Indiana (USA) to train school teachers in the use of firearms

Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Indiana on Tuesday approved a bill that would law to fund optional firearms handling courses for teachers.

The initiative received the support of a majority of state senators, after passing the state’s lower house in February. Both chambers are controlled by the Republican Party.

The state Already allows teachers to carry firearms in school.and does not require them to take any courses.

The measure, which has not yet been ratified by the governor-also a Republican-proposes to create. a curriculum on gun safety, education and training. specialized for teachers and other school workers, collects the medium. The Hill. The program would have a duration of 40 hours.

It would also allow schools to apply for funding to provide counseling services. for students or teachers following a school shooting, according to the media outlet.

School shootings are relatively common in the United States. So far this year, there have been at least 42 incidents involving firearms in schools in the country.which have left 17 dead and 32 injured, according to data from the organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

The latest took place at the Covenant private school in Nashville, Tennessee, where a 28-year-old former student burst into the building heavily armed and shooting.

Six people died, three of them minors, in addition to the attacker.

Last year, after a particularly bloody school shooting in Uvalde (Texas), where 19 students and two female teachers were killed, in addition to the attacker, U.S. Congress agreed and passed a historic, though minimal, package of measures to restrict access to firearms.

Some Republicans argue, however, that the best way to combat school shootings is not to restrict access to guns, but to arm teachers or increase police presence in schools.