GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Whenever there is a school shooting, the topic of arming teachers seems to always come up.
"I'm very distraught about the violence that is occurring in these schools and I want to make kids, educators and administrators feel safe," State Representative Beau LaFave said.
Republican Representative Beau LaFave authored House Bills 4277 and 4278. The bill would allow school districts to arm teachers with pepper spray.
"These two bills make it so it's no longer against state law for local school districts to pick and choose individuals that work with the district to carry either pepper spray or if they have permits from the government - tasers," LaFave said.
In the past, LaFave has authored bills which would allow teachers to carry fire arms.
"I personally believe the best defense against an armed intruder with an AR-15 a shot gun or a pistol, is an AR-15, a shotgun or a pistol - unfortunately I can't get that signed by the governor right now," LaFave said.
The bills, already in committee, would allow school districts the ability to decide for themselves if teachers can carry pepper spray or stun guns.
"It's a non lethal option where school districts can make the choice for themselves if they would like to have something more than just textbooks to throw at armed intruders," LaFave said.
In Michigan, you must have a concealed pistol permit before owning a stun gun.
"I want to make sure we're putting all options on the table for defending our schools and if I cannot allow law abiding citizens with a concealed pistol licenses to carry in schools, we should at least let the educators have pepper spray," LaFave said.
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