The Iowa Legislature has been discussing possible bills to assist public schools with more security measures, following the shooting incident in Perry.

District 24 Senator Jesse Green (R-Boone) says he believes there is going to be a bill that would allow a qualified individual in every school building in Iowa to be armed with a firearm. While he thinks this would not be difficult to do, the issue is with school district’s insurance carriers that are not willing to create a policy for coverage or the policy would be so expensive that district’s could not afford to have armed individuals. 

“I think you’re going to see a bill that comes out that provides some steps for schools to go through, that once they go through those steps they are immune of liability from potential lawsuits and stuff. That might make it more attractive for insurance companies to start providing policies for schools to take these additional security measures that are being recommended.”   

Green notes that the House is working on a bill that would establish grant funding for districts to provide School Resource Officers, along with discussions about installing metal detectors and having single points of entry for school buildings. Green wants to help to ensure that something that was as awful as the Perry situation doesn’t happen again in Iowa.