Texas Schools Look for Guidance on Firearms Policies
Amid a flurry of post-Sandy Hook school safety proposals from Texas lawmakers, a handful of schools are considering policies that would allow employees to carry concealed handguns. But despite the increased attention on firearms policies, there is not much research on their effectiveness — or clarity on what the law governing them allows.
Because so few school districts allow employees to carry firearms, it is difficult to find evidence of how well they work, said Victoria Calder, the director of the Texas School Safety Center, a state-funded organization at Texas State University that provides training and resources for school security programs ...
Comments (16)
gypsy314 ne
Get rid of gun free zones is the only answer. I trust a parent to shoot at the cowards that target gun free zones for there killing spree. It is now time to take back our rights Americans so demand our rights be restored now do away with gun free zones NOW is our only hope to save our children and us. The proof is in the pudding.
Karen Spivey-Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
What could possibly go wrong? I oppose permitting employees to carry guns but do support trained law enforcement in public schools.
Casey Bennett via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Although its not popular with everyone, the idea(perception) of having someone on campus with a CHG, may be the right thing to put in place. If you allow just one person to carry,,,then it puts them in a position of police enforcement if something like this should ever happen. You are asking someone that's not a 'protector' to hunt and take down, another person. Regardless of how heinous the acts that are being committed. If more than one has a CHG,,,then you are spreading out the umbrella of protection,,,,giving more everyone more options. There are many people that would not want to do this,,,mostly for very very personal reasons. It should be a completely personal decision to let them carry. Not mandatory, not even peer pressure(guilt trips) to make them carry a gun. I would feel safer if I knew my child's teacher had a CHG,,,,she's in the 1st grade. I don't want something like Sandy Hook to happen to her. Sometimes the best deterrent is a bluff,,,,,,backed by human emotions.
Steven Felfe via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Have every law abiding adult get trained and be the protectors.become the sheep dogs and protect the flock.
Autumn Williams Keiser via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Can we just take opinion and conjecture out if this entire conversation and instead just go with the numbers? It seems to me that statistically people are WAY more likely to be accidentally shot by such guns than they would be potentially saved by a would-be mass shooter. As for deterring shooters, don't most if them WANT to be shot as part of their plan?
Vicki Rawlins McCuistion via Texas Tribune on Facebook
We cut school funding and teachers last session, but now want to pay for armed security? Wrong. I don't want teachers carrying weapons. If someone has to carry a weapon it should be law enforcement. Our high school already has that staff as most do I expect.
Beegowl Seeker
Don't we have several thousand years of history verifying the frailties, meanness, and error prone actions of human beings? And, now our deep thinking legislators want to give loaded weapons to school personnel? Are we all crazy? To protect gun rights we're going to give everyone a weapon because after all we can't keep stupid, insane, evil people from getting them and if stupid, insane, evil people have them then everyone else has to have them to protect those who aren't stupid, insane or evil. This is not a solution to the problem! We are a country of laws, not gunfighters. This is insane.
Cindy Rhoton Cook via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Yea, is anyone even asking the teachers what types of securities would better benefit them. More guns in the hands of our teachers is not the answer!
JC DemocratofTejas
Are you totally oblivious to the fact that there was a shooting in Houston at a community college yesterday? How is your lack of knowledge possible? There is a huge problem with gun control, and this incredible stupidity of acting like someone is restricting your right to bears arms is embarrassing for Texas and the entire world. Limiting the number of repeat shots a gun is capable of, restricting assault guns, etc. ad nauseam is NOT TAKING YOUR RIFLE AWAY it is preventing mass murders. Please tell teabagger gypsy314whatever to talk to his/her doc about medications. The apparent lack of reality appears to be either a I hate having a black president racist remark or severe psychosis. Saving our children with guns is about as insane as it gets! Inviting NYers to come to Texas and bring their guns is truly asking for bad results--having an AG that would do so could only happen in my home state. How depressing and sad.
Jim Arnold
This is a total joke put forth by the NRA.
I am waiting to see the first child killed by the idiot carrying when they miss and hit the child.
It will happen it's only time.
raffaele cafagna
@JC DemocratofTejas ; the shootout at the Lone Star College was Gang Related; you are already a democrat and you got to be a brainwashed socialist too; so please keep reading and become informed and educate yourself before jumping to conclusion; thanks and blessings.
Gun Free Zones are MASSACRES Zones ; Only a Brainwashed Liberal Socialist Democrat Does not understand this problem.
MODERN CIVILIZATION ?????I say a Young Nation of about 200 years going down the drain , sex ,drugs ,rap.. It’s the other stuff. Free or subsidized rent, heat, food, transportation, health care, tuition, free phones, etc. We’ve got a lot of leeches sucking off the system and we taxpayers foot the bill. The leeches who don’t try to work instead of taking handouts will be majority Liberal. A true conservative is ashamed to take a handout and will avoid it if at all possible. A Liberal brags about how much he gets. Illegals voted, but our troops –DENIED . Critics of the feds also point to the Operation Fast and Furious scandal — in which federal agents let hundreds of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug-cartel operatives — as proof that the Obama administration should not expand gun-control laws.
According to the FBI, criminal street gangs – mostly comprised of illegal aliens – are acquiring high-powered, military-style weapons to potentially engage in lethal encounters with law enforcement members and citizens alike.
Criminal street gangs are responsible for the majority of violent crimes within the U.S. and are the primary distributors of most illicit drugs, according to a 2009 report by the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, or NDIC. Why doesn't the Obama administration and the Liberals confiscate all guns from the drug dealers, gang bangers, and criminals first and than see if the crime rates drop. It just seems not matter the crisis government always wants to take away the guns from law abiding people first. There were more people killed in South
Chicago last year than a dozen Sandy Hook tragedies. Or how about the 40k people killed in Mexico how many were killed by the guns Obama and Holder allowed to be sold to the Cartels??? Yet the entire Fast and Furious scandal seems to be pushed aside to cover so many mistakes.
God help us. But God isn’t allowed in our schools. Or in our
public places and God offends you. But you allow the Teaching of Islam in our schools : it means “submission” to the will of Allah and the teachings as depicted in the Qur’an which include jihad – the genocidal slaughter of infidels by the sword, killing by beheading, intolerance of other religions, as well as forcing submission to Islam. The ultimate goal of jihad is the domination of Islam over the entire world. This is your * Modern Civilization *
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Well Vicki, your assumption would be wrong. Most schools do not have LEO on staff at each school. Sandy Hook was about 2 miles from the Police Dept and it took them 20 minutes for the police to arrive.
It is clear that this people here much rather our schools be unsecured for those who do not obey the laws. It is clear that they do not trust teachers to protect their children and yet they trust them to educate them? LOL
Autumn, if you want to remove opinion and conjecture then I suggest you revisit your statement. The truth is that more people HAVE been hurt by would be mass shooters than accidental shootings in schools.
PAULA DENMON
Unfortunately, all the sane people giving fact-based information and pleas for reasonableness will totally be ignored by Dewhurst and the totality tea-party, right-wing, dictatorial politicians that mostly inhabit Austin. The only people who carry weapons in Texas Schools should be trained law officers. And this cost should be carried by the state outside the education budget, if this is the way that the majority chose to go. If not, only the very wealthy schools will be protected, and others will not. It is totally insane to say the Educators, Office Personnel and Janitorial Staff be armed with hand guns. 1. They will be out-gunned by the weapons that the shooters bring into the school. 2. They could pass the carry license requirement, but would never have the advanced training that law officers are supposed to have to access, and react to different situations. 3. We must focus on updating and improving our educational system in Texas. It seems that we are careening towards last place.
Another 99%
This whole issue centers around gun owners, gun manufacturers, gun dealers, and the cowardly attitude, of those who think public safety is a JOKE. If any monies is spent, the taxpayers do not own this responsibility. The gun manufacturers, dealer, and owners need to bear 100% of any increase of security at schools. A School Safety Tax, a yearly gunowner fee, per weapon, Bullet tax, and $1,000 fee for gun sales anfd transfer, and a retail gun dealer, fee to be able to sell guns, initiated, immediately. Noone will have their macho guns taken away, and public safety will be financed. And the burden shoved down the public throat by the gun owners, will fairly be balanced.
Texas RMS
If legislators think this is such a good idea, why are they unwilling to pay for it? Instead, their idea is to raise local taxes. That way they can say they had nothing to do with raising taxes. After all, they don't believe in that. But they are more than willing to once again lay the financial burden at the local level, thus continuing the financial inequities that are rampant in Texas schools.
Christine Lund
Gypsy, we can make everyone safer by stopping the sale of assault weapons to the public. Eliminating large ammo clips and doing a better job of educating the children. The last thing we need is a teacher with a weapon. And if they are going to carry a gun, will they be deputized and sent through classes at whose expense? Will they expect more money for all their schooling and for the weapons? Never heard of such a crazy thing. Education and sports are supposed to be free of politics and violence. Why not pay for more and better trained law enforcement?