2LT International News

NASHVILLE, Tennessee: This week, Tennessee lawmakers in the state’s Republican-dominated House passed a bill in a 68-28 vote that will allow teachers to carry concealed handguns at school.

The state’s Senate passed the bill earlier this month.

Since last year’s shooting at a Nashville school led to the deaths of three children and three adult staff members, Tennessee has seen heated debate over gun laws.

Some Democrats in the House were briefly expelled from the body last year for leading protests inside the capitol.

State Representative Justin Pearson, a Democrat, said, “This is an awful day for Tennessee, our kids, our teachers, and communities. Instead of protecting kids, they have protected guns again!”

In response to the numerous school shootings that have taken place in the U.S. in the past 25 years, Republicans and other conservatives have often pushed for teachers to be allowed to carry guns, arguing that armed teachers would deter would-be school shooters.

However, opponents said guns in school would lead to more tragic accidental shootings.

According to gun safety group Giffords Law Center, around half of all states in the US allow teachers or other school employees to carry firearms on school grounds.

Under the Tennessee bill, any person wanting to carry a concealed handgun in a school would have to complete at least 40 hours of training in school policing, and the identity of the teacher or staff member carrying a gun would not be public.

School leaders must give approval for the person to carry a gun, and local law enforcement leaders must be informed of the carrier’s identity.