Guns and school safety are still on the minds of many people around the country following the shooting last month at an elementary school in Connecticut.  And that included the people attending the weekly cracker-barrel in Rapid City Saturday morning where area legislators gathered to talk about the legislative session with local residents. The first item on the agenda was a bill being introduced by Representative Scott Craig of Rapid City that would give school districts greater authority to arm school district employees.

Scott Craig says, "And we believe, with this bill, 1087, that school boards are more than capable to determine on their own what they want to do; what they don't want to do regarding the protection of their kids."

Jacqueline Sly says, "As House Chair of the Education Committee, I need to keep a very open minds as we move into this. I want to keep it a school safety issue, not a second amendment right."

Governor Dennis Daugaard says he want to hear from law enforcement officials as well as educators about the issues surrounding school building security before he makes a judgment on the bill.

Al Van Zee