Lawmakers in a US state have passed a bill that would allow the state's teachers to carry concealed handguns at school.
Protesters in Nashville, Tennessee yelled their opposition from the gallery as the bill was approved in a 68-28 vote in the Republican-dominated House.
Tennessee has seen heated debate over gun laws since last year's shooting at a Nashville school left three children and three adult staffers dead.
Some of the Democrats in the House helped lead protests inside the capitol, leading to their brief expulsion from the body last year.
Protests were held in the public gallery at Tennessee House
Reuters
A gun reform activist hangs a body bag on the granite base of the former Edward W. Carmack statue which was destroyed in 2020
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State Representative Justin Pearson, a Democrat who was booted from the House last year before being voted back in, wrote on social media: "This is an awful day for Tennessee, our kids, our teachers, and communities...Instead of protecting kids, they've protected guns AGAIN!"
Republicans and other conservatives have often pushed for teachers to be armed in response to the numerous school shootings that have taken place in the US in the past 25 years.
Proponents of the measures argue that armed teachers deter would-be school shooters. Detractors say guns in school will likely only lead to tragic accidental shootings.
About half of all states in the US allow teachers or other school employees to carry firearms on school grounds, according to the Giffords Law Center, a gun safety group.
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Protests were held in the gallery
Reuters
A protest in the public gallery at at Tennessee House in Nashville
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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.
The cost of the training, along with the firearm, is to be paid by the individual.
According to the bill, the identity of the teacher or staffer who is 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
The bill passed in the Republican majority house
Reuters
Earlier this month saw the 25th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher.
Twenty-four were injured in the massacre which took place at Columbine, Colorado on April 20, 1999.
