Law professor: few exceptions to ban guns in schools

Although guns are typically banned in Minnesota's public schools, there are a few exceptions.

Joseph Olson, a law professor at Hamline University and the president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance, helped negotiate the exceptions to the ban.

Olson told Tom Crann of All Things Considered on Thursday that the ban on guns in schools changed in 2003 when permit to carry legislation was making the rounds at the Legislature.

"This was compromise." Olson said. "We negotiated with the school districts and we came up with a provision that they said they could live with."

Under the newer legislation, those with permits to carry could request explicit permission from the principal of a school to bring a gun onto school property.

"We went from not needing any permission to needing specific permission from the person in charge of the facility," Olson said. "It's entirely at the discretion of the principal."

Some at the Minnesota Legislature are calling for more teachers to be armed following last week's shooting in Connecticut. Others argue that gun laws should be tightened.