Mississippi schools paving the way to allow teachers to carry in the classroom
Mississippi parents Todd Spears and Kendra Spears on why they support teachers having the opportunity to have a concealed firearm.
While gun control has been a hot topic after recent mass shootings, Mississippi's schools are paving the way to allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom.
Mississippi public school parents Kendra and Todd Spears told "Fox & Friends First" that they're hoping teachers will soon be armed in classrooms.
"I hope they make the decision that these teachers and these faculty members can actually carry after they complete the enhanced carry class that we have here. I would love to see faculty members, coaches and teachers be able to carry inside the classrooms," Todd Spears said.
He emphasized how many lives can be lost inside a school during the time when the police are en route to the scene, especially in rural areas.
"This is a crime of opportunity," the Army veteran said, adding that 15-20 "good guys with guns" could deter shooters from targeting schools in the future.
Mississippi education officials have voted to update a more than 30-year-old policy regarding weapons on school campuses that could clear the way for staff and employees to carry guns on campus.
Outside of the Mississippi State House. (Fox News/Charles Watson)
Following killings at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School, a July Fourth parade near Chicago and an Indiana mall, the Mississippi Board of Education voted last week to update a 1990 internal policy that prohibited anyone other than law enforcement from carrying guns on public school campuses.
The update removed language from the old policy, which the department said conflicted with Mississippi's 2011 enhanced conceal carry law. It also allowed schools to create their own policies regarding allowing guns on campus.
"A school district may, in its discretion, prohibit or allow its employees who hold enhanced conceal carry licenses to possess weapons at the school," Jean Cook, director of communication for the Mississippi Department of Education said in a statement.
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Kendra Spears, who has a firearm permit and works in the local school district, said she would like to have the option to carry if the law was passed.
"You hope the time never comes that you have to use it, but you would like to have the option if needed. School shootings are, it's just the world we live in, I'm afraid now. So I would love to have the option to be able to protect myself and my students if that happens."
Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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