Bill on armed school staff, security officer funding passes Iowa House

Lawmakers in the Iowa House approved a measure Wednesday to provide permits for school staff to carry firearms on school grounds, despite Democratic opposition saying the measure will not improve school safety.

House File 2586 passed with a 61-34 vote. The legislation allows school personnel who meet training requirements to receive a permit for carrying a firearm on school grounds, in addition to taking other measures to bolster school security. The bill encourages school districts with 8,000 or more students to employ a school resource officer or security officer at facilities with students in grades 9 through 12 — though school boards are able to opt out of the provision.

The bill also establishes a School Security Personnel Grant, administered through the Department of Education, that would provide schools with up to $50,000 in matching funds to put toward hiring police or security officers for schools. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated the proposal would cost the state $15.1 million.

The bill does not deal with school insurance, but speakers with school districts that had previously authorized school personnel to carry firearms under current law said at a subcommittee meeting on the bill that insurance was the largest issue preventing them from enacting these policies. Administrators with the Spirit Lake Community School District said their insurer, EMC Insurance, informed the district that its liability insurance would not be renewed if the policy allowing armed staff on school campuses remained.

The bill was amended in committee to provide qualified immunity for the “application of reasonable force at the place of employment” for school districts with policies allowing staff to carry firearms, in an effort to address the issue of insurance coverage.

Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said the bill’s protection for insurance companies may allow districts with firearm policies to obtain insurance, but it does not address the problem that the insurance companies have identified.

“It does not reduce the risk to the student,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “This bill puts more children in the line of fire, and nothing is more frightening.”

Democrats criticized the bill for promoting school staff’s ability to carry firearms in schools. Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, brought up the Jan. 4 Perry High School shooting as a “stark reminder” for the need to improve safety for students, teachers and school staff. Scheetz said he understood Republicans introduced the bill as a means to make students safer in schools, but said that the measure was “not a serious bill to stop gun violence.”

He called for state lawmakers to instead pass bills on issues like responsible firearm storage, raising the minimum age for purchasing semi-automatic firearms and requiring background checks on gun sales — as well as passing laws to help improve school safety through threat assessment programs, security upgrades and emergency planning programs.

“I’m voting against this bill because it does nothing to prevent more gun deaths,” Scheetz said. “Instead, we should prioritize prevention, intervention and sensible gun legislation. … Instead of pursuing policies like this that will increase danger for children and our educators, let’s build a future where our schools are not minefields of dangerous weapons, but havens of learning.”

House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl pushed back against arguments that Iowa lawmakers should instead focus on funding for mental health and improving school safety infrastructure. He questioned his Republican colleagues on these issues, saying that lawmakers are currently considering bills to improve these aspects.

He also emphasized that the measure was voluntary, as school districts would have to adopt a policy to allow staff to carry firearms and school staff would have to voluntarily choose whether to carry on school grounds. But Windschitl said the topic of arming school staff is a “local control” issue — and a decision that school districts should be allowed to make on an individual basis.

“If some of our politicians out in Washington, D.C. are going to have guns that protect them, if we’re going to have business leaders that have firearms that protect them, if we’re going to have very rich people that have private security protect them, why would we not afford the same opportunity on a voluntary basis for people that are willing to go through the training, willing to take on this risk, willing to put their lives on the line for our children in an active shooter situation?” Windschitl said. “Why would we not give them the same opportunity and the same protection that all of those other people have?”

Several Democrats brought up the risks arming staff could cause during active shooter situations. Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, said problems could arise in situations where a police officer incorrectly identifies a teacher as an active shooter because they are carrying a gun, or where a teacher targets a shooter but a bullet hits a student.

Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, argued the measure was necessary as it provides more safety and response support than is currently available to some Iowa school districts. Wills said he has worked with the Spirit Lake school district in developing its plan for allowing school personnel to carry firearms, which was prompted by concerns over long response times for police to respond to a shooting.

He also said the bill will allow local school districts to make their own decisions on firearm carrying policies — a decision that some communities, like Spirit Lake, are in favor of implementing.

“I’ve heard so many people say, ‘Teachers don’t want it, parents don’t want it,'” Wills said. “Guess what, there was a school board election in Spirit Lake — all five seats were up for election. Guns in the school was the main issue, is one of the main issues for that election. All five seats that were filled, were filled by school board members that wanted guns in the schools and made it apparent that they wanted guns in the schools. … Now I’ll tell you, that, to me is a indication that the parents of Spirit Lake School District want guns in that school.”

The bill’s floor manager Rep. Phil Thompson, R-Boone, said House Republicans plan to move forward other measures on school safety yet this session, but that he believed “this bill is the single most important thing that we can do to keep our kids safe.” While issues like mental health support and school infrastructure are important — and issues that House Republicans plan to address — he said the firearm legislation is necessary to give school districts the tools needed to best respond to active shooter situations.

“Even with the best attempts to prevent these scenarios, bad things happen,” Thompson said. “And this bill ensures that more people in our school buildings are prepared to respond in the event of these emergency situations, protect our kids, and I believe this bill will save lives.”