The shooting at a private school in Nashville rattled the state of Tennessee, including Gov. Bill Lee who reportedly knew one of the victims.

Having been there, I can imagine quite well how he felt.

The state has been scrambling to address some of the issues that may have contributed to the massacre. Some of that has involved gun control proposals, unfortunately, but not all of it.

We know the killer picked that particular school because the first-choice target had security that was too tight. That sounds like a recipe to prevent future attacks to me, then.

Additionally, a bill just advanced that would really address school security.

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee advanced a proposal Tuesday to allow some teachers to carry handguns on public school grounds, a move that would mark one of the state’s biggest expansions of gun access since a deadly shooting at a private elementary school last year.

The proposal cleared the GOP-controlled chamber amid emotional chants and screams from protesters against the legislation. Many were eventually ordered to leave the Senate galleries.

After receiving a 26-5 Senate vote, the proposal is now ready for a House floor vote. The bill would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to parents of students and even other teachers. A principal, school district and law enforcement agency would have to agree to let staff carry guns.

“I’m upset. My child is at risk under this bill,” said Democratic state Sen. London Lamar, holding her 8-month-old son. “This bill is dangerous and teachers don’t want it. Nobody wants it.”

Senate Speaker Randy McNally, a Republican, cleared the galleries after many protesters refused to quiet down even as he gaveled them down repeatedly for disruptions. In the nearly 15 minutes it took to remove the audience and resume the debate, they continued chanting, “Vote them out;” “No more silence, end gun violence;” and “Kill the bill, not the kids.”

I swear to all that is holy, I cannot understand these people.

They really do think that guns make people evil, don't they? These are people who have spent years trying to tell us that teachers are heroes, that they're not given enough respect and admiration, and now they're acting like allowing them the choice of being armed will suddenly make them homicidal?

It's absolutely insane.

We've seen what happens in Tennessee when a bad person decides to hurt innocent people in a school when no one can fight back. Why is allowing teachers the choice to arm themselves so they can protect their own lives and, by extension, the lives of their students so controversial?

It's only because these people really do see guns as cursed objects, devices that turn the bearer wicked; something akin to the One Ring in Lord of the Rings or something out of a Dungeons & Dragons session.

There's really no other explanation for this particular crop of outcry.

If teachers don't want to be armed, this is a non-issue as none of them will seek out being armed. Any who do disprove the idea that no one wants this. Yet those who do aren't a threat to anyone except to those who threaten human life on school grounds.

Hysteria is the order of the day with Tennessee's anti-gun crowd. That's clearly advancing as well.

My hope is that the bill passes and is signed into law. This would stop the next potential shooting and be factored into the planning for potential mass murderers throughout the state. They don't want to get popped by the English teacher before they can make a name for themselves, so they'll go elsewhere.

And the hysterical bunch will just have to chew on their own disappointment.