RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is warning a rural school district that its plan to arm teachers is unlawful.
Herring’s office released an opinion Tuesday saying the school board in Lee County should not proceed with its plan to let an undisclosed number of teachers and staff members carry guns in school.
The board voted in July to arm teachers, saying it’s a cost-effective way to protect against school shootings. The board wants school employees who carry guns to be designated as “special conservators of the peace” to try and exempt them from state law prohibiting guns in schools.
But Herring, a Democrat, said this board’s plan is still prohibited by law and arming teachers would make schools less safe.
The statement said in part:
The law already provides several options for employing armed security personnel with full law enforcement training, but the law doesn’t allow for the arming of unqualified personnel, and for good reason. The introduction of unqualified personnel with guns raises the likelihood of a tragic accident, or potentially catastrophic confusion during an emergency. … For five years in a row the General Assembly rejected specific proposals to arm teachers, so there’s really no ambiguity.
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