After the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, residents called for answers. The incident, which killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in 2022, rocked the nation – especially due to the lackluster response from law enforcement, which refused to confront the shooter.
Along with the outrage at the police officers, folks on the left also exploited the shooting to push for more gun restrictions on lawful gun owners. Democratic politicians like Robert Francis O’Rourke, an Irishman who pretends to be Hispanic, capitalized on the shooting to boost his ill-fated gubernatorial campaign.
Still, the state government chose not to rely on impotent gun laws. Instead, it passed a measure designed to turn schools into harder targets by employing armed guards, as well as other security measures.
Texas lawmakers quietly passed a sweeping mandate for school safety measures, including a requirement to post an armed security officer at every school and provide mental health training for certain district employees.
Texas House Bill 3, which was signed into law June 14 by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, went into effect on Sept. 1, and comes in the wake of the horrific Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in May 2022.
In the bill, each school district campus is required to armed [sic] security guard which includes: a school district peace officer; a school resource officer; a commissioned peace officer employee; a school marshal; or a school district employee who has completed school safety training and carries a handgun on their person on school premises.
The law mirrors that of other states like Alabama, which recently staffed all its schools with school resource officers.
Some Texas schools have faced challenges in preparing to comply with the law, which went into effect on Friday. One of the primary obstacles is a lack of funding to hire and train armed security guards.
Given the limited resources, some districts have struggled to attract and hire qualified applicants. Moreover, the cost of training, background checks, and other expenses has compounded the issue. Rural areas face difficulties in recruiting candidates due to their location.
Other districts that are having trouble recruiting candidates are taking a different route. They are using school marshals or resource officers to fill the position. These officials are intended to provide a visible security presence on campus to deter a would-be school shooter or other individual seeking to harm children.
As far as the funding issue is concerned, it appears help might be on the way. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan indicated that Gov. Greg Abbott will convene a special session next month to look at increasing funding for districts that are struggling to add security to their campuses.
The new law, despite the challenges, will likely go further toward protecting schoolchildren than the useless gun control measures floated by the left whenever there is a tragedy similar to what happened in Uvalde. By making it more dangerous for would-be assailants to carry out a shooting, it is more likely that they will either be deterred from launching an attack — or stopped before they can inflict maximum carnage.
