Legal Clips, [September 2007]An Oregon high school teacher is arguing she has the right to carry a concealed semiautomatic pistol to her classes to protect herself from a violent ex-husband, in a case certain to set off alarm bells in schools across the state. In a standoff with the Medford School District (MSD), the teacher may go to court to ask a judge to allow her to carry a Glock 19 9 mm pistol to school. There is no appellate law in Oregon that would cover this situation. Under Oregon law, people with concealed handgun licenses can carry guns into public buildings. What is murky in the law is whether school districts can stop employees from carrying concealed weapons onto school property. Most Oregon schools have policies against employees¯and in some cases the general public¯carrying concealed weapons onto their property. "I was shocked when I heard this was an issue," says MSD attorney Tim Gerking. The woman says she has had a concealed handgun license for about three years but will not say whether she has carried the gun to school. When confronted by school authorities in May, "My administrator told me ... that if they had any reason to suspect I was I would be searched, I would be arrested and the board would take action against me." Medford superintendent Phil Long verifies that the teacher has told school officials she is not currently carrying her gun. The teacher says she is a longtime member of the National Rifle Association. Her legal bills are being paid for by a foundation of the Oregon Firearms Federation. She has a restraining order against her ex-husband, and court records show the teacher has accused her former husband of hitting her and threatening to kill her numerous times.
MSD officials maintain the teacher is not committing a crime if she carries the gun but would violate district policy if she brought the gun into school. James E. Leuenberger, the teacher’s attorney, argues the school board's policy conflicts with state law, which allows anyone with a valid concealed handgun license to carry a gun in a public school building. Some other school districts in the state have more expansive policies than MSD, making it a rule that no one except police can bring guns onto school property. Even if those rules are unenforceable, they're on the books and school personnel act as if they count. Rebekah Cook, attorney for the Oregon School Boards Association, believes school districts are on sound legal footing when they prohibit employees from bringing concealed weapons to work, even when they have a legal permit to do so. In a 2001 case, the Oregon Employment Relations Board ruled that the state's concealed weapons law does not prohibit a public agency from making no guns at work a condition of employment. A North Clackamas School District janitor who sued the district after it fired him in 1999 for bringing a concealed weapon to campus brought what was expected to be a test case in 2000. Custodian Greg King dropped his suit after the district pointed out that a concealed handgun license allows the holder to carry a gun hidden on his body, whereas Mr. King left his semiautomatic weapon in a backpack in an elementary school's elevator. State Senator Ginny Burdick has backed legislation to let schools bar concealed weapons from campus¯but has gotten few lawmakers to vote her way. She says fear of the National Rifle Association, not public opinion, is what causes Oregon lawmakers to kill the idea year after year.
Oregonian By Peter Sleeth & Betsy Hammond
[Editor’s Note: For information on other laws or proposals to allow teachers to carry firearms, see below. Some school boards elsewhere that are deprived by state lawmakers of discretion over this question report that they require all non-security employees and visitors to assume personal liability for any harm arising from the presence of weapons they bring to school.]
NSBA School Law pages on armed teachers