Republican Lawmakers Author Law to Allow Teachers to Carry Guns

MADISON, WI- (WGBW) – Republican lawmakers are presenting a bill they say will protect Wisconsin’s school children from gun violence. State Representative Scott Allen (R-Waukesha) and State Senator Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) co-authored a bill to allow teachers and school staff to carry guns on campus. Currently, state law forbids firearms from being on school property.

In a press release, Allen said the bill will give school boards and districts “more options to better protect their students.” 

The bill labeled LRB-1351 would allow school boards to voluntarily choose to create their own concealed carry policy for school staff to protect their students. Allen’s press release said the bill came about at the request of the Germantown School Board, which in 2023 wrote, “the ‘gun-free school zone’ signs do nothing but notify a criminal that there will be few, if any, people in the building who can defend themselves.”

Allen said the bill avoids a state-wide solution but gives each district the ability to make a choice that is currently prohibited by state law. 

A RAND survey in 2023 showed that teachers are divided on the issue of whether or not they should be armed in school. The survey showed that 54 percent of teachers believe that teachers carrying firearms will make a school less safe. Twenty percent thought it would make schools safer, and 26 percent believed it would have no effect.

The survey also showed white teachers were more likely than black teachers to feel that carrying firearms would make schools safer. Male teachers in rural districts were more likely to say they would personally carry a firearm to school if allowed.

Allen proposed very similar legislation in April of 2023. It failed to pass when no action was taken on the bill by the time the legislature adjourned in April 2024.