Lawmaker Pushes To Allow Concealed Weapons In Texas Public Schools
A 2015 law that allowed licensed adults to carry concealed weapons on college campuses sparked widespread protest. Now one legislator wants to extend the practice to include public schools and some charter schools.
March 12, 2021, 7:17 AM
Mock weapons used to train educators in Harrold, Texas. The North Texas school district was the first to allow educators to carry guns on school grounds in 2007.
Six years after Texas passed a controversial measure allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed handguns on college campuses, one Republican state lawmaker is pushing to expand the law by allowing licensed adults to carry weapons in public and charter schools.
Editorial: STAAR exam useless at this point; cancel or postpone it
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In this 2016 photo, students in San Antonio takes a practice STAAR exam. The state should cancel or postpone the STAAR exam this year. It’s not the right time and there are too many variables. We know students are struggling.Lisa Krantz /Lisa Krantz
If Texas goes forward with the STAAR exam, taxpayers will spend $90 million to learn what they already know: Texas students are in crisis.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should cancel or postpone the STAAR test. Where is the compassion for students and educators, many of whom are not only dealing with COVID-19 but also suffered through a winter storm without water or electricity (or both), some losing a week of instruction? Prioritizing STAAR is callous when it’s clear students’ most basic needs are not being met and educational inequities have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Mock weapons used to train educators in Harrold, Texas. The North Texas school district was the first to allow educators to carry guns on school grounds in 2007. Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune
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Six years after Texas passed a controversial measure allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed handguns on college campuses, one Republican state lawmaker is pushing to expand the law by allowing licensed adults to carry weapons in public and charter schools.
The bill’s staunchly pro-gun author, state Sen. Bob Hall, sees the move as a logical extension of Texas’ campus carry law, which passed in 2015 over the passionate pleas of Democrats, gun control advocates and some university officials who feared increased violence.
After spring break, teachers, custodians and more will be carrying concealed weapons at school through the new Guardian program.
Hall, who co-authored campus carry, now wants to broaden the law to K-12 classrooms. His bill - which, as of March 10, had yet to be heard in committee - would allow licensed Texans, such as parents and teachers, to carry concealed handguns throughout public schools and open enrollment charter schools. Schools, known as a gun-free zone, might as well hang a neon sign saying, If you want to harm kids, come in here, Hall, R-Edgewood, said in an interview. The more people there are who can protect, the safer our society is.
Texas State Lawmaker Proposes Bill Allowing K-12 Employees to Carry Concealed Weapons newsweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.