Bob Beers State senator preparing a bill that would permit teachers to carry firearms while they teach classes

CARSON CITY -- Students do not go on shooting rampages at schools where teachers are armed, state Sen. Bob Beers believes.

As a result, the Las Vegas Republican said Wednesday that he's preparing a bill that would permit teachers and other school personnel who complete a course on firearm safety to carry a gun while they teach classes.

"I would expect enough teachers would be interested (in taking guns to school) so it would serve as a deterrent," said Beers, a failed gubernatorial candidate.

Beers concluded teachers should be allowed to carry weapons after reading about several incidents of gun violence by students this fall in the Clark County School District, he said. More than a dozen guns have been confiscated from district students so far this year, an indication that laws prohibiting guns in schools do not work, he said.

"We have banned guns in schools in Nevada and most of the rest of the nation for the last 20 years," Beers said. "Part of the problem is a small percentage of the population is brought up without a knowledge of and respect for guns."

Clark County School District officials, however, weren't convinced that Beers' proposal would create safer schools.

Superintendent Walt Rulffes said he was aware of no studies supporting the lawmaker's argument that schools would be safer if teachers carried guns. In fact, an armed school staff might make a school less safe, he said.

"The more people who have guns, the more likely it is that there will be a shootout," Rulffes said. "A great deal of research has to be done before that kind of approach can be endorsed."

School Board member Sheila Moulton said teachers might need more training on how to identify and deal with potentially violent students. But having teachers carry guns would not be beneficial, she said.

Clark County school police carry weapons. District high schools typically have two officers on campus during school hours. Middle schools with enrollment of at least 1,575 students may request an officer be assigned to campus.

Beers said a firearms range in Pahrump would offer school personnel a free, weeklong course in firearm use and safety. He said it is a tough course, more difficult than most courses taken by police officers.

"We need to have discussions on school violence," Beers added. "It appears to me there is an escalating frequency of these tragedies. In the wrong hands, a gun is a dangerous tool."

Moulton said district police do a good job of protecting students, parents and school staff. Teachers should not be expected to also be police officers, she said.

"That is not the solution," Moulton said. "I'm not for putting guns in the classroom even when teachers are trained on how to use them."

Beers said he owns a weapon, but does not have a concealed weapons permit or consider himself a firearms aficionado.

Whether teachers and other school officials should be allowed to carry weapons on campus has been hotly debated in neighboring Utah.

Unlike Nevada, Utah concealed-weapons permit holders can legally bring guns onto campuses. But Utah school districts have differing policies on where the weapons can be legally stashed, with some school systems barring their storage in desks or coat closets on campus.

Some Utahans have called for more teachers to receive weapons training. A Salt Lake City-area firearms instructor began offering free classes in October to teachers seeking concealed-weapons permits, according to media reports.

However, the state's largest teachers union, the Utah Education Association, has opposed arming school employees.