tekkychick
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http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/09/19373369-fooling-politicians-is-easy-fooling-actuaries-is-hard?lite
Politicians and pundits care about talking points. Actuaries care about data. (Thanks to reader C.R. for the heads-up.)
As more schools consider arming their employees, some districts are encountering a daunting economic hurdle: insurance carriers threatening to raise their premiums or revoke coverage entirely.
During legislative sessions this year, seven states enacted laws permitting teachers or administrators to carry guns in schools. Three of the measures -- in Kansas, South Dakota and Tennessee -- took effect last week.
But already, EMC Insurance Companies, the liability insurance provider for about 90 percent of Kansas school districts, has sent a letter to its agents saying that schools permitting employees to carry concealed handguns would be declined coverage.
The insurer's letter explained to officials in Kansas, "We are making this underwriting decision simply to protect the financial security of our company."
And this, of course, makes quite a bit of sense. In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, far-right policymakers in a variety of states decided the appropriate response was bringing in more loaded firearms into schools, to be kept around children. This is precisely what the NRA recommended -- schools will be safer, the group insisted, with armed school personnel -- and policymakers acted accordingly.
But insurance companies don't much care about political rhetoric, and have fiduciary responsibilities to consider. And wouldn't you know it, the actuaries ran the numbers and decided insuring schools that may include gun-toting teachers is not a wise investment.