Jordan District targets gun law

Jordan School District employees: Bring a gun to work and you're likely protected under state law and a newly proposed district policy.

Shoot it and you're on your own.

That's the gist of the district's proposed concealed-weapons permit policy, unveiled Tuesday. It basically means teachers who fire a legally concealed weapon in a school would not be covered by district insurance policies, unless defending themselves in a life-or-death situation.

The proposal apparently jibes with rules of the Department of State Risk Management, which insures public schools, director Alan Edwards said.

The state Attorney General's Office has not yet examined the language. "Until then, we really can't comment," spokesman Paul Murphy said.

The proposed policy is believed to be a first for Utah school districts, some of which are poised to create or rewrite policies under a guns law passed by the 2003 Legislature.

But being first on this issue is not something Jordan necessarily is proud of.

"I never thought I'd be researching how we're going to accommodate firearms in schools," said Cal Evans, Jordan District executive director of compliance and special programs. "But here we are."

The proposal stems from SB108, sponsored by Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, at prosecutors' request.

SB108 aimed to strike conflicts between two state gun laws — one allowing Utah's 30,000 concealed-weapons permit holders to carry firearms most anywhere, and the other barring dangerous materials, which some officials interpreted to include guns, on public school grounds.

The new law makes it a class B misdemeanor for people to carry firearms on school grounds. But it makes exceptions for people with concealed-weapons permits, those who have the principal's permission and those whose weapon is contained "in any vehicle lawfully under the person's control," so long as it isn't a school vehicle used to transport students.

The biggest change is that permit-holders don't have to tell principals when they're carrying weapons. That means a teacher can lecture, a janitor can sweep cafeterias and a parent can come to parent-teacher conferences while secretly packing a piece.

Some say the new law underscores their Second Amendment right to bear arms.