There’s already at Tennessee law that allows teachers to carry concealed guns

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Chaos erupted this week after the Tennessee Senate voted to pass a bill that would let a teacher carry a concealed gun, but as WSMV4 found out there’s already a law like this in the books.

The legislature passed the bill in 2016 so Pickett County and Wayne County could allow their teachers to be armed, however, they ran into problems with training and insurance.

“The superintendent wanted it,” explained Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald. “He was the one who asked us for the bill because they didn’t have SROs (school resource officers).”

Hensley sponsored the bill eight years ago which only allowed the two counties to let their school staff carry guns.

Those counties were deemed “distressed” at the time and met certain population requirements. Hensley said since they are rural counties, it took time for a deputy to get to a school and respond to an emergency.

“We wanted to be able to allow some of the teachers and administrators to carry a concealed weapon so that’s why we passed the bill,” he added.

The 2024 bill senators passed this week requires a school employee to get 40 hours of training, a background check, and a psychological evaluation. The 2016 bill only required a staff member to get the 40-hour training; Hensley said that’s when the problems started.

“The people who actually ran the POST (Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission) certification training did not want to allow someone who wasn’t law enforcement to receive the training and they informed the sheriff that he might be liable if something happened,” he said.

The law was never implemented in their county. Hensley said that’s what makes the new bill, which he voted to pass, difficult.

“This is a very complicated bill because if anyone of those three doesn’t want to do it – the principal, superintendent, or sheriff – doesn’t want to allow it, then they can’t do it,” he added.

Since Wayne and Pickett counties are no longer deemed “distressed,” the law no longer applies to them.

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