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Josh Arrowood carries his .22-caliber handgun most everywhere he goes in his rural Tennessee community 鈥� to church at Freewill Baptist, at the Food City store where he shops for groceries, and in the Greene County Courthouse, where he serves as a commissioner.

A that passed this spring would let him, under certain conditions, carry the gun at his workplace, too 鈥� South Greene Middle School in Greeneville, where he teaches world history to sixth graders. And Arrowood, who鈥檚 had a handgun permit for 15 years, is open to doing so if it can provide an extra layer of security against a school shooting.

鈥淚 was in high school when Columbine happened,鈥� he said, recalling the 1999 massacre at a Colorado high school. 鈥淎nd I remember kids putting things like a bat or a baseball in their backpacks so they could try to protect themselves if a shooting happened in their school.鈥�

A gun, at least, 鈥済ives a teacher a chance if there鈥檚 an armed intruder,鈥� he said.

But between concerns about his personal liability and ambivalence about the new law from local school leaders, he won鈥檛 be carrying his pocket-size gun to class this school year.

And because of the way Tennessee鈥檚 new law was written, he said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 expect anybody to take advantage of it.鈥�

Indeed, for all the protests and discord over the , there鈥檚 little talk among school districts or educators about using the option to arm teachers or staff as the new academic year begins. Not a single school system has indicated that it鈥檚 planning or working to train employees to carry a gun voluntarily under the new law, according to dozens of school and law enforcement officials contacted by Chalkbeat.

Then again, no one can be sure, since the law doesn鈥檛 require local officials to report whether they are deploying the option in any of their schools. And any documents that kickstart the program at the local level aren鈥檛 open to the public.

But the law does lay down a set of conditions for a teacher to be able to carry a gun in school, including a training requirement, a mental health evaluation, and a signed agreement between the superintendent and principal, plus written authorization from local law enforcement.

And there鈥檚 another big hurdle: a provision that assigns teachers sole liability for anything that might go wrong with their gun, including an accidental shooting, or their failure to prevent a tragedy.

The tepid response to the law signals a disconnect between educators and lawmakers on whether more guns in schools make them safer, or could accidentally cause more harm. There鈥檚 concern about shifting even more responsibilities to teachers, turning schools into prison-like environments, and unwittingly disrupting an educational climate that should be welcoming and supportive. Tennessee鈥檚 urban communities are especially desperate to get guns and gun violence out of their schools.

School shootings spur efforts to arm teachers

After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in Newtown, Connecticut, where a shooter slaughtered 26 people, including 20 children, dozens of states introduced legislation to arm teachers and staff. More than 30 states now allow it under certain conditions, according to the , which tracks gun laws.

In Tennessee, which has some of the nation鈥檚 most permissive gun laws, the legislature passed a 2016 law to let some school employees carry a gun in certain rural counties to try to bolster security at remotely located schools without an armed school resource officer. But efforts by local law enforcement to obtain liability insurance to train school staff proved to be a stumbling block.

Former Rep. David Byrd, a Waynesboro Republican and retired school principal who sponsored the measure for Wayne and Pickett counties, said he still supports the strategy, but is not aware of any school employee who has carried a gun under that law.

In 2018, after another mass school shooting killed 17 people and injured 17 others in Parkland, Florida, Rep. Ryan Williams began his annual quest to revise and expand the law across Tennessee.

A Republican from Cookeville, about 80 miles east of Nashville, Williams said he was motivated, in part, by concern about his own two children who, at the time, attended a 2,400-student public high school with one school resource officer and dozens of potential points of entry. He argued that teachers need 鈥渕ore than a stapler鈥� to protect their students and themselves if locked in a classroom with a shooter in the building.

But each year, from top law enforcement organizations such as the Tennessee Sheriffs鈥� Association, the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. They worried that teachers carrying guns could lead to even more gun-related deaths or injuries in a state that already has a higher-than-normal rate of accidental shootings.

Then came the deadly 2023 shooting at Nashville鈥檚 church-run Covenant School, where a shooter before being killed by police.

Mass protests erupted, with to demand tighter gun laws and reduced access to guns.

Among other things, they wanted to roll back a 2021 law that lets the majority of Tennesseans carry a loaded handgun in most public places without first clearing a background check, obtaining a permit, or getting trained on firearms safety. And they sought laws that would keep guns away from people who may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

The Republican-controlled legislature, however, went a different way, after prioritizing measures to further fortify the state鈥檚 K-12 campuses. A in school safety paid for security upgrades at public and private schools alike, and most significantly, included funding to place a full-time SRO in every public school across Tennessee.

Against that backdrop, Williams resurrected his bill to let Tennessee school employees voluntarily carry guns under certain conditions.

His co-sponsor, Sen. Paul Bailey, argued the law was needed to provide an armed presence on every campus, especially in rural areas that serve a third of the state鈥檚 students. On the Senate floor in April, the Sparta Republican said nearly a third of the state鈥檚 1,800-plus public schools still didn鈥檛 have an armed SRO, partly due to a shortage in the profession.

It鈥檚 hard to know whether those numbers were accurate, or still are. Under Gov. Bill Lee鈥檚 administration, the state stopped sharing school security data publicly.

Williams revised their bill to tighten the standards for who could carry and under what conditions 鈥� satisfying the state鈥檚 law enforcement groups which, for the first time, took a neutral position on the bill this year.

Carrying a gun would be allowed only if the local school superintendent, principal, and law enforcement official agree. A school employee who volunteers to carry must hold an enhanced permit, complete 40 hours of certified training in school policing at their own expense, and pass a mental health evaluation and FBI background check.

Liability provision for armed employees could be a barrier

However, even for school employees who can meet those conditions, taking a gun to school became significantly less attractive under one more provision.

The law makes the armed employees solely liable for how they use, or fail to use, a handgun in school. Meanwhile, if a civil lawsuit is filed, the statute shields the school district and local law enforcement agency from having to pay monetary damages.

Liability is now part of the discussion for anyone dealing with the prospect, or the aftermath, of a school shooting. In addition to the pursuit of stricter gun laws, litigation and even criminal charges have become part of the healing and recovery process for survivors, family members, and community leaders seeking to hold people beyond the shooter accountable for anything that may have contributed to the bloodshed.

After the 2022 rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, for instance, families of the 19 victims , including the promise of higher standards and better training for local officers. In Oxford, Michigan, families of four high school students killed in a 2021 shooting there accused the school district of negligence in a lawsuit, and prosecutors charged the parents of the young shooter for failing to keep a gun away from him.

Liddy Ballard, state policy director at Brady, the nation鈥檚 oldest gun violence prevention organization, said Tennessee鈥檚 liability provision should be a red flag for any school employee interested in carrying a gun. Her group opposed the law and lobbies instead for gun safety legislation that is , such as extreme risk protection orders and expanded background checks, both of which Tennessee lawmakers have rejected.

鈥淭his bill is outright dangerous,鈥� Ballard said, 鈥渂ut state lawmakers knew that from the beginning. Why else would they include an immunity clause for local education agencies that dissolves accountability when a teacher鈥檚 firearm is misused or falls into the wrong hands?鈥�

The state鈥檚 two largest teacher organizations, which also opposed the legislation, agree that placing the liability burden solely on individual educators is a non-starter 鈥� or at least should be.

鈥淎s teachers consider the risks of carrying a firearm on school grounds, they need to know that it is unlikely they could obtain insurance coverage that would offer them any sort of protection should a claim be made against them,鈥� said Tanya T. Coats, president of the Tennessee Education Association.

Secrecy is another pillar of the law.

In an effort to deter potential intruders who wouldn鈥檛 know which adults at school might have a gun, the law is built, in part, on the idea of confidentiality. Its provisions provide a veil of secrecy if a school superintendent and principal sign a written agreement to implement the policy 鈥� and anonymity for the person they authorize to carry or possess a firearm on school grounds.

Parents don鈥檛 have to be notified if their child鈥檚 teacher is carrying a concealed handgun, nor do educators if someone in their building is armed besides a law enforcement officer.

A district鈥檚 required notification to local law enforcement officials is not open for public inspection, nor are any other documents, files, or records related to carrying a weapon on school grounds under the law.

鈥淭he way it鈥檚 set up, there鈥檚 really no way to know鈥� how many faculty or school staff members are carrying a gun, said Jeff Bledsoe, executive director of the Tennessee Sheriffs鈥� Association. 鈥淚t鈥檚 up to the local level to decide.鈥�

Memphis school district says no. Some others aren鈥檛 saying.

Before and after the law was enacted, numerous local officials, particularly in the state鈥檚 largest cities and towns, announced they would not seek to arm school employees. Most said they already have a trained law enforcement officer in each of their schools.

鈥淪chools are for learning, and emergency situations should be handled by trained officers,鈥� said Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., in a with Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins and interim Police Chief C.J. Davis in May. Memphis has long struggled with the presence of guns around its schools and neighborhoods.

Feagins said it more bluntly in their announcement: 鈥淲e will not allow teachers to carry guns in our schools.鈥�

But some school leaders, especially in the state鈥檚 rural areas, have been less vocal in recent months about their plans.

鈥淢ost districts don鈥檛 want anything to do with this policy,鈥� said Gary Lilly, executive director of the state superintendent organization.

鈥淎 few have said maybe, just to keep their options open,鈥� he added. 鈥淵ou can make the case that not announcing your plan is a way to keep bad guys from knowing either way, so there鈥檚 a bit of a deterrent.鈥�

For some that are holding off, it may just take time for local officials and school employees to evaluate whether to take advantage of the law.

鈥淭his is all new, so some folks may be waiting and watching,鈥� said Bledsoe, who leads the sheriffs鈥� organization.

Williams, the House sponsor, said he鈥檚 not surprised at the cool early reception, including in his own district, given that Tennessee is a diverse state with unique local needs and cultures that take time to sort through.

鈥淯nfortunately, if we do have another active shooter in our state and something happens close to home, I think people would reevaluate their stance and consider doing it,鈥� he said.

JC Bowman, who leads Professional Educators of Tennessee, has a different concern.

鈥淢y fear is that we鈥檙e opening up a Pandora鈥檚 box,鈥� Bowman said. 鈥淲hat happens if our state budget gets tight? Will we starve our school safety money for SROs and turn to this?鈥�

For Arrowood, who also has three school-age children, the issue is keeping kids safe at school in his rural corner of northeastern Tennessee.

Two years ago at a basketball game at his school, for instance, a parent came out of the stands and pulled a knife on a coach. No one was injured, and the parent left before the school鈥檚 SRO arrived on the scene, but 鈥渋n situations like that, you never know,鈥� he said.

Arrowood said he鈥檚 never had to use the gun he usually carries when he鈥檚 out in his community. 鈥淭he goal is to never have to draw it,鈥� he said.

He wouldn鈥檛 hesitate to use it at school, though, if he were allowed to carry it there and an armed intruder got inside, especially if something happened to the school鈥檚 SRO.

鈥淎round here, people are used to guns. They鈥檝e grown up with them. They鈥檙e hunters,鈥� Arrowood continued. 鈥淏ut some people also fear guns, and a healthy fear of guns is a good thing. I guess it鈥檚 a balance.鈥�

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org

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