JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After tragedies like the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, there's a growing push to arm school personnel with weapons.
How would you feel if your child's teacher or other school staff member was allowed to legally carry a gun into the classroom?
Wednesday, a Florida house panel approved a measure that would allow certain school employees to do just that - one day after a similar bill passed in the Senate.
There are key parts of the bill include certain criteria the person designated to carry a gun - would have to meet.
They would have to have
- A carry and conceal permit
- Comprehensive training to deal with an active shooting
- And must be current or past members of the military or a law enforcement agency.
Channel 4 found out - not everyone thinks it's a good idea.
A grandparent of a 9-nine-year old believes armed school staff will do more harm than good.
"Because they might abuse it. If a 12th grader is bigger than the teacher and let's say the student hits the teacher, the first thing the teacher is going to do is grab the weapon."
"I have mixed emotions about it. I understand the concept with all the school shootings and all of the violence, but I'm not sure if that is going to solve the problem," said Deatrice jackson, mother of two.
Duval County Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti agrees with that.
"My sense is that it won't pass. My hope is that it doesn't. Again when you are dealing violence, the solution is not to inject more guns into the situation. It is to train people on how to de-escalate, diffuse and identify the warning signs that could lead to a violent situation," Vitti said.
The House and Senate's school safety bill's are not a done deal yet - both have to go through both chambers for a full vote.