Bill Tallen

Change is in the air. After two years of angst, debate, and recriminations, HB-172, “Repeal Gun Free Zones” became law without the governor’s signature in July. Its effect on K-12 schools statewide has been dramatic. It is now legal for any citizen with a current Wyoming concealed carry permit to carry their concealed handgun on school property, without restriction, without any training, and without even notifying the school. Schools still have access control, so we need a legitimate reason to enter a school, but given that, we can carry there just as we can in other venues defined (and more permissively, now) by law.

Schools have been in session for a couple of weeks and the sky has not fallen, nor the earth yawned open to swallow us, so perhaps the doom-criers are wrong again, and the schools are at least no less safe than they were last May. 

But here’s the interesting part. The sponsor amended his bill to allow school districts with armed staff policies to exercise some regulatory control, even while losing some of their previous control over employees (and now, volunteers as well) who wish to carry concealed. If a district does not have such a policy, employees with valid Wyoming permits are no different than any other citizen; they can carry concealed at school as described above. That, by the way, is the option that Powell has chosen; their new policy regulates armed employees in some respects, but does not establish the sort of program addressed in the law. 

However, if the district does have an armed staff policy in place and in accordance with the new statute, employees who wish to carry must notify the school district and complete specific training, essentially identical to the minimum training requirement of the old law. That is what Park County School District 6 (Park 6) in Cody has done, with its rewritten Rule CKA and supporting regulations, recently enacted after the mandatory 45-day public comment period. 

Employees no longer ask for permission to carry; they simply notify the district of their intent. The school board cannot say no, but they can require documentation of rather specific training. Gone, for better or worse, are the psychological exams, drug testing and extra background checks. 

A few provisions and ambiguities in the new statute have created concerns for school districts with armed staff programs, as well as those without. Among them are criminal penalties and civil liability for any district or any individual who does anything to discourage or inhibit the “right to carry” of citizens with a Wyoming permit.

Some districts are opting for an Orwellian approach: “that which is not mandatory is forbidden.” Attorneys are cautious critters, generally, and seem more concerned about legislative enforcers cracking the whip on their school district clients than they are about the possibility of a school shooting where the only people with any mandated training are not trained to the standards that have been in place for the last six years.

Both the old statute and the new describe the required training for employees (and now volunteers) with similar language: “An initial course of training comprised of not less than sixteen (16) hours of live fire handgun training, and eight (8) hours of scenario based training …” Anyone who thinks that going beyond the required minimum would be permissible is not thinking like an attorney. If, for instance, a district required not 24 but 40 hours of initial training, the legal mind imagines that some litigious employee might feel that the additional hours created a burden laid on to discourage him from participating. I think he’d be grateful for additional training at no cost to himself, but what do I know?

That’s the only beef I have, and it’s not really with the law, or with the school boards; just with the over-cautious legal interpretation that discourages districts from offering more training than the statutory minimum, for employees and volunteers who are ready to step into harm’s way to protect the innocent.

As an approved trainer for Park 6, I’ll be providing 24 good hours of initial training and wishing it were 40 hours, as it used to be, because I know the difference in proficiency that extra hours of training can provide. Quality is primary, but to quote an astute 20th century dictator, “Quantity has a quality all its own.”

But to Park 6’s great credit, it will now pay for all of its employees’ mandated training, and the ammunition it requires, reducing what used to be a considerable out of pocket expense. Cody is already seeing a surge of new interest in its program, and its schools will, very soon, be even better protected than they were before, thanks to the people now stepping up. Kudos to the Park 6 board for moving forward.