A legislative committee today will discuss the law on guns in school, an outgrowth of the determination that the law doesn’t currently allow school districts to license their own employees as security guards for the purpose of carrying weapons. Clarksville had hoped to put nearly two dozen armed staff members, including teachers, in its schools this year until an attorney general’s opinion prompted a state licensing board to suspend permits it had granted.

Only a handful of school districts have sought broader arming power. But this being Arkansas and guns being inviolate, many of the usual legislative suspects are rushing to support the cause of more guns in school.


These include Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who’s leading the legislative hearing today. Hat tip to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Brenda Bernet for unearthing this:

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hutchinson became interested in arming school personnel, he said. He was invited to attend an “active shooter” training and – using a rubber bullet-loaded pistol – he mistakenly shot a teacher who was confronting a “bad guy.” The experience gave Hutchinson some pause, but he still supports giving schools the authority to decide how best to secure their campuses.

That would include, presumably not choosing Jeremy “Batman” Hutchinson to be among those packing heat.