Bomb threats, gun threats at schools should be penalized equally

Right now, gun threats
are only a misdemeanor

A proposal to change how police deal with school threats is meant to reflect how those threats have evolved.

That, according to Onalaska state rep. Steve Doyle, urging other lawmakers to support his plan to increase penalties for making a gun threat against a school.

It’s something that’s not taken as seriously as a bomb threat is now.

“If I call my local school and I say there’s a bomb in the school, I could be charged with a felony,” Doyle said. “On the other hand, if I send a message over there that says, ‘There will be a school shooting on Friday, Oct. 2,” I could be charged with disorderly conduct. Period.”

Doyle’s bill would make gun threats a felony. He says there are just more gun threats now, compared to bomb threats.

Doyle says the change would put the two threats on equal footing.

“Rather than adding a new felony, it really more expands the existing felony statute,” Doyle said.

Currently, gun threats towards a school can only be charged as a misdemeanor, meaning, if a school has to shut down for several days because of a threat, punishment might be little more than a ticket and expulsion.