Legislators push bill to arm teachers as protests rise

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Students from coast-to-coast rose to the call for a walkout on Wednesday, and here in West Tennessee was not different.

Students at Crosstown High School in Memphis put down their books to participate in the walkout, holding signs and listening to student speakers outside their school in a call for an end to gun violence.

This after Students Demand Action invited students to participate in a nationwide walkout to protest gun violence following the deadly school shooting in Nashville last week.

The walkout comes just days after student-led protests at our state capitol, and disruption by some Democrats in the House.

Nationwide, students are hoping the walkouts will urge lawmakers to take action.

And it seems lawmakers are taking action, just not in the way advocates for stricter gun laws had hoped.

The Tennessee House Education Administration Committee voted to advance a bill that would arm teachers and other school staff.

The bill would allow faculty and staff members of a school to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds if they obtained an enhanced handgun carry permit and completed annual training.

Dozens of protesters were in attendance, where they criticized lawmakers for backing the bill.

Some yelling teachers don’t get paid to die, and teacher shortages will get worse, while others simply stated they would refuse to carry.

“I would never carry a gun to school, and I know how to use a gun and I own one. But I would never carry a gun in front of my students,” one person said.

Many of the protesters in attendance were representing Moms Demand Action.

The organization said more than 50 volunteers attended the meeting, calling for gun-control legislation.

You can find more news from across the state here.