Fix guns-in-school law:.

Byline: The Register-Guard

There is no reason on earth - none - why anyone other than a police officer or a member of the military, provided they are acting in the line of duty, should be allowed to bring a gun onto school property. But for unclear reasons, state law also allows a person with a concealed weapon permit to haul a gun into a school. The Legislature should change the law.

The need for a change was illustrated Monday when Curtiss Greer, a local National Rifle Association activist, brought a concealed gun to a meeting of the Springfield School Board. Greer's action violated the school district's strict anti-gun policy, but as Greer noted, it didn't violate state firearms law.

Greer hoped to illustrate the conflict between school district policy and state law, and also to stress his point that concealed weapons permit holders are well trained and responsible. Greer also made another point: that the permit holder can bring a gun onto school property only so long as he or she doesn't "brandish" it. Displaying the gun, he said, would violate the school district's anti-gun policy.

There are two over-riding points here:

One is that no one other than a cop or person in the military should be allowed to bring a gun to school. Greer may be convinced beyond doubt that concealed weapons permit holders pose no danger to anyone, including school personnel and students. But the possibility that a permit holder might be a threat must be acknowledged. Permit holders trained in the basic of responsible gun ownership should understand that guns don't belong in schools.

The second point is that the school district's policy is on target. It seeks to minimize the risk to teachers, administrators and kids. And that's why the state should amend the law to allow districts to bar guns - even those carried by permit holders - from school grounds. It may well be too late in the current legislative session to amend the law, but someone in Salem should at least introduce the amendment.

As Register-Guard reporter Anne Williams' article about Monday's meeting noted, a side drama unfurled during Greer's appearance. In the audience was Yvonne Atteberry, the mother of one of the Thurston High School students wounded during Kip Kinkel's shooting spree in 1998. The Kinkel horror left two Thurston students dead and 22 others wounded. As Atteberry rightly noted: "This has nothing to do with the right to bear arms. But a school zone needs to be safe. I don't know why anybody would have to bring a gun to school."