Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is getting behind an idea to pay teachers $10,000 annually to carry firearms at school.

Jones endorsed a bill currently under consideration in the state legislature that would pay teachers to undergo firearms training and carry a gun in school during an event at a Georgia elementary school. Efforts to arm teachers have been a common proposal from conservatives to address school safety.

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“It’s sad, but it is the sign of the times that we have to go to these lengths to protect our children, but it’s just where we are,” Jones said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia law allows school districts to decide whether or not to allow teachers to carry firearms.

Arming teachers has been a mainstay policy proposal for addressing school safety concerns. A pair of government school safety commissions formed in the wake of several school shootings in 2018 recommended arming teachers. More than a dozen states, including Florida and Ohio, permit the practice.

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But the idea of arming teachers has faced a cool reception from teachers unions, who have said the only answer to school shootings is to expand restrictions on gun ownership.

“We are not law enforcement personnel and should not be seen in those roles,” Lisa Morgan, the president of the Georgia Association of Educators, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.