Maine Lawmakers Propose Arming Security Guards or Teachers in Schools

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Republican lawmakers said it’s time to beef up security in Maine schools, either with armed security officers or by allowing teachers to be armed.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Steven Foster, R-Dexter, would allow a school employee who completes a certification to have a gun on school property. Saying “the time has come,” Foster said he began thinking about arming school staff after a school shooting in Florida in which 17 people were killed in 2018. Last year, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a school in Texas.

Language on two other bills addressing school security has not been finalized.

The Maine Gun Safety Coalition believes it’s a bad idea for teachers to be armed, even if they completed certification and training approved by the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.