Today in Responsible Gun Ownership

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

14 September 14

believe the children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.

A Utah elementary school teacher who was carrying a concealed firearm at school accidentally shot herself in the leg when the weapon discharged in a faculty bathroom shortly before classes started Thursday morning, officials said. The teacher at Westbrook Elementary School, in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville, was severely injured when the bullet entered and exited her leg, and she was rushed to a hospital, Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley said. She was in good condition and alert at the hospital by midmorning, Horsley said.

And some poor kid went home and told his folks, "We got out early today because my teacher shot herself in the leg," and is now doing two-to-six in his room for lying.

Utah is among the few states that allow people with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns in public schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Teachers are not required to disclose that they are carrying a weapon, and administrators are prohibited from asking. Educators have said they have no way of determining how many Utah teachers are armed, but gun-rights advocates have estimated that 1 percent, or about 240 teachers in the state, are licensed to carry weapons.

In Utah, is that a category now on those house-finder sites? "The schools are really good, dear. Only one percent of the teachers are strapped."

The Granite School District requires teachers who carry guns at school to keep the weapons with them at all times, including inside a bathroom stall, Horsley said.

Well, that's something I didn't need to know. I wonder which brainiac in the state legislature made sure to add the latter codicil to the law. Whoever it was probably ran on it last time and for 94 percent of the vote. "Vote Waldo J. Wonderbread: Guns In The Johns For Freedom."

Some people are surprised to learn about Utah's law and ask why teachers are allowed to have guns, he said. ‘‘That's frankly not a question we can answer,'' Horsley said. ‘‘That is a question for the state legislature.''

Yeah, that'll work.