NRA claimed states should pass legislation that limits restrictions on who can carry firearms on school grounds.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” NRA’s chief lobbyist Wayne Pierre famously said in the press conference that spurred the task force into action.
The move in Kansas was seen as a direct response to the NRA’s call for increased security. Yet, unlike other states, its only requirement for teachers to carry weapons on school grounds was a permit to carry.
Other states that have picked up similar legislation require teachers to undergo training before being allowed to carry a gun in school. In the latest Arkansas case, teachers are required to undergo 53 hours of training. In addition, they’ll receive a $1,100 stipend to purchase a gun and holster for the classroom.