Gun rights laws were expanded in Missouri schools today, allowing specially trained school employees - including teachers - to carry firearms.
The law was vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon, but the state legislature overrode his veto, passing the law which allows guns in the classroom. Local lawmakers were pushing for broadened gun laws for two years, reports FOX.
The law will go into effect in a month.
The state already allowed employees with gun permits to carry firearms inside school buildings. The new law allows schools to designate an employee as a "school protection officer" who would carry a fire arm or self-defense spray, The Associated Press reports. Part of the law also adds that the state Department of Public Safety will need to create training guidelines for this process.
"I think it's important that we train those individuals if they are going to be carrying," state Sen. Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit, who sponsored the bill, tells AP.
The new law also lowered the age to get a gun permit from 21 to 19.
Missouri is the 10th state to allow armed school employees since the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Other states, such as New York, California and Connecticut, took the opposite approach after the shooting that killed 20 children and six adults and added more gun restrictions to their state laws.
"The reality is we're making our cities les safe," state Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, said to AP about bringing guns into schools.
