That day has long since come and passed since about 50 percent of the bills that have been filed in the Missouri General Assembly over the last few years could be filed in the "joke" category, with the stipulation that the people who filed them apparently are never in on the joke.
As a classroom teacher last year, I was concerned about bills that would have allowed teachers to carry guns. Those bills, of course, were filed just a few weeks after the Sandy Hook murders. I definitely did not want to carry a gun and with everything teachers have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, the last thing they need is to have to be concerned about a weapon.
I am a retired teacher now, so I don't have to worry about the new bill prefiled Dec. 3, by Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City, which would allow schools to designate teachers to carry pepper spray...after they go through training, of course.
It is possible that Holsman is just showing how ridiculous bills like Sen. Brian Nieves' Second Amendment Preservation Act, which again calls for designating teachers to carry guns, as well as declaring that Missouri will not obey any federal gun laws because, well, because this is Missouri and we don't have to obey federal laws. The solution to gun problems, according to Nieves, is to throw as many guns into the mix as possible. After all, we have all seen enough old movies to know that the good guy with the gun always is a better shot than the bad guy. Nieves' bill was filed late last week, while Holsman's bill was filed a few days earlier, but the text of Nieves' bill had already been released to the media, so the possibility appears likely that Holsman is having some fun with the gun enthusiasts in the State Senate.
But heaven forbid if Holsman is serious and this pepper spray idea takes root.
SB 603 reads as follows:
1. Any school district within the state may designate one or more elementary or secondary school teachers or administrator as a school protection officer. The responsibilities and duties of a school protection officer are voluntary and shall be in addition to the normal responsibilities and duties of the teacher or administrator. Any compensation for additional duties relating to service as a school
protection officer shall be funded by the local school district, with no state funds used for such purpose.
2. Any person designated by a school district as a school protection officer shall be authorized to carry a self-defense spray device in any school in the district. A self-defense spray device shall
include any device that is capable of carrying, and that ejects, releases, or emits a solution containing not more than ten percent oleoresin capsicum.
3. Any person designated as a school protection officer may use the self-defense spray device in any school in the district to the extent necessary to protect persons or property and such use shall be considered reasonable force under section 160.261.
4. Any teacher or administrator of an elementary or secondary school who seeks to be designated as a school protection officer shall request such designation, in writing, and submit it to the
superintendent of the school district which employs him or her as a teacher or administrator. Along with this request, the teacher or administrator shall also submit a certificate of school protection officer training program completion from a training program approved by the director of the department of public safety which demonstrates that such person has successfully completed the training requirements established by the POST commission under chapter 590 for school protection officers. No school district may designate a teacher or administrator as a school protection officer unless such person has successfully completed a school protection officer training program which has been approved by the director of the department of public safety.
5. A school district may revoke the designation of a person as a school protection officer for any reason and shall immediately notify the designated school protection officer, in writing, of the revocation.
The POST commission shall:
(1) Establish minimum standards for the training of school protection officers;
(2)Set the minimum number of hours of training required for a school protection officer;
(3) Set the curriculum for school protection officer training programs; and
(4) Establish minimum standards for school protection officer training instructors, training centers, and training programs.
The training of school protection officers shall include:
(1) Instruction specific to the prevention of incidents of violence in schools;
(2) The handling of emergency or violent crisis situations in school settings;
(3) Training involving the use of defensive force; and
(4) Instruction in the proper use of self-defense spray devices.
3. The director shall develop and maintain a list of approved school protection officer training instructors, training centers, and training programs. The director shall not place any instructor, training center, or training program on its approved list unless such instructor, training center, or training program meets all of the POST commission requirements under this section. The director shall make this approved list available to every school district in the state.
4. Each person seeking entrance into a school protection officer training center or training program shall submit a fingerprint card and authorization for a criminal history background check to include the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the training center or training program where such person is seeking entrance. The training center or training program shall cause a criminal history background check to be made and shall cause the resulting report to be forwarded to the school district where the elementary school teacher or administrator is seeking to be designated as a school protection officer.
5. A certificate of school protection officer training program completion may be issued to any applicant by any approved school protection officer training instructor. On the certificate of program completion, the approved school protection officer training instructor shall affirm that the individual receiving instruction has taken and passed a school protection officer training program that meets the requirements of this section. The instructor shall also provide a copy of such certificate to the director of the department of public safety.
If Holsman's idea was to point out how much nonsense is included in his colleague Brian Nieves' Second Amendment Preservation Act,. his joke has succeeded admirably. If he was serious, don't worry, this bill will fit right in with the other nonsense we are going to see debated in Jefferson City during the upcoming session.
I won't fight this one. Everyone knows that if you take the pepper spray out of the hands of the people, only the criminals will have pepper spray.
No comments:
Post a Comment