A new bill in the Tennessee legislature would allow firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other first responders to carry guns on calls.
If passed, the bill would allow on-duty firefighters to carry firearms as long as they went through initial training, as well as eight hours of training annually, Sen. Joey Hensley told WTVF-TV. But fire departments would not be required to adopt the policy under the proposed law.
"Many times, law enforcement is not close, because they're going into the rural areas," Hensley told the TV station. "So if they have an incident or they're threatened, they're dealing with some situation where their lives are in danger, they just need to defend themselves."
RELATED: VA Bill Lets Firefighters Carry Concealed Weapons
A similar measure also is being considered in Virginia.
