Gun control, teacher groups threaten legal action against DeVos over possible firearms funding
A coalition of prominent gun control, teachers and civil rights groups is threatening legal action against the Department of Education if it moves forward with a controversial proposal that would allow states to spend federal funds on guns for school personnel. "We are extraordinarily concerned with this dangerous, and what we believe to be, unlawful proposal under consideration to supply teachers with federal funds to buy gun for their classrooms, instead of books and school supplies," said Giffords Law Center chief counsel Adam Skaggs, whose group, which was co-founded by shooting victim and former Rep. Gabby Giffords, is taking the lead on the potential suit. Other member of the coalition are the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers’ union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan legal group targeting executive branch overreach. NBC News reported this week that President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos began deliberating the controversial move earlier this year after Texas and Oklahoma asked the agency if schools could buy weapons using federal funds known as Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants, which are part of Title IV funding. The Education Department is still weighing the issue and "no decision is imminent," a senior administration official told NBC. But if the agency moves forward with the proposal, the coalition is prepared to fight it. "In essence, our complaint will seek a declaration that allowing these federal funds to be spent on guns instead of activities meant to make schools feel safe […]
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