In Campbell County, a place where nearly 90% of voters are registered Republicans, public schools already allow workers to carry concealed guns on school property. Still, the district found itself busy this spring revising those rules ahead of a new law poised to take effect July 1. Although Deputy Superintendent Kirby Eisenhauer described his district’s prior gun policy undertaking as a “good, healthy process,” he called the current situation a “serious matter” in “uncharted waters.”

Four hundred miles to the west, in Wyoming’s bluest community, the Teton County school district is also deep in writing a policy to allow civilians to carry guns — for the first time — in its schools. 

“I cannot vote for this item,” Teton County Trustee Kate Mead said at an April 16 school board meeting. “Some of this stuff calls for resistance, calls for us to say, ‘No. Here, we’re not going to let concealed carry in our schools. We’re not going to endanger our kids.’

“That’s our job,” Mead said. In addition to serving on her local school board, Mead is a rancher, attorney and the sister-in-law of former Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican who signed what had been the law of the land for guns in schools, until now.

The new law, enacted by the Wyoming Legislature this winter after multiple failed attempts in past sessions, does away with most gun-free zones in the state, including those in public schools. In preparation for it, school districts are now revising policies or drafting them for the first time, consulting lawyers and safety experts, calculating costs and seeking public feedback. While some school district boards propose adopting the state’s policy as is, others are working to beef up safety precautions related to the mandate as much as they legally can. 

The law punishes districts that don’t allow concealed carry. Teton County School District Superintendent Gillian Chapman called the penalties significant — a misdemeanor that carries a fine or jail time or both — for denying someone the right to concealed carry in a public school building. The district can’t ask visitors if they’re packing, she said. 

But the law does allow local school boards to develop rules and regulations dictating storage and training requirements for employees or volunteers possessing firearms on school property.

Chapman urged her board — despite Mead’s call to resist — to exercise that sliver of local control. The school board is considering three requirements for school staff and volunteers: possessing and maintaining a valid concealed-carry permit; following firearms training outlined by the district; and keeping firearms with them at all times or in concealed and locked containers. 

Other districts are also setting their own training and storage requirements to enhance safety. While schools can’t ban concealed carry, the law does still allow districts to prohibit students  from carrying guns and to ban open carry. 

Whether or not a district already allowed guns, school board members are critical of the Legislature for encroaching on local control. 

“I find it ironic that the Legislature took six pages of law to tell us how to use the right restroom when we don’t have a problem in using the right restroom, but they then took another 10 pages to tell us we can’t regulate guns on school grounds,” Campbell County Trustee Mark Christensen said. He referenced a new law that will require people to use the facility that corresponds to the sex they were assigned at birth, regardless of their gender identity, physical appearance or what appears on their legal documents. “The hypocrisy in that is next level.”

Targeting gun-free zones

Wyoming lawmakers have pushed for allowing firearms in schools since at least 2013. Bills to repeal some or most of Wyoming’s gun-free zones have been a mainstay in the Legislature, with new bills filed nearly every year over the past decade.

The first bill to become law in that vein came in 2017, when then-Gov. Mead signed a bill titled “School safety and security” into law. That bill authorized local school boards to adopt rules and regulations to allow school employees with concealed carry permits to possess a firearm on school property.

Over the last eight years, “only [a few] out of 48 districts have chosen to do that,” Wyoming Education Association President Kim Amen said. “So, we see that as an indication that there’s not a giant desire among school districts to bring guns into schools.” 

That bill’s passage was followed by pushes to repeal most or all of Wyoming’s gun-free zones from 2019 to 2021 and 2023 to 2025. This year, Gov. Mark Gordon allowed House Bill 172, “Repeal gun free zones and preemption amendments,” which does away with most of Wyoming’s gun-free zones, to go into law without his signature. 

Park County, home to the cities of Cody and Powell, sits midway between Teton and Campbell counties in northern Wyoming. Cody schools were among the first in Wyoming to give staff the option to carry concealed guns when the board approved a policy in 2018. Cody’s school leadership has been meeting with legal counsel to determine what changes are needed to align with the Wyoming Repeal Gun Free Zones Act, Superintendent Vernon Orndorff said.

Next door, Powell’s public schools considered giving staff the option to concealed carry in 2018, recalled Superintendent Jay Curtis. At that time, more than 100 people attended a forum at Powell High School and responses flooded in to surveys sent out by the district. Ultimately, the district decided against allowing concealed carry and instead opted for a comprehensive safety plan.

But the district took up the topic again last year, after Gordon vetoed a similar bill to repeal gun-free zones, warning that it would override historic norms of local control over firearms. Curtis advised his school board in March 2024 that it may be time to consider revisiting a concealed carry policy, honoring the governor’s veto message in favor of local board control.

Around that time, the Powell board hired an Illinois-based safety and threat assessment team, West40, to audit the school’s safety plan, during which the consultant, a former school resource officer, said it would be more effective for schools to hire more school resource officers, if possible, than to arm staff. He said if schools do arm staff, policies and procedures need to be in place.

So far, public response to the new law has been muted at district meetings in Powell, although one community member spoke up at the safety audit presentation to urge a policy be adopted ahead of this year’s legislative session. The board is planning to discuss adopting a new policy at an upcoming work session. 

Limited control

In southern Wyoming, more than 50 community members, parents and educators attended an April 9 forum to discuss the new law in Albany County School District 1. 

“While I am happy to see the turnout that we have, I am disappointed with our reason for coming together,” said school board member Alex Krassin. “I personally do not feel like education settings with children need to have guns present outside of our highly-trained [school resource officers].” 

Krassin stressed that school board members are elected by Albany County residents, and the new law removes their authority to regulate guns on behalf of their voters. 

“Teachers should not have to be the law enforcement if an assault rifle is being used by an attacker,” said attendee Elise Hawk. “It’s difficult for even trained officers to make a difference.”

But school board member Nate Martin said that’s no longer the debate. 

“The conversation tonight is not whether or not guns in schools are a good or responsible thing. That ship sailed,” Martin said. “It is, what are we going to do now that the Legislature is forcing us to allow guns into schools under certain circumstances?”

But that didn’t stop Laramie High School freshman Faye Smith from expressing fear for her safety.

“I cannot fathom thinking that one day I might walk into school and be carried out in a body bag,” Smith said. “This is not a matter of left and right. It is for students. It is life and death, and I love my rights as an American, both the right to bear arms and the right to an education. And I know that you guys can’t do much about this, but I would really encourage using school resources such as double [metal] detectors at the entrances.”

Balancing safety and freedom

To the east of Albany County, neither Laramie County School District 1 or 2 currently allow concealed carry in their schools. While some parents seem excited to conceal carry in schools, several board members, teachers and community members are reluctant to develop a policy.

Laramie County School District 2 in Pine Bluffs is not pursuing its own policy, and does not anticipate any costs or community backlash. The law sets minimum requirements for firearm storage and training for school staff and volunteers if districts don’t adopt their own policies. 

Laramie County School District 1 trustees are split over how to safely allow guns in Cheyenne schools, and most see the new law as a government overstep. Trustee Barbara Cook, who said she is greatly opposed to guns in schools, sought increased training requirements for the district. But her attempt failed.

“To only require staff and volunteers to engage in the minimal training stated in the law is irresponsible,” Cook wrote in a letter that she described as her personal opinion and not a reflection of the board. Cook’s letter pointed to other districts that are requiring more rigorous training, including background checks and random drug tests.

“School shootings are chaotic, so to believe a minimally trained staff person can react in a tactical way while battling an armed intruder and keeping their students safe is ludicrous,” Cook wrote. 

Trustee Rene Hinkle also opposes guns in schools based on the hardship she’s witnessed as a doctor.

“As probably the only person up here on this dais who has been in an emergency room when a child has come in from an accidental shooting and died from a brother shooting them, it is devastating to a family. It is devastating to that child. It is devastating to the community,” said Hinkle. “It is unconscionable to think that there will be a gun in an elementary school, and that these kids, no matter how careful people are, can die.”

In Powell, Superintendent Curtis acknowledges that concealed carry in schools can conjure images of scary scenarios, which came up in discussions with his staff after the Legislature passed HB 172. But he points to a similar established law in Utah as an example. While there have been unattended firearms, there have been no shootings, Curtis said.

“You haven’t had instances where teachers are getting shot in parent-teacher conferences, and basketball coaches and players and parents and officials are not getting shot at basketball games,” Curtis said. “I don’t think we have a corner on the market for tense basketball games. And so all of these scenarios that we conjure up have not happened.”

Sheridan County School District 2 — covering 10 schools — is exploring its options and gearing up to answer the public’s questions during a June 9 board meeting. Board Chair Shane Rader — who also serves as the Wyoming School Boards Association Area 7 director and president-elect for the association — said the group recently sent a model policy to member districts. So, school boards are now able to look at the model policy and adapt it to meet their specific needs.

In Teton County, the district is considering partnering with the local sheriff’s office for firearms training. The sheriff signs off on all concealed carry permits issued in the county, Superintendent Chapman added. So the sheriff knows who is authorized, but he doesn’t know which residents from other counties have permits. 

The training would help identify which people will have a gun on school premises.

“We see this as an opportunity to ensure that individuals that do wish to concealed carry will have a highly skilled trainer from the sheriff’s department doing that training and supervising that training,” she said, which could also help mitigate insurance costs.

What are the costs?

Implementing the new policies will have costs. The Campbell County district’s insurance covers the public during an active shooter event, but doesn’t cover staff and volunteers with firearms. Adding that coverage will increase the insurance premium by an extra $20,000, trustees have been told. The district also will pay for training, psychological evaluations, background checks, drug testing and approved secure containers/lockboxes. Employees must pay for their own firearm and holster.

Likewise, Laramie County School District 1 is anticipating increased insurance premiums, according to Community Relations Director Mary Quast.

Cheyenne Teachers Education Association President Dylan Ford said the district is struggling to find insurance willing to cover gun-related injuries.

“Not just for staff, but for students,” Ford said. “In my eyes, we really need to make sure that our students are safe, that our staff is safe, and that if accidents do happen because of this law that they know that they’re covered for it.”

Laramie County School District 1 employees will be expected to fund their own training and purchase equipment to be compliant with the policy.

“There are very limited resources available from the state to support the implementation of this law,” Quast wrote in an email. “Without a clear and consistent funding source, the district cannot responsibly commit to covering these costs.”

Sheridan County School District 3 unanimously approved a training contract May 14 with Critical Training Concepts for $8,500 for staff firearms training. Board Chair Karis Prusak said the board thought it would be good for teachers and staff, who choose to carry, to have adequate training and feel comfortable.

Sheridan County School District 1 Business Manager Jeremy Smith said because the school district is a member of the Wyoming School Risk Retention Program, there will be zero effect on that district’s premiums or liabilities related to implementing a policy.

On Monday, the Wyoming Department of Education put out a statement indicating the agency can reimburse school districts for “expenses related to the possession of firearms on school property.”

A polarizing policy

In Casper, meetings about the policy have included hours of discussion and debate, followed by narrow 3-2 committee votes.

Natrona County School District 1 leaders have been focusing on establishing specific training and qualification requirements for employees and volunteers. So far, the district is proposing an initial course of not less than 40 hours of live-fire handgun training and 16 hours of scenario-based training, split between eight hours of scenario work and eight hours of medical training. Annual recurrent training would require at least eight hours of live-fire and eight hours of scenario-based training, incorporating elements like an active shooter drill and a law enforcement pistol course. Instructor qualifications require at least five years of relevant experience or documented certification.

Public feedback has varied, as seen in last Thursday’s comment on the proposed policy.

“This law is not about protecting children. It’s about taking away local control and turning our state into one where it is deemed normal for everyone to be armed,” said Melissa Behringer, who in February organized a protest against HB 172 as it headed to the governor’s desk and in April voiced her opposition to NCSD1 trustees.

“I hate it, and [I’m] totally against it, and I can’t believe we’re allowing guns in our schools,” said Nancy Allen, a grandmother and former Carbon County teacher of 40 years. Allen’s daughter is also a teacher. “Will the school be providing any liability insurance for teachers in case something would happen, like the gun falls out of your holster and it goes off and shoots the kid or shoots the principal or something?”

Two district employees, veteran Kip Marchant and self-described gun enthusiast Brad Cleverly, voiced support for the policy, although Cleverly found some of the training requirements “somewhat ambiguous,” and Marchant questioned the availability of local training options that provide the required 40 hours of training.

Amid the debate, district Board Policy Committee Chairman Michael Stedillie said that, whether the school board likes it or not, the issue is now “ours to face.”

“I wish we had not had to face this issue, but because we have no choice, you are the people that I want to face this issue with,” he said. “I know I just ended a sentence with a preposition, but thank you for your hard work.”