Arizona schools are one step closer to having guns inside them, as the Senate approved a bill that would allow school employees to carry a gun.
And, only in Arizona would we have to tell you which bill calling for guns in schools that we're talking about.
See also:
-Lock and Load, Lunch Lady: Bill for Gun Access in Schools Applies to Any Employee
This is Senate Bill 1325 that we're talking about, not House Bill 2656, the bill championed by Attorney General Tom Horne, which never got committee assignments (in other words, it's dead).
So, the guns-in-schools bill that did pass one chamber of the Legislature calls for a school board to allow a school employee to carry a concealed handgun if the school has fewer than 600 students, is more than 30 minutes (driving, we assume) and 20 miles from the "closest law enforcement facility," and the school doesn't have a designated cop, who would already have a gun, naturally.
That can't apply to too many schools, especially not in the Phoenix area.
The bill also lets the school board authorize retired cops to carry guns at the school, if they work at the school, and get a certificate.
The bill passed the Senate with a 17-11 vote, and now goes over to the House.