Teachers carrying guns in class could get pay raise, if proposed NC bill becomes law

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A bill being discussed in the North Carolina Senate would make teachers carrying weapons in class eligible for a raise, according to our newsgathering partners at the News & Observer.

Senate Bill 192, which is also being called the School Security Act of 2019, was filed March 6.

The bill lays out rules for creating "teacher resource officers," which would be teachers trained to carry weapons and protect the school. Those teacher resource officers would be eligible to receive a 5 percent pay raise.

The idea of allowing teachers to carry weapons in school is not a new one.

In fact the same bill, sponsored by the same lawmaker (Sen. Jerry Tillman), failed in committee last year.

Also last year, Cabarrus County State Rep. Larry Pittman filed a bill to allow teachers to carry guns on campus. That bill failed to gain traction, but Pittman filed a similar bill again this session.

In response to Pittman's bill, the president of the Wake County chapter of the NC Association of Educators, who spent 15 years in the classroom, said she would not feel comfortable carrying guns.

A poll conducted in 2018 by Elon University and the News & Observer found 78 percent of teachers thought carrying a gun in their classroom would be a bad idea.

Note: Video attached to this article is from ABC11's coverage of Pittman's proposed bill.