On a visit to Mobile Monday, Senator Doug Jones lashed out about the idea introduced in the Alabama legislature last week. The bill calls for arming teachers to prevent school shootings.

The Democratic senator minced no words at the idea telling News 5:  “I think that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. I think it’s crazy. You don’t need 40-50 guns in there and it’s a cost issue. You’re going to have to train those teachers. You don’t need to arm America in order to stop this, you just need to be smart about it.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) – One day after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida killed 17 people, Representative Will Ainsworth of Guntersville filed a bill that would arm school officials.

“We’ve got to make sure that when these evil people get in our schools that our kids have a fighting chance,” said Rep. Ainsworth.  “The only way we can do that is to have people armed in the schools to fight back.”

Under the proposed bill, teachers and school administrators would be allowed to carry a gun on school campuses if they undergo firearm training. 

We wanted to know what you think, so we asked people in Mobile if they thought teachers should be armed.

Many think it’s a good idea.

“I think as long as they are responsible and comfortable with it, I think they need something there to protect them because in this day in age you never know what’s going to happen and at least they have that option,” said Don Vermillion.

“If you got somebody coming in with a gun that’s coming in and acting like they want to come in and kill somebody, you got a teacher that can stand up and protect our children,” said Charles Gibson.

Others we spoke with think the well-intentioned bill might do more harm than good.

“Teachers could do the same damage that a student could do carrying a weapon in school,” said Billy Young. “I think we need to weigh the consideration on both ends that both could have mental issues and both could have problems to bring to school.”

The bill has not yet been introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives. Rep. Ainsworth says we could see if come up later in the legislative session.