Since the December massacre in Newtown, Conn., killed 20 elementary school students and six adults, several states have considered laws that provide for arming school officials, but insurance companies are increasingly deciding to raise premiums or drop liability coverage entirely for schools that decide to arm teachers, the New York Times reports.
It’s very difficult to find actual statistics about injuries and deaths from gunshot wounds, mainly because laws prohibit government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control from compiling the statistics, but insurance companies use their own statistics, based on liability claims filed against gun owners.
Although the data behind the move by many prominent insurance carriers is unavailable to the public, some companies like the EMC Insurance Companies, which provides liability insurance to more than 90 percent of the public school districts in the state of Kansas, are planning to stop providing that insurance for districts that let educators carry guns.
“Some [insurers] are saying this is so high risk we’re not going to touch it,” the Times quoted Kenneth S Trump, the president of National School Safety and Security Services, as saying. The organization discourages districts from implementing concealed carry policies. “Others may say this is so high risk that you’re going to pay through the nose.”
Mr Trump adds to this in a report on his organization’s website:
He said it is short-sighted for those supporting the idea to believe that educators who enter a profession to teach and serve a supportive, [nurturing] role with children could abruptly kick into the mindset to kill someone in a second’s notice. Police officers train their entire [career] and enter each traffic stop and individual encounter with a preparedness and life-safety mindset that is different from the professional training and mindset of educators.
Trump, a 25-year veteran school safety expert who has trained and consulted with school and public safety officials from all 50 states and Canada, noted that school districts setting policy to allow teachers and school staff to be armed with guns would take on an enormous amount of responsibility and potential liability.
Along the same lines, I once wrote:
I have to admit, I could never be a police officer. I don’t think like they do, I don’t converse like they do, and I don’t act like they do. The mindset of a good, dedicated educator—and I’ve educated seventh graders in algebra as well as university students in neurobiology—is completely different from that of a good, dedicated police officer. Thank God, because we need both in our communities.
The states listed in the article where a change in liability insurance coverage is being noticed include:
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Oregon
- Tennessee
- South Dakota
About 30 states have introduced similar legislation, though in many cases, it was defeated or has not yet taken effect.
