House Bill 1083 is going back to the House after the Mississippi Senate passed an amendment to the bill that would permit school districts to arm staff and teachers with guns.

The amendment, called “The School Safety Act,” passed the Senate by a vote of 27-18. Sen. Briggs Hopson III, who authored the amendment, said Wednesday it was further amended on the Senate floor.

“We tweaked a little bit of language,” he said. “We actually made the training requirements a little more rigorous, and then we tried to tighten up some language on the exception under the bill.”

The bill was amended Wednesday by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Southaven Republican, to tighten requirements for school and college employees to include 36 hours of training, a psychological screening and an annual shooting test where the employee would have to score 85 percent. It would also keep secret the identities of employees carrying weapons.

One change in the bill was a stadium amendment that would allow universities and junior colleges to refuse to let enhanced carry permit holders bring their weapons into stadiums or gyms at athletic events under certain circumstances when sufficient law enforcement is present.

The provision drew opposition from some Republicans who voted against the bill because it would limit gun rights in that way.

“I have no idea how this body would restrict when we should be expanding these rights,” said Sen. Chris McDaniel, an Ellisville Republican who’s currently seeking a U.S. Senate seat.

Some Democrats opposed the bill, saying they were concerned about teachers shouldering the burden of carrying guns in addition to all the other responsibilities they bear.

Hopson said Feb. 27 he introduced the bill in response to school shootings across the country.

“As much as nobody likes to talk about the issues of guns in schools, we’ve got to address some of the problems like the problem we had at Parkland (Florida), where you’ve got people who are crazy who bring weapons to school to harm our students and others,” Hopson said after the bill passed his Judiciary A Committee.

He also said the bill “puts another tool in their (the school boards’) toolbox,” if the boards wish to use it, and allows them to designate one or more individuals who would have intensive training on school situations.

“I just want to reiterate that this strengthens the existing law,” Hopson said. “This is not something that’s mandatory, this is optional; there is no requirement whatsoever that any district do anything, but it just gives them an option if they want to, to be able to utilize this procedure.”

He said existing state law already allows school the authority to have concealed carry on campuses.

“This (bill) actually said if they are going to do that, these are the specific training requirements that that person or persons are going to have to meet.”

Citing some of the provisions of the law, Vicksburg Warren County School District Superintendent Chad Shealy said the district has a policy forbidding faculty and staff from carrying weapons on school campus with the exception of law enforcement.

“So for us, this isn’t an issue unless the board (of trustees) changes the policy,” Shealy said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.