LANSING -- Teachers with guns in the classroom?

Under a bill proposed by Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, it’s a possibility.

“It’s not about guns,” Agema said. “It’s about keeping kids safe.”

If passed, the proposal would allow teachers, administrators and other employees to carry concealed pistols on public school property, including classrooms.

It would require authorization from the superintendent, who could also require the individual to complete a training course first.

But the proposal has its sharp critics.

For example, David Taylor, superintendent of the Monroe School District, called it “the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Schools are the safest place in any community.”

Agema said the mass shootings that killed 15 in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado, 33 this year at Virginia Tech University and six last year at West Nickel Mines Amish School in Lancaster, Pa., prompted the proposal.

The bill would also allow parents and guardians to carry concealed weapons on school property while picking up or dropping off their kids.

The potential threat of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations was another factor, he said.

The lack of security in schools is “an issue that needs to be addressed,” said Agema.

According to Agema, armed teachers would not only deter violence, but could also save lives during the “most deadly phase” of a school shooting, the 10 to 20 minutes before police show up.

It is during that period that trained teachers could protect students from an attacker, he said.

Other security measures, such as metal detectors, could help protect a school, but are costly and wouldn’t deter an assailant who is intent on harming students, Agema said.

Arming and properly training teachers is a better solution, said Agema, because they would be more effective than metal detectors, and schools “can’t afford to have a cop in every classroom.”

Co-sponsor Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, called the proposal a “pretty basic common sense approach,” and stressed that carrying a weapon would be strictly voluntary.

In response to critics who say guns in school would increase the risk of accidental shootings, Casperson said, “I haven’t seen any evidence to back that up.”

Other sponsors include Republican Reps. John Stahl of North Branch, John Pastor of Livonia and Tom Pearce of Rockford.

But Monroe’s Taylor said the proposal is no solution and would increase the odds of violence.

The Monroe School District continually works to enhance safety, while at the same time keeping schools a child-friendly, and family-friendly environment, he said.

Doug Pratt, director of communications for the Michigan Education Association (MEA), said the union also opposes the bill.

The MEA, the state’s largest union of teachers and other school staff, has “always stood for weapons-free schools,” said Pratt.

Pratt said the answer to school violence is not arming teachers.

Even with some training, teachers wouldn’t be prepared to make the life-or-death decisions that come with carrying a weapon, he added.

“That decision should be made by police officers with years and years of training,” said Pratt.

Other security measures can be used, Pratt said, adding that it’s up to local districts to decide what’s appropriate for their schools.

Pratt said that according to the National Rifle Association, accidental gun deaths are down in the United States, and that’s another reason that guns should stay out of schools.

“Why risk something tragic happening by introducing guns into our school environments?” he asked. “All it’s going to take is one mistake for a child to lose their life.”

Pratt predicted that Michigan’s teachers won’t be armed anytime soon because the bill, pending in the House Judiciary Committee, isn’t politically feasible.