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NYS Senator Gallivan Not Opposed To Arming Teachers

While his first priority is to increase the number of police officers patrolling schools, New York State Senator Patrick Gallivan is not opposed to the concept of armed teachers in schools.

BUFFALO, NY – In the wake of the shooting, which claimed 17 lives at a high school in Florida, New York State Senator Patrick Gallivan (R-Elma) says that while his priority is to increase the number of police officers patrolling schools, he is not opposed to the concept of armed teachers in schools.

The idea of arming school personnel gained a lot of steam after the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut just over 5 years ago.

In the ensuing year, bills to allow for that were considered by legislators in 33 states.

15 states eventually adopted statutes to allow for the arming of school staff.

Meanwhile, New York State under Governor Andrew Cuomo took a different direction by adopting tighter gun control laws, the effect of which are questionable.

The Great Debate

Opponents of arming school staff have raised concerns ranging from a lack of sufficient training, to students disarming a teacher, to the possibility that in an active-shooter situation the armed school employee could be mistakenly harmed by the police.

Supporters of such measures, however, argue that as it stands now, schools stand as inviting targets for wrongdoers, who know that – initially at least - there may be no one to stop them.

Gallivan agrees.

“When you look across the country where we've had so called gun free zones, and lo and behold, that's where a number of the mass shootings have been," Gallivan told 2 On Your Side.

Gallivan was a career law enforcement officer with the New York State Police before entering politics, and served as Erie County sheriff before being elected to the State Senate 8 years ago.

First: More Cops in Schools.

“My preferred course of action would be to see school resource officers in every school," said Gallivan, who revealed that in the coming weeks he will try to secure enough funding during state budget negotiations to provide school resource officers for every school that wants one.

“These are trained police officers who are not only armed, but who can work with schools to develop security plans,” said Gallivan, adding that the officers could not only identify potentially troubled students, but might also be able to develop a relationship with them before it’s too late.

At the same time, however, Gallivan said having teachers or other school personnel with proper training who are armed at school merits consideration.

“If somebody is properly licensed and has a permit to carry a weapon in the state, they should be permitted to carry a weapon anywhere in the state and we shouldn’t have these areas of exclusion.”

To the best of Gallivan’s recollection (and to the best our research) legislation to arm teachers has never even been proffered in New York.

And even if it were to be proposed, he believes it has a slim chance of being enacted.

"I think in the Senate there would be serious discussion… but I'm speculating there would not be a willingness to discuss it in the Assembly and that's troubling, because we should be discussing every option to keeping our children safe,” Gallivan said.

Could Schools Do it Anyway?

While expressing support for the idea of armed staff and faculty, Gallivan stopped short of committing to introducing any legislation to allow for it.

“You could say I’m stopping short, but there’s a reason for it,” said Gallivan. “Because it’s my belief that the penal law already allows for it.”

Gallivan cited a section of state law governing the criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds to back up that belief.

"I don’t believe that legislation is needed. Under the current law, possession of a weapon on school grounds is prohibited without the consent of that educational institution,” said Gallivan. “So if I understand that part of the law correctly, the particular institution, with the support of the superintendent or the school board could authorize someone to carry a weapon on their premises.”

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