"I've heard from a lot of principals and teachers. Both say, 'Hey give us something. We're not affluent enough to have a safety officer'," said State Sen. Stacey Campfield.
"Our law enforcement people tell us it makes us more problematic for them. We'd like to limit the amount of guns on our campus," said UT President Joe DiPietro.-
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By MIKE KRAFCIK
6 News Reporter
NASHVILLE (WATE) - Several Republican lawmakers are hoping to introduce legislation this spring to allow school personnel to be armed.
"I've heard from a lot of principals and teachers. Both say, 'Hey give us something. We're not affluent enough to have a safety officer'," said State Sen. Stacey Campfield.
Both Sen. Campfield and Sen. Frank Niceley say they will introduce bills mandating each school to have a resource officer.
Campfield's bill would train faculty with carry permits. Niceley's would allow teachers to carry at schools without school resource officers (SRO).
"It helps some of these counties that are short on money," said Sen. Niceley. "If they can't afford a resource officer, it would train a staff member, teacher, maintenance man, whatever."
State Rep. Gloria Johnson, a special education teacher and a gun owner herself, still doesn't believe teachers need to be armed.
"Do you want your child's teacher to be a trained killer or someone who is interested in teaching? You cannot put that our responsibility on that teacher. They have enough responsibility," Rep. Johnson said.
"I do think you have a gun-free zone, it does encourage people to come in the zone and do harm," said Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey.
Ramsey says he doesn't oppose guns in schools, but doesn't know if it's the solution. He has voiced his support for a gun in parking lots bill, which would allow carry owners to bring guns into businesses and campuses like the University of Tennessee.
"Our law enforcement people tell us it makes us more problematic for them. We'd like to limit the amount of guns on our campus," said UT President Joe DiPietro.
