GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia school system is considering the idea of storing rifles in safes inside school offices in case they're needed to defend students in a school shooting.

Gainesville City Schools Superintendent Merrianne Dyer says the rifles would be placed at Gainesville High School, Gainesville Middle School and Wood's Mill Academy.

Dyer said the weapons would be locked inside safes in the offices of school resource officers. She said all school resource officers are armed, but recent training showed that handguns they carry would not be effective in long hallways or corridors.

The Times of Gainesville reports (http://bit.ly/1dMZjDH) that Gainesville police had approached the schools about the idea in April, shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.

The school board is expected to vote on the issue in October.

___