JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi lawmakers may let two workers per public school carry concealed weapons.
The House Education Committee passed the measure on a split voice vote Monday. The bill goes next to the House for more debate.
House Bill 988, written by Burnsville Republican Rep. Bubba Carpenter, would allow local school boards to vote on allowing employees to carry guns.
Any employee carrying a concealed weapon would have to pass a firearms safety course. That mirrors a 2011 state law allowing people to carry concealed guns into many places where they're otherwise banned if they get training.
The bill is one response to the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and others are pushing for grants that would subsidize the cost of police officers and sheriff's deputies in schools.
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