Police Officers Protecting Children Act

The Police Officers Protecting Children Act would amend the Gun-Free School Zones Act (18 U.S.C. 922(q)) to create new federal exceptions allowing certain law enforcement personnel to carry concealed firearms in school zones, and to discharge a firearm, under specified conditions. Specifically, the bill adds two categories of qualified individuals who may be exempt from the general prohibition on firearms in school zones: (1) active qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry a concealed firearm under 18 U.S.C. 926B, and (2) qualified retired law enforcement officers authorized to carry a concealed firearm under 18 U.S.C. 926C. The firearm must be carried concealed. The bill also expands the list of entities who may perform with a firearm in a school zone to include these qualified officers and requires that their authorization to carry is used in the context of school-zone duties. In short, the bill aims to formalize a federal carve-out to allow certain credentialed officers (active or retired) to carry concealed firearms in school zones, with the explicit condition that the weapon be concealed, and to permit discharge of a firearm by those officers under the same authorization framework.