School employees could carry concealed firearms on school property under a GOP proposal rebuked by gun violence prevention advocates and Democrats.
The bill would give local school boards authority to approve school staff with concealed carry permits to bring guns on school grounds.
It would also waive application, renewal and background check fees for teachers to get a concealed carry permit.
Republicans state Rep. Scott Allen of Waukesha and state Sen. Cory Tomcyzk of Mosinee unveiled the proposal in a co-memorandum Monday.
In an interview, Allen told Wisconsin Public Radio the bill is about school security. It comes about two weeks after a shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members.
"Minutes matter in these cases," Allen said. "We’ve seen cases all across the country where the time it takes for law enforcement to arrive and to engage the shooter in that intervening time, lives can be lost. So the quicker we can respond and neutralize a threat, the better."
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers threatened to use his veto pen if the legislation lands on his desk.
"Wisconsinites have been desperately demanding commonsense proposals that will reduce gun violence and keep our kids, our schools, and our communities safe. This bill isn’t among them," Evers said in a tweet. "This bill shouldn’t make it to my desk — but if it does, I'll veto it. Plain and simple."
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