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These days, Jackson resident Jo Newman spends her time writing. She’s also a parent to two students in the Teton County School District No.1. One will start kindergarten in the fall and the other, second grade.
While summer typically brings reprieve from thoughts of school for parents and kids, Newman is out to change a new state law.
In this year’s legislative session, Wyoming lawmakers passed a bill that eroded local control of gun policies and banned “gun-free zones.” It follows a trend of Republican-led Legislatures enacting similar policies. About half of U.S. states allow teachers or other staff to carry guns on school property with concealed carry permits.
Wyoming’s law allows concealed carry without permission from school authorities and allows schools to require training for staff who want to carry concealed. But as soon as the law goes into effect on July 1, it will now violate the law to ask the same of visitors to the school.
Newman is one of about a dozen parents who has advocated at recent school board meetings for tighter restrictions on concealed carry.
Heather Smith is a parent of a 9-year-old in the district and spoke at a meeting in late May vouching for a bold response to the new legislation.
“There are creative ways where we can resist implementation, particularly around leveraging the property rights of the district,” she said.
Newman was on a similar page and suggested that the movement was far reaching and “apolitical.” She’s talking with other parents in Casper.
“We don’t wanna fight the state of Wyoming. We just want to keep our kids safe and this legislation isn’t reflective of the voices of the state,” Newman said.
Newman said her group hasn’t yet sued the state, but likely will.
“Regardless of their political support, for this bill, they want to see their kids in an environment where they feel safe and can thrive,” Newman said.
The Teton County school board has to write a policy before the law goes into effect in July to fall in line with state law. A vote on a new policy is scheduled for its June 11 meeting.
