BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana lawmakers are hearing from their constituents to do something in the wake of the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
It claimed the lives of 19 elementary school students and two teachers.
“That is one thing I’ve heard over and over again, that we’ve got to do something for school safety,” Sen. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales, said.
A senate committee approved a series of amendments urged by Lambert.
The changes basically gutted the permit-less carry bill that was up for a vote.
The bill, as amended, would allow school districts to appoint volunteer “school protection officers” to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Those teachers and school administrators would be required to take a police training course and obtain a permit to carry weapons in the school.
“What we have to do is focus on reasonable solutions and that reasonable solution is more security in the schools,” Lambert said. “To me, it’s a common-sense approach to try to deal with this situation.”
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers is against the idea.
LFT called it an added burden for overworked and underpaid educators.
“They’re asking for an educator in a moment of extreme duress, to switch from a role of professional educator into a law enforcement officer,” LFT Political Director Cynthia Posey said. “We’re asking an educator to possibly kill a child they have taught.”
Teachers have a right to expect that their schools will be safe, and that public officials and security officers will keep them safe, Posey added.
“Why don’t we look at having someone who has the training, who has done this as a professional fulfill this role in our schools, rather than teachers who their professional training is to educate,” she said.
Sen. Pat Connick, R-Marrero, was against the original bill, but voted for the amendments.
Connick admits the measure isn’t perfect. He says action must be taken to help curb school violence.
“I don’t know if we can do something to prevent it, at least we’re going to try,” Connick said. “Things are getting out of control. Innocent lives are being lost and we can’t stand for that.”
When asked why the permit-less carry provisions were not left in the bill, Gonzales said allowing adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit and no training had little hope of becoming law.
“I think this is the last chance to try and do something because we can’t file any additional bills. I think with the safety involved and the situation we had, that this is something that I don’t think we can pass up," he said.
Louisiana’s legislative session ends on Monday.
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