INDIANAPOLIS  — The state Senate voted 42-7 Tuesday in favor of the bill that specifies a 40-hour training program for teachers volunteering to be armed, followed by 16 hours of additional training each year.

Republican Sen. Chris Garten of Charlestown urged support for the proposal because teachers can be armed with permission of their school districts, but the state doesn’t have any training requirements.

School safety has gained attention around Indiana following shootings in 2018 at a Noblesville middle school in which a boy wounded a classmate and teacher, and at a Richmond middle school where a boy shot out a door and fired at officers before killing himself.

Democratic Sen. Mark Stoops of Bloomington said he believed the bill’s training steps were important but that the state was encouraging what he called “well-meaning amateurs” to end up carrying guns in schools.

The proposal now goes to the House, which didn’t approve a similar Senate bill last year.

 

Image by Brett Hondow from Pixabay