Could personnel in Indiana schools be carrying guns and have the opportunity to use them in the event of a school shooting?

It is a possibility, as a bill authored by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, has advanced out of the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development. 

The measure would provide state funded firearms training for school personnel, including teachers, and advanced out of the House earlier this session by a vote of 71-24. Rep. Beau Baird, who represents Putnam County in District 44, which includes portions of Putnam County, voted in favor of the measure. 

Lucas told The Putnam County Post his proposed legislation can be traced back to multiple school shootings across the nation, but was spurred by the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla. in 2018. 

"It is a great piece of legislation that simply gives those that volunteer, state paid training and a chance to save their life in the event of an active shooter situation," Lucas said. 

Lucas said it is important to stress that his legislation is "strictly voluntary."

"The school corporation has to want to do it and the teachers/staff must volunteer and pass a psychological evaluation and then complete the prescribed course and then the state pays for it," Lucas acknowledged.

The state would pay for it by reallocating funds in the Indiana Safe Schools fund to training.