COEUR d’ALENE — Deep concern over legislation that would allow concealed weapons in public schools was delivered by several attendees of the Coeur d’Alene School Board meeting Monday.

“We cannot let our teachers carry guns in school. We’ve got to fight that. That is crazy,” said Bill Elliott, a member of the education advocacy group RISE and a dad with two kids in Coeur d’Alene schools.

“I don’t think my family will stay in this community. I’m not going to have my kids going to a school where teachers carry guns.”

The legislation, House Bill 203, would allow anyone 21 and older with an enhanced conceal carry permit to enter any K-12 school in Idaho.

The person would not have to disclose that he or she has a concealed weapon if asked by school administrators, nor would the person need permission to conceal carry in the school.

The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. John Green and Vito Barbieri, will soon be going before the House State Affairs Committee.

“The bill is ill-conceived and dangerous,” said Alice Arambarri, co-leader of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, reading a statement during her 3-minute slot for public comment.

“We are urging you all to please respond in opposition to this legislation.”

She noted four main problems with House Bill 203 — that teachers are teachers, not enforcement officers; that school districts are not set up or insured to arm personnel that is not law enforcement on campus; the minimum 8-hour training; and how this bill takes away school board authority.

Coeur d’Alene Education Association President Bruce Twitchell presented results of a survey that was distributed throughout the district last week, asking their feelings on the legislation and arming teachers. Of the 139 respondents, 62.6 percent said “no,” 31.7 percent said yes and the rest were categorized as “other.”

“There are very few staff members in my building that I would trust to carry,” one of the respondents wrote in the survey. “If the teacher that throws the expo markers out of anger/frustration has a firearm, who knows what could happen. IT SHOULDN’T BE OUR RESPONSIBLITY TO BE ARMED IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT.”

One of those who answered “yes” had this to say: “There are some teachers I would be comfortable with having a firearm at school. Others, not quite so much! Responsible gun owners and users take safety precautions and the guns would be safe in the school zone.”

Trustee Tom Hearn said children deserve to be safe in school.

“We have spent millions of dollars in Coeur d’Alene to improve the security of our schools, whether through cameras, fences, controlled entrances, school resource officers and the considerable training of staff,” he said. “House Bill 203 would allow anyone with an Idaho enhanced concealed weapons permit to carry a gun on school grounds.”

The proposal exempts private schools and also prohibits public school boards from stopping these people from carrying weapons in schools. School boards now have the authority to decide at the local level whether to arm their schools, and a few in rural Idaho, where law enforcement is far away, have done that.

“I have a concealed weapons permit, and they’re easy to obtain,” Hearn said. “All you have to do is take an easy class, show that you can handle the weapon and pass a background check. Everyone in my class passed. I think this legislation would undermine the safety measures we have tried to promote in our schools, and I’d like to see our board publicly oppose this legislation as the Boise School Board has done.”

The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association and Idaho Chiefs of Police Associated also opposed this legislation in a letter to Rep. Steven Harris on Monday.

“Idaho’s concealed carry laws are some of the most liberal in the country ensuring law abiding citizens their right to keep and bear arms, however Sheriffs and Police Chiefs oppose House Bill 203 because we believe it’s a bridge too far, and bad for Idaho, and bad for Idaho children,” the letter stated.

Messages to Barbieri and Green were not returned by press time.