Lawmakers in Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature voted on Tuesday to repeal the state's 48-hour waiting period on handgun purchases, Reuters reported.

Gov. Scott Walker, a likely GOP contender for his party's 2016 White House nomination, plans to sign the bill, his office noted.

Supporters of the new legislation insisted that there is no reason to prevent law-abiding citizens from taking a gun home the day they purchase it.

"This is not about putting guns in the hands of criminals," Republican Rep. Romaine Quinn underlined.

But Critics of the bill said that it will eliminate an important safety provision from state statute and allow consumers to purchase guns impulsively, which they worry could lead to domestic violence and so-called "crimes of passion," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted.

"I don't know how many more women have to die," Democratic Rep. Chris Taylor complained. "I don't know how many more kids have to be murdered for us to do something about this," he added.

The waiting period has been in place in Wisconsin for some 40 years and requires firearm dealers to hold off 48 hours after a Wisconsin Department of Justice background check is completed before completing the sale of a handgun, Reuters detailed.

Meanwhile, the legislature also approved legislation that allows off-duty and retired law-enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds - a bill Walker said he would evaluate before signing it into law.

Currently, only on-duty officers may carry firearms within 1,000 feet of a school, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed, though agencies can certify former law-enforcement personnel to carry concealed guns and issue them retired-officer badges or licenses.

Proponents of the bill -- authored by two Republican lawmakers -- contend that allowing people experienced with guns to bring them inside schools will end up making students safer from threats. But most Democrats in the state Assembly voted against the measure after they failed to attach an amendment that would have required officers carrying concealed guns to notify the school administrator of their presence.