Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Newmax said she hasn't looked at the Tennessee legislation passed last week that would allow teachers and other school members to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, but that all families want to make certain that children are safe in school.
"We all want that," she said on "National Report" Thursday.
"I'm not a member of the Tennessee State Senate," she said. "I haven't seen the bill or that specific legislation. What I have focused on for the last several years is my Safe Schools Act, which would allow schools the ability to harden; it would be grants for schools so that they can harden their facilities, put ballistic film on doors, have cameras, have people to watch those cameras, fencing around playgrounds, one-touch locks, because this is something that every school should be able to do, whether it's public or private, and know that the children that are in that building are going to be safe."
Tennessee's GOP-controlled Senate voted 26-5 to pass Senate Bill 1325, which allows a teacher or faculty member to possess and carry a handgun or firearm on school grounds. They must have a handgun carry permit, have written authorization from both the school's principal and local law enforcement and undergo 40 hours of handgun training.
The measure, passed one year after the shooting at the Covenant School that killed three 9-year-old children and three adults, is expected to move to the Tennessee House.
Blackburn said she's pleased Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee took provisions from her Safe Schools Act last year "and put them in place to make funds available to schools.
"Also there has been a push for SROs [School Resource Officers] in schools, and I had as a part of my safe school acts legislation, the ability for retired law enforcement and retired military to be able to serve as officers and back up these SROs, and be there as security officers in schools, and the idea actually came to us from some retired law enforcement who said, 'You know, we would love to be a security officer at a school where our grandchildren or nieces, nephews, neighbors are in school and add to the safety and security of that situation,' " she added.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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