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Oregon Teacher Sues for Right to Bring Gun to Work

September 25th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

A high school teacher in Medford Oregon is suing her employer because she wants the right to bring a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun to work with her. The Medford School District prohibits the possession of a weapon on school property, as do almost all of the state’s 198 other school disricts. School District officials point out that the rule keeps loaded guns from falling into the hands of students, and prevents accidental shootings.

The teacher, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, argues that she is a victim of domestic violence and needs the gun to protect herself and her daughter. Her ex-husband has repeatedly violated restraining orders and made death threats against her, according to police report. Her ex-husband is a substitute teacher in the district, which gives him access to the building where the teacher works. Although there are police officers at the school, they are too far away to hear her if she cries for help.

The teacher’s legal bills are being paid by the Oregon Firearms Education Foundation, a gun rights group.

“It is abhorrent that any district would be so hypocritical to insist students receive instruction on the importance of individual rights only to trample the rights of their teachers whenever it sees to do so,” the teacher wrote in an editorial published in the Oregonian newspaper.

In the U.S., 37 states have laws that prohibit guns at school. However, Oregon state law allows those with a concealed weapons permit to bring the weapons into public buildings, even into schools. Heavy lobbying by pro-gun groups have resulted in the failure of several attempts to make guns at school illegal.

The recent spate of workplace violence, including the Virginia Tech massacre, has sparked renewed debate on gun laws. While a number of states are considering tighter controls on the sale of handguns, some are taking the opposite tack. Both Texas and Florida have recently reopened debates that would make hand guns legal at work. In both those states, legislation under discussion would make it legal for an employee to bring a loaded handgun to work with them. If the controversial legislation passes, it would be illegal for employers to ban guns at work.

Many workers are concerned about safety on the job following a rash of violent incidents. These include a tragic event in September, when a 40-year-old waitress at an Orlando Denny’s was stabbed by her estranged husband in the restaurant on International Drive. Several families who had just left Walt Disney World witnessed the brutal attack. Customers and coworkers chased the attacker away. The man escaped only after jumping a nearby fence. In his haste to flee, he left behind the bloody knife and ran right out of one of his shoes. Despite the paramedics’ best efforts, the woman died of her injuries.

The Virginia Tech massacre remains the greatest workplace tragedy of the year. On April 16, 2007, an assailant armed with semi-automatic weapon and “enough ammo to start a war” chained the doors of a campus building shut. Seung-Hui Cho killed a total of 32 students and staff on the sprawling campus, and wounded 17 others before turning his gun on himself as police closed in. Cho had murdered two people in a nearby dorm earlier in the day. Some have criticized university officials for not closing the campus and the police for dismissing the original paid of homicides as “a domestic dispute.” It’s particularly puzzling that initial reports from police labeled the incident a “murder-suicide” when both victims were shot, but no gun was found in the room.

Seung-Hui Cho exhibited a number of signs that OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has identified as warning signals of workplace violence. He had a history of irrational crushes on women he hardly knew, bordering on obsession. His stalker-like behavior and irrational jealously towards these casual acquaintances was out of proportion to actual events. Cho was a loner who isolated himself from all social contact. He had fits of rage and showed an unhealthy interest in weapons. He had a history of mental health problems, but was not receiving treatment for them.