Virginia State Del. Bob Marshall (via Facebook)

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said yesterday that he’d be open to having a discussion about whether to allow teachers and other school employees to carry guns in the wake of last week’s mass shooting in Newton, Connecticut.

But a member of the Virginia House of Delegates is going several steps further and actually require some educators to come packing. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas) is intends to propose a bill that would force school districts to appoint groups of teachers as gun-slinging defenders. The Washington Post reports that along with the teachers who are already licensed to own firearms, Marshall’s bill would give all of Virginia’s schools their own little posse:

Marshall would not only allow staff with concealed handgun permits to carry them in schools, but require school districts to designate some staff members to do so. Those employees would have to be certified in gun safety and competence, Marshall said.

Well, at least these well-meaning educators being dragooned into sheriff duty are trained, it’s OK, right? (On Monday, a D.C. kindergarten teacher told DCist that, “I don’t want anyone to put a gun in my hand in a classroom full of children.”)

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said he opposes forcing teachers to arm themselves. Moreover, the Post reports that the lawyers who did the actual writing of Marshall’s bill were unsure if the House of Delegates has the authority to require such measures from public school employees. But the Virginia Constitution does not spell out the relationship between legislators and schools, so the bill was written.

And if Marshall’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the guy who proposed a “fetal personhood” bill early this year that would have criminalized access to birth control and outlawed abortion by declaring that a fetus is a living human from the moment of conception.