Iowa Senate approves bill allowing armed school staff, sending it back to the House

Teachers and other school employees would be able to obtain professional permits to carry guns on school grounds under a bill passed Wednesday by the Iowa Senate.

The Senate voted 30-14 to pass House File 2586, with every Republican in favor and every Democrat opposed. The bill also requires Iowa's largest school districts to employ school resource officers in their high school buildings.

Because the Senate amended the legislation, the bill goes back to the House, which passed it in February.

More: Iowa Republicans move closer to arming school staff and giving them legal immunity in shootings

Republicans proposed the measure as part of their response to the deadly shooting at Perry High School in January when a high school student shot and killed sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and principal Dan Marburger and wounded half a dozen others.

"Seconds count when law enforcement are minutes away even in the quickest response," said Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-Le Claire. "In most mass shootings, the shooting stops when the good guys show up. The bad guy with the gun is stopped by the good guy with the gun."

Gun violence prevention groups have held protests and spoken out against the bill, saying it will make students and school employees less safe by increasing the likelihood of accidents involving guns in schools.

Chloe Gayer, a volunteer leader with Drake University Students Demand Action, said in a statement that lawmakers' response to the Perry shooting is "the definition of insanity."

"Guns are turning our schools into graveyards, and yet, Iowa lawmakers are hellbent on arming our teachers as a response," she said. "It literally defies all common sense."

A 2023 report from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence documents about 100 incidents of guns being mishandled, left in reach of children or accidentally discharged at schools over the last five years.

More than 30 states allow teachers or other K-12 school staff to be armed in at least some circumstances, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

What kind of training would school employees need to complete to get a permit to carry guns at school?

Those who want to carry firearms will be required to go through a permit process that includes one-time, in-person legal training that covers qualified immunity, emergency medical training and communication training, as well as quarterly firearm training and annual "live scenario" training. That process would be approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

The legislation allowing school employees to obtain professional permits to carry firearms applies to K-12 public and private schools, community colleges and public and private colleges and universities.

The identity of a staff member who has a professional permit to carry would be confidential and not subject to disclosure under Iowa's public records law.

Will Iowa school districts that arm staff be able to find insurance coverage?

The legislation builds on a previously passed law that let school employees carry firearms, but did not require districts' insurers to cover them.

Two Iowa districts in recent years have approved arming their staff before later reversing their policies. Spirit Lake and Cherokee both opted not to go forward after EMC Insurance declined to cover the rural districts ahead of the 2023-24 school year if they proceeded with arming staff.

Last year, House lawmakers passed a bill that would have barred insurers from denying coverage to districts based solely on the district's decision to arm their staff, but the measure failed to pass the Senate.

Republicans on Wednesday emphasized that the bill leaves it up to school boards to decide whether their districts will choose to arm school employees.

Sen. David Rowley, R-Spirit Lake, said Spirit Lake, as well as 19 other school districts in Iowa, have expressed interest in arming school staff.

"This bill gives a willing school district the option to have a strategic plan in place and for them to immediately respond in the event that it does happen there," he said.

In a statement Wednesday, EMC Insurance said it shares "a deep commitment to the health and safety of students" and that it respects schools' right "to choose the policies they believe to be in their best interests."

"We believe this legislation could attract more insurance carriers to Iowa along with potentially more options for schools to find coverage that fits their needs," the statement said. "This would be a positive outcome for all."

EMC said the company will continue offering insurance to school districts that use school resource officers or law enforcement for their security.

"EMC will continue to insure schools that provide on-site armed security utilizing trained law enforcement or school resource officers (consistent with our policy in all states)," the statement said. "We will also continue to explore other options in light of changing marketplace conditions."

Armed school employees would get qualified immunity from lawsuits, prosecution

The bill would give qualified immunity to armed school staff with professional permits, protecting them from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution if they used "reasonable force" and acted within the course of their duties.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the qualified immunity leaves families with no one to hold accountable if their loved ones are injured or killed by an armed staff member.

"The student who may suffer permanent injury, the student who may be killed, their parents, their family have no one from whom to collect any kind of financial compensation," he said.

Quirmbach called the immunity from criminal prosecution a "get out of jail free card" for the employee or school resource officer.

Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, said qualified immunity exists so law enforcement officers and others in dangerous jobs who "make a little mistake" won't face the threat of being sued, losing their job or facing other potential consequences, like bankruptcy.

"Even if we have that small little risk that they might make a mistake, it’s still better to have somebody there than have nobody there," he said. "That’s certainly my opinion, anyway. I would much rather have an armed security guard at a school if my kid was there and the students were being threatened."

Large school districts would have to hire school resource officers unless the board votes to opt out

The state's largest school districts — those with 8,000 or more students — would be required to employ school resource officers in high schools unless the district's school board votes to opt out.

School districts with fewer than 8,000 students would be encouraged to employ school resource officers.

The Senate version of the bill removes language that would have created grant programs to fund school resource officers and school security.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Senate OKs bill allowing armed school staff, granting immunity