Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signs into law bill allowing armed teachers

Gov. Bill Lee signed into law Friday a controversial bill to allow school teachers and staff to carry guns in school.

The law goes into immediate effect.

House and Senate Republicans passed the bill, HB 1202/SB 1321, in the final weeks of the legislative session over the protests of school shooting survivors, teachers and gun-reform advocates.

Parents and most school staff will not be told who in the school has a weapon or where it might be stored. There are no safe storage requirements in the bill, and House Republicans in late April voted down a Democratic effort to codify them in the bill.

Armed teachers and staff will be required to undergo 40 hours of training, which Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, at one point likened to less hours than children are sent to summer camp. Approved carriers will be allowed to carry handguns in their classrooms and in most campus situations without informing parents and most of their colleagues they're armed. The legislation also requires criminal and mental health background checks.

The school district's director of schools, the school principal and the chief of the local law enforcement agency must sign off on a staff member's authority to carry a concealed handgun, so school administrators could theoretically block any teacher from going armed on campus.

Public schools systems in Nashville, Lebanon, Murfreesboro and Sumner County were among those to inform parents this week they had no plans to allow teachers or staff to carry guns in schools. Several cited their preexisting security measures, many of which included armed school resources officers from local law enforcement agencies.

More: Where Middle Tennessee districts stand on allowing teachers to carry guns

"Our teachers and principals carry tremendous responsibilities in teaching and supporting our students in the classroom," Sumner County Schools Director Scott Langford said in a lengthy statement explaining his decision. "Our teachers and principals already play a critical role in school safety by ensuring that our safety procedures are followed in our school buildings daily. We do not want to add one more task or responsibility to them."

Republicans have brushed off criticism over the bill by pointing to its "permissiveness," or the fact that schools must essentially opt-in for the program by establishing an agreement with local law enforcement and then signing off on any staff member's request to go armed.

Still, its House sponsor has suggested a school could endanger itself by telling families it wouldn't participate in the concealed carry program.

"If they did say that, they would be telling their entire community that the deterrent doesn’t exist there,” Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, said during debate, later adding that "gun-free" schools are zones where "people know they can go there and take advantage of folks."

The bill sparked heated protests in the state Capitol this spring, with law enforcement directed by Republican leadership in both chambers to remove protesters and close off the public gallery after they interrupted floor sessions.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signs arming teachers bill into law