Massacre in Texas: The solution for conservatives is for teachers to bear arms

After the massacre in Texas, where 19 children and 2 teachers lost their lives from the armed hand of an 18-year-old, Conservative politicians have once again called for teachers and school staff to take up arms to protect students from incidents. The proposal is strongly opposed by teachers, researchers and gun control activists.

“We can provide weapons and prepare and train teachers and other administrators to respond quickly because we do not actually have the reimgs to have class members in every school,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. speaking to Fox News on Tuesday.

Texas has already started this type of traininga school sheriff’s program called the School Marshal Program, which allows teachers and administrators to carry weapons after receiving 80 hours of training at academies overseen by the Texas Law Enforcement Commission, the Reuters reported, citing Reuters.

The program began in 2013 and was expanded under the leadership of Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican. There are now 256 in Texas teachers and administrative staff members who have undergone this training, compared to 34 before the Santa Fe school massacre in 2018.

Craig Bessent, a deputy superintendent of the Wylie Independent School District, first received training in 2014 and, although the identities of school sheriffs are not usually disclosed, he acts as a kind of representative.

“We have school sheriffs in every school in our district, even in kindergartens,” Besent said. “I have my gun on me, hidden. “If we have to react immediately, as in the incident that took place yesterday (Tuesday), we are always ready,” he stressed.

“Wrong policy”

For gun control activists this program is another step in the wrong direction in the USthe country with the most arms worldwide, where one of the highest rates of firearm deaths is observed.

“The attorney general’s comments are another indication that the slavish advocates of the Texas-led arms lobby will do everything in their power to avoid tackling gun violence,” said Shannon Watts, co-founder of the control group. of Moms Demand Action.

The Texas Teachers’ Union has opposed the school sheriff’s program, which was instituted in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut. “Instead of adding other weapons to the schools, they should take steps to keep the weapons out of the school.” stressed Clay Robinson, representative of the Union.

Giving guns to teachers is “wrong,” said Dennis Gottpherson, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, explaining that having more guns could lead to more violence.

“These weapons may be fired by mistake, the teachers who have them may use them intentionally for other purposes and, even more likely, the weapons may fall into the hands of students,” he said.