The U.S. Education Department said Thursday that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators.

If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement.

A senior Trump administration official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the agency is reviewing legislation governing federal academic enrichment grants to see if the money can be used to procure firearms.

Scott Beigel’s mother Linda told News 12 that she can't believe U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is considering the use of federal funds to arm teachers and administrators.   

Scott Beigel was a geography teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He was shot and killed in February after unlocking his door to let students in to hide from a gunman in the school. 

“I just do not think that it is justifiable, in any realm of reality, to have a teacher armed in a classroom,” she said.

Andrew Chernoff, owner of Coliseum Gun Traders, says securing the outside of school campuses just isn't enough to protect students and staff who are on the inside.

“If you train the teachers and you have them carrying firearms to be able to protect this precious cargo of ours, you give somebody a chance to be able to defend themselves,” says Chernoff.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrote a letter to the New York State Education Department expressing his strong opposition. He wrote, “New York cannot and will not be party to this insanity. I will do everything in my power to prevent guns from entering our classrooms. I write to you to ask that you join me in this fight and reject any attempt by the federal government to put guns in our schools."

The New York State United Teachers union called the plan “worse than reckless.” The group's president said “deadly weapons don't belong in classrooms in the hands of educators who have repeatedly said they don't want them.”