Arizona State Senator Karen S. Johnson, who packs a .22 cal. semi-auto in her purse, is sponsoring a bill that would allow people with a concealed weapons permit to carry a gun on state college and university campuses.

Sound familiar? Utah is the only state that allows licensed concealed weapons on campus already, but an attempt to let permit holders pack a gun openly at state colleges failed this week.

Johnson, a Republican, believes the recent carnage at Northern Illinois University could have been prevented if an armed student or professor had opened fire on the gunman. Police can't react quickly enough to such incidents, she says.

UPDATE: The Arizona Republic reports police departments at Arizona's universities plan to arm and train their officers with $700 military-style assault rifles.

The new rifles would give campus police officers long-range shooting capabilities, allowing them to hit targets at the end of long hallways or atop tall buildings, officials said.

Arizona State University will be the first of the three schools to use the weapons. Officers there will be trained to use the rifles in the next few months, said ASU police spokesman Cmdr. Jim Hardina.