Bill Would Allow School Employees To Carry Weapons

An Iowa House of Representatives subcommittee advanced a bill Monday that would create a program to help school districts pay for school resource officers and provide a permitting process for school employees to carry weapons with additional training. House Study Bill 675 would require school districts with at least 8,000 students to retain a school resource officer or security officer and encourage smaller districts to retain such an officer, as well. The legislation would create a program to provide grants to offset the costs of retaining an SRO or security officer. The bill also would provide for school employees to be issued permits to carry weapons if they complete required training.