Lesson plan of last resort

A high-school teacher in Medford, Ore., is suing for the right to carry a Glock to school.

Her ex-husband, she said, has threatened her life. She's already done what the experts advise: had him arrested for what's known down there as "menacing." Filed a restraining order. Told family, friends and anyone who would listen that she worries for her safety and that of her two kids.

Then she took the required classes on handling and firing a handgun, and got a concealed-weapon permit.

School officials found out and, understandably, forbade her from packing heat along with her lunch. If she did, they said, she'd be fired.

So today the teacher's lawyer, James E. Leuenberger, will ask a judge to remind the school district of an Oregon statute that allows concealed weapons in all public buildings except courthouses. (Washington law prohibits teachers from carrying firearms on school property.)

The 44-year-old Oregon teacher — who wishes to remain anonymous and is not named in the lawsuit — called the school's policy prohibiting guns "fear-based."

A school without guns, she told me, is a vulnerable school.

Look at Columbine, she said. One teacher with a gun could have changed the ending there.

"It would be so much more responsible for the school to know which teachers are licensed to conceal," she said, "and do what they can under the circumstances."

I see both sides. As a mother, the idea of a gun being allowed on school premises — no matter the reason — terrifies me. But then I remember the women who followed the law to protect themselves, and were killed anyway.

Rebecca Griego, shot to death by her ex-boyfriend last spring as she sat at her desk at the University of Washington.

Rinthya Brooks, stabbed to death by her ex-husband at an event Aug. 5 at the VFW Hall in South Seattle.

Both had taken out restraining orders, dealt with police. Moved. Put the word out.

Lois Loontjens, executive director of New Beginnings, a Seattle nonprofit that serves victims of domestic violence, understands both the teacher's and the district's points of view.

"If she is to the point where she sees carrying a gun as her only alternative, then the community and the systems that have been set up to protect all of us have failed," Loontjens said.

There should be "swift and certain" consequences for abusers, in proportion to their offense, she said. "But once it is at this point, what can the larger community do?"

Maybe have parents volunteer to escort the teacher through the day, I said, just as they would come in to tutor. If the safety of students is at stake, I know I would offer.

Indeed, if there is a lesson to be learned from this teacher, it is this: We are failing domestic-violence victims miserably, to the point where they are risking their jobs to protect themselves.

"Doing nothing is not an option for me," the teacher said.

And so she continues to take regular target practice, preparing for a test I hope she never has to take.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Tuesday and Friday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

Shot a gun once. That was enough.