The Indiana House of Representatives has approved the creation of a state grant program to help school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment.Lawmakers removed a provision that would have required all public schools to have a gun-carrying employee on site during school hours.That amendment from Republican Rep. Jim Lucas was taken out after concerns were raised about training standards and the safety of having non-police officers carrying guns in schools.The bill now calls for the issue to be taken up by a study committee this summer. "Now, people hopefully will be comfortable with analyzing this and looking at it and approaching it from different angles. But the bottom line is, a person who is committed to doing these acts, there’s really only one way to stop them, and that is to have on-site active defense," Lucas said before the 86-6 floor vote. The legislation was prompted in part by last December’s shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.The bill now goes back to the Senate for consideration of House changes. It proposes spending $10 million a year on the safety grant program.
