Congress

Could Insurance Premiums Stop States From Arming Teachers?

In the wake of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, bills that would legalize arming teachers have been introduced in seven states

A Kansas law passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre could show what happens when a state allows school staff members to arm themselves, NBC News reported.

State lawmakers hadn't taken costly insurance premiums into account, and no Kansas school employee has legally brought a gun onto a public school campus since the law passed five years ago. The liability insurance company that covers most school districts in Kansas had advised its agents that, due to higher risk, "we have chosen not to insure schools that allow employees to carry concealed handguns."

Now, in the wake of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, bills that would legalize arming teachers have been introduced in seven states.

But one Kansas lawmaker who was a longtime Wichita school board member worries a law under consideration there "is a situation where legislators who didn't know anything about insurance are making rules that won't work."

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