Gun policy discussion different from 2017

Park County School District 1 is considering a potential policy to require district employees to undergo training before being able to carry concealed handguns in the schools. 

It's a discussion that, seven or eight years ago would have been very different, because circumstances were very different. 

In 2017, the Wyoming Legislature passed a law to allow school districts to create policy to allow teachers who had undergone a requisite level of training to carry a concealed handgun as a way to boost security in the schools. The policies, known as CKA, that came from that were discussed in many districts that year and the next, including in Powell. A handful of policies were created and passed, including in Cody, while Powell, under then new Superintendent Jay Curtis, decided against instituting a policy, although they did institute an intensive safety plan.

I covered Park County School District 6 for the Cody Enterprise during that time, and I remember the packed late night meetings, the student demonstrations and community members with buttons featuring CKA with a red line through it. However, surveys at the time showed a large majority in support of the policy, and discussions were agonizing over how this policy would come into play should the worst-case-scenario occur. 

Writing this on May 15, 2025, the day before the 39th anniversary of the Cokeville Elementary School incident — where a husband and wife died while holding students and adults hostage at the school with a bomb — proves that situations like these can happen even in our schools, and it's good to be prepared. 

Of course, it's hard to find anyone who is opposed to our schools being secure and our students and employees staying safe.  The issue is in people having very different ideas as to how best to provide that security. 

During the CKA discussions, the debate was whether or not having some armed staff at the schools would be a good way to enhance security, or if it would even enhance security at all. 

What's interesting now is that with the passage of HB 172 in the 2025 legislative session, having more guns in schools is simply going to be a fact across the state. Anyone with a concealed carry license is able to carry concealed into schools and colleges aside from a few areas. 

That means that for districts like ours, determining whether to adopt a policy similar to what was considered all those years ago is now a very different debate. Back then, it was a question of whether to let anyone who worked in a school building, other than a school resource officer, carry a weapon. Now it's a question of whether or not school employees should be required to undergo training to concealed carry while a parent is free to do so without any extra restrictions.

It's not surprising that this discussion is occurring with much less public input than in 2017. While the policy being considered may be similar, the situation has changed drastically.