Bring Your Gun To School Day

I have no idea how much of this is a publicity stunt and how much is real, but it caught my eye. A teacher in Oregon is suing the school district she works in for the right to carry her legally permitted concealed pistol to school. She says she doesn't even know if she will do so if she wins - it is more about the principle and the doubt factor. People with bad intentions should have to worry whether their victims might be armed.

MEDFORD, Ore. - High school English teacher Shirley Katz insists she needs to take her pistol with her to work because she fears her ex-husband could show up and try to harm her. She's also worried about a Columbine-style attack.

But Katz's district has barred teachers from bringing guns to school, so she is challenging the ban as unlawful, since Oregon is among states that allow people with a permit to carry concealed weapons into public buildings.

"This is primarily about my Second Amendment right and Oregon law and the simple fact that I know it is my right to carry that gun," said Katz, 44, sitting at the kitchen table of her home outside this city of 74,000.

"I have that (concealed weapons) permit. I refuse to let my ex-husband bully me. And I am not going to let the school board bully me, either."

In Oregon, a sheriff can grant a concealed-weapons permit to anyone whose criminal record is clean and who completes a gun-safety course.

Thirty-eight states, along with the District of Columbia, prohibit people from taking guns to school, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. But it's unclear how many offer an exemption for people holding concealed-weapons permits, since the council does not track such exceptions.

My state happens to be one that absolutely bars the carrying of concealed weapons on school grounds. The problem here is that this issue may not be as clean as it could be:

Shirley Katz said she bought her own gun in 2004 after Gerry Katz grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her — an allegation he denies.

He argues that her desire to take her gun to school is about reopening their divorce to get exclusive custody of their 6-year-old daughter.

"She's just scamming everybody," he said. "As soon as this thing started … I called the principal at her high school and told her … I am not coming to your school. I am not a threat to her. I have no desire to hurt her."

The Virginia Tech shootings illustrated the illusory safety of "gun-free zones". They simply ensure that people with bad intentions have a free hand and have nothing to fear from a possible reaction from an armed citizen. Again, I'm not sure this is the best test case for this. But I think that properly trained, licensed citizens carrying weapons is generally not a bad thing. If it makes one person who may be thinking of going on a rampage think twice, it is not a bad thing.