Here’s why we’re not arming teachers

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY)

June 03--Remember how a few months ago everybody was all gung-ho to arm teachers and put them in charge of school security?

But you don't hear much about that idea anymore, do you?

Ever wonder why?

Well, according to the Washington Post, insurance companies said, "No."

The story says that Kansas enacted a law allowing teachers to carry guns in the classroom.

But only a handful of schools are doing it.

The story said that EMC Insurance, the largest insurer of schools in Kansas, sent a letter to its agents saying that the company "has concluded that concealed handguns on school premises poses a heightened liability risk."

Some legislators responded with a bill to prevent the insurance companies from raising rates for schools with armed teachers.

But it went nowhere.

"There's not a lot of carriers that want to insure that risk," Nate Walker, a senior vice president at insurer AmWINS Group, told the Post.

The story quotes the International Risk Management Institute as saying that last fall's mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead cost insurers more than $1 billion.

It said that insurers generally like the idea of more trained police officers in schools, but frown on arming janitors or teachers.

"Putting in more resource officers -- that's additional security -- we feel that makes it safer," Paul Marshall, of McGowan Program Administrators, told the newspaper. "It's different when you start pushing it to arming teachers, volunteers, voluntary security."

Ken Trump, a school safety expert, told the Post that insurance companies can sometimes be too conservative in assessing risks, but he agreed with the industry's reluctance to support the move toward armed teachers.

"It may be well intended," Trump said, "but it is not well thought out."

So, it looks like teachers will be able to teach and not worry about security.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com

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