Over the 2024 Iowa legislative session, education and school related bills were a large part of the agenda.

Senator for District 12 Amy Sinclair says that one big part of that was school security. She mentions that one bill that was passed would help those districts that wished to let teachers that wanted to conceal carry on school grounds do so. Sinclair explains that the bill doesn’t give districts the ability to do that, but that they already were capable of doing so. The bill gives a structure of certifications and regulations to make sure that those districts that do choose to utilize this tool are able to do so.

Sinclair tells Raccoon Valley Radio why legislators wanted this tool to be available to school districts, should they choose to use it.

“You know, nobody wants to believe that there are bad people out there who want to come in and harm children, but we know better. And we learned that this year at Perry. We know that there are people with evil intent who will come in and try to harm other people for whatever purposes. And I will tell you that the Dallas County response to the Perry shooting was textbook perfect in how they responded and got the situation under control, and it was still minutes, not seconds, before the good guys with the guns could arrive to handle the situation.”

Sinclair says that in situations where there is someone intent on harming others, seconds count in trying to keep people safe. She reminds individuals that while this bill makes it so that districts have this ability should they wish to use it, it in no way requires districts to arm their teachers, and doesn’t require teachers to carry should their district choose to allow that capability, everything is voluntary. The bill was signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds in the last weeks of the legislative session.