Plan to keep guns out of schools in Baltimore County

It's happening in Baltimore County, guns being brought into schools. It’s got parents concerned, and it drove hundreds of them out to Perry Hall High School Thursday night.

Maryland Delegate Christian Miele held a town hall to share what laws he is working to pass to make schools safer and to hear from parents.

The parents packed in the cafeteria because they’re tired of what’s happening in the hallways.

"I'm mad I'm scared I'm concerned,” said Darlene Graves a parent at the school.  “I'm concerned because these kids are growing up thinking this is normal.”
 

Replica guns have been brought to Baltimore County School campuses twice in the last month.

"We had a shooting at this school, but what have we done to make this not happen here again? Graves wondered.  “Backpacks you can hide things in backpacks, metal detectors maybe we need metal detectors D.C. has metal detectors in their schools."

Delegate Miele wants the people to know what he's doing to fix the problem, pointing to House Bill 1474.

"Stiffen the sanctions when a student brings a firearm on school property, already that's unlawful,” said Miele. “If the student does bring a firearm whether it's a real or replica gun they will forfeit their Maryland State Drivers License for between 1 and 3 years depending on the judge’s discretion."

He didn’t want to just tell the people about his laws, he wanted to listen to the ideas of parents like Jody Darrell.

"Our issues are security, discipline, and overcrowding,” said Darrell.  “I have a 10th grader at Perry Hall High School, I worried when she started school that she'd be walking home from school because they didn't have buses. I don't think the walk home is as much of an issue as being in school."

The bill hasn’t been filed, that will happen on March 9th.