The Arkansas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies seems to have taken indecisiveness to a whole new level. In this regard, there’s good news and bad news for the Clarksville and Lake Hamilton school districts.
The bad news is that the board voted early Wednesday to not allow teachers, staff members or volunteers to carry weapons under an obscure Arkansas law which seems to allow schools to be classified as private security agencies if licensed by the above mentioned board.
The good news for those districts is that about two hours later, the board reversed it’s decision. So, as of today at 1:51 central standard time, 13 school districts will be allowed to “bear arms” to deter school violence.
Last month, the board decided to disallow the schools to have weapons on the premises after Attorney General Dustin McDaniel ruled that the Arkansas law cited should exclude schools from allowing specially trained staff members to go through an intense weapons’ training course in order to become licensed to carry on school premises, pending a hearing held today. Twenty staff members and volunteers in the Clarksville School District were armed and ready to go after going through a rigorous program that focused only on school violence scenarios.
This will probably not be the end of the controversy, as AG McDaniel has maintained that the freedom of information act would force the schools to name the teachers and other staff members who are armed. The Clarksville School Board has asked him to reconsider that decision because of personal safety issues. Confused yet?