Governor Nixon: Don't Arm Missouri School Teachers

Legislation that would allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to carry guns in school has the support of Missouri House Republican leaders.

A spokesman for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced Monday that Nixon has sent letters to all 520 public school superintendents in the state, opposing legislation that would allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to carry their weapon at school. The bill for the 2013 legislative session was filed following the Newtown, CT shooting which left 26 people, including 20 children, dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is co-sponsored by House Republican leaders, including House Speaker Tim Jones and Majority Leader John Diehl. “Here in Missouri we have a strong framework of laws to protect students and educators, such as the Missouri Safe Schools Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in 1996. Current law also allows local …

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Blog: Clayton Parent Says Teachers Should Teach, Not Be Police

Districts should re-evaluate their safety plans and assess whether to add more security, depending on the local needs, not as an emotional reaction to a horrific situation. They should not, however, ask teachers to become that security force.

St. Louis County Police Chief Wants to Arm School Officials With Guns

In the wake of the Newtown, CT school massacre, St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch will visit schools this week to discuss increasing security, including putting guns in elementary schools.

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch and police officers will begin visiting St. Louis County schools Monday morning, according to KMOV. Fitch said he's received numerous calls from area schools concerned about security since Friday's mass shooting in a Newtown, CT elementary school.  Follow Maplewood-Brentwood Patch on  Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our newsletter Fitch acknowledges that most high schools and some middle schools, including those in West County, have armed school resource officers.  However, elementary schools are not normally protected by officers. Fitch wants to see armed resource officers or armed school officials in those schools, according to KSDK. He points out that Sandy Hook Elementary School …

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