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Missouri lawmakers propose allowing some teachers to carry guns

The Missouri House approved legislation changing the way school districts handle teacher layoffs.
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KBIA
The Missouri House approved legislation changing the way school districts handle teacher layoffs.

state capitol
Credit Ryan Famuliner / KBIA
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KBIA
A Missouri Senate committee is considering legislation that would make CPR training mandatory for high school graduates, beginning in the fall of 2014.

More than two dozen Missouri lawmakers are backing legislation that would allow teachers and administrators with concealed gun permits to carry weapons in schools.

Legislation pre-filed in the Missouri House would allow teachers to carry firearms in their classrooms. 

If passed, teachers and administrators who also happen to have valid conceal-carry permits would be allowed to bring their guns onto school property and to keep possession of them while at work.  Under current law, teachers and staff are forbidden from bringing firearms to school unless their local school board or a school official allows it.  The bill is sponsored by Republican Mike Kelley of Lamar, and co-sponsored by House Speaker Tim Jones, Majority Leader John Diehl and 21 other Republicans, and one Democrat, Linda Black of Bonne Terre.  The proposal comes less than a week after a lone gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Connecticut.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.