Jordan firm on concealed guns

Although Utah schools have to allow legally licensed firearms on campus, leaders of the state's largest school district are hoping to keep their rules as stringent as possible.

The Jordan School District will be the second in the state to revise policy to comply with a new state law if it passes its proposal, as planned, on July 15.

Granite School District, the state's second-largest district, was the first to change its policy to comply with state law passed by the 2003 Legislature, and did so June 17.

But Jordan leaders aren't giving free rein to weapons-holders. At the board's meeting Tuesday night, Superintendent Barry Newbold said employees who do not keep their weapons "covered, hidden or secreted" and "readily accessible for immediate use," as required by the proposal, will be punished.

"If there's a violation of the permit provisions, which means that it is no longer secret . . . it would seem to me we then have at our disposal a range of personnel action we could take."

Under the tentative policy, employees who carry concealed weapons with a permit "do so in their own individual capacities. Any use of such weapons is outside the scope of employment, is contrary to the purposes of employment by the district and is done solely in the employee's personal capacity."

Jordan legal counsel Tom Anderson said Jordan's proposal is "fully consistent with the law" but admitted that it "goes as far as the law will allow."

Although leaders are working to keep the reins tight on the new law, not everyone is reassured.

Wendy Bromley, Jordan Education Association president, said, "I think it's unfortunate that we even have to talk about keeping it concealed. It all seems inappropriate. We ceased to be the wild, wild West 100 years ago."

Her words echo sentiments and concerns of leaders throughout the state, who have been struggling to rearrange old policies that made it a class B misdemeanor to have weapons or explosives on school grounds.

SB108, which was sponsored by Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, exempts concealed weapons permit-holders from that restriction.

"I personally think that guns don't belong in churches or schools, so I'm perplexed at the Legislature's desire to allow people to walk around in places like churches and hospitals and schools carrying weapons," Bromley said. "It doesn't make any sense."

E-mail: achristensen@desnews.com

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