Senator Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, is planning to revive a bill allowing public school teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons after completing 40 hours of law enforcement training on school policing, plus a mental evaluation and TBI background check.

“This measure would create very high standards for teachers and employees to be eligible to carry a concealed weapon, with approval from the district. Carrying a concealed weapon at school is a heavy responsibility,” Bailey says in a statement.

Bailey contends this option would help rural school districts that don’t have enough money to hire school security, and he notes it could stop school shooters from targeting a school if they know a lot of people there could be armed.

The bill was postponed in the Senate Judiciary Committee until January 2024 when Chairman Todd Gardenhire said no gun-related measures would be considered after The Covenant School shooting.

Several other bills designed to curb mass shootings were put on hold as well, including Senator. Jeff Yarbro and Representative Caleb Hemmer’s effort to slow down gun thefts from vehicles in the state.

The Bailey bill, sponsored in the House by Republican Rep. Ryan Williams of Cookeville, is believed to be similar to the plan adopted by Florida after the Parkland massacre. It wasn’t popular, though, and most school districts shied away from it