Posted on 10/09/2007 7:09:16 AM PDT by presidio9
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.
Superintendent Phil Long insists employees and students are safer without guns on campus at South Medford High School, where Katz teaches. The district plans to make that argument when the case comes before a judge on Thursday.
Katz's request appears to be rare. School security consultant Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland, said he has never heard of a similar case while working in 45 states.
Katz won't say whether she has ever taken her 9 mm Glock pistol to school, but she practices with it regularly and has thought about what she would do if she had to confront a gunman. She would be sure students were locked in nearby offices out of the line of fire, and she would be ready with her pistol.
Our safety plan at our school now is that if somebody threatening comes in, you try to avoid eye contact, and do whatever they say, and that is not acceptable anymore," she said. Shootings at Virginia Tech University and the one-room Amish school in Pennsylvania, "reinforced my belief we have to take action, we can't just acquiesce as we have been taught to do."
Katz never owned a gun until she and her then-husband, commercial photographer Gerry Katz, moved to Oregon from Atlanta eight years ago and bought 20 acres on a gravel road in the foothills of the Cascade Range.
"Being out in the country, we just felt we needed to have a gun here for personal safety," she said.
In 2004, Gerry Katz, who had a concealed weapons permit, was arrested for pulling a .38-caliber revolver after a confrontation that began in a parking lot with two men whose car almost hit his.
According to the police report, he did not point the weapon at anyone. The police seized it, and the charges were later dismissed. Gerry Katz said he never went back for his gun.
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."
Oregon had a school shooting in 1998, when student Kip Kinkel killed his parents at home, then drove to school and opened fire in the cafeteria of Thurston High School in Springfield, killing two and wounding 25 others.
Since then, the Legislature has considered barring people with concealed weapons permits from carrying guns in schools, but the bills have failed, said Dori Brattain, general counsel to the Oregon School Boards Association.
Some South Medford students say they are uncomfortable with the idea of a teacher carrying a gun, especially since they cannot bring even scissors to school.
"I totally understand she wants to protect herself," said Lauren Forderer, 16, a junior. "But I don't agree she should bring her problems around 2,000 other people."
Even if she wins, Katz said, she may not bring the gun to school.
"The whole point of carrying concealed is no one should know you're carrying," she said. "So I feel like my carrying concealed on campus now sets me up as a target."
‘In 2004, Gerry Katz, who had a concealed weapons permit, was arrested for pulling a .38-caliber revolver after a confrontation that began in a parking lot with two men whose car almost hit his. ‘
Its long been my view the most serious damage done to the 2nd amendment is by dumb gun owners.
This is a perfect example. He pulled a firearm because somebody ‘almost hit’ his vehicle?
Talk about bad judgement, and uncontrolled temper......
She should do what many of us do, get a concealed gun permit, take your gun to work and don’t tell anybody and if you have to use it to defend your life you’ll be glad you have it. So you might get fired. You’ll be alive though to find another job.
NOW that all the students will know she carries, if she is allowed to carry in her school, they will know where to find a gun in school. rme
That’s great advice, unless your employer makes a careful effort to research who among employees is licensed, and is scrupulously hostile to ythemour carrying, and strives to spot anyone carrying, so they can fire them.
Public schools aren’t ordinary employers.
I got the feeling from the overall tone of the piece that this may have had something to do with her wanting there to be an issue. I agree, carry and tell no one.
She admits "The whole point of carrying concealed is no one should know you're carrying.."
Really? So how come we now all know?
I guess its true what they say, a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. Granted, she's begrudgingly become a 'libertarian' -- but after death threats from students and parents alike (she committed the unforgivable infraction of failing kids for not doing work) she wised up a little.
She like, totally wants to bring a gun.
I’m sorry, but I can’t stand airheads.
I want guns in vending machines.
NYC needs a better mayor. Maybe a DINO; Teddy Roosevelt Democrat.
I’d change my party for that. What are the requirements for being the mayor of NYC? A pulse?
You got that right. Ordinarily I would come down solidly in favor of the 2nd Amendment and gun rights of private citizens. “However”, I never cease to be amazed by the dumb things that teachers do. These are college grad’s and supposedly professionals. But, guess “stupid is as stupid does”. Teachers carrying guns? Now that is a constitutional amendment opportunity for sure...
Just as safe as the students at Columbine and Virginia Tech were.
See they FEEL safe. They aren't any safer, but they FEEL safe. Isn't that what liberalism is all about, FEELINGS. To hell with reality.
gun ping
True, but i personally would not work for somebody who was that meddlesome.
Now that would be good.
Just have to input your driver’s license number, SSN, blood, finger prints, the whole shebang.
If you want your opinion to be taken seriously, you need to drop sentence structures such as, “She like,....”
Your use of “airhead” evokes a comparison that is not flattering to you.
Ordinarily I would come down solidly in favor of the 2nd Amendment and gun rights of private citizens. “However”, I never cease to be amazed by the dumb things that teachers do.
How about the unemployed or retired., or does it matter what they used to do for a living, when you are deeming whether to grant them the right to enjoy their God-given liberties.
And Phil Long sits at each and every campus, disarming any officer who walks on campus... Oh, right, he's comfortable with someone who is trained and can lawfully carry a gun. No, wait, it's not that... Huh.
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