Editorial

By Jordan Kirkland, Staff Writer

May 22, 2023

 A recent bill has been passed in Texas which requires that there be some form of armed security in schools and also allows the arming of teachers to fulfill that role if needed. 

The bill offers teachers stipends of up to $25,000 if they are willing to go through the training necessary to become designated guardians authorized to carry or possess a weapon while working on the premises. 

This bill is in response to the mass shootings and gun violence Texas faces. This is confirmed by Rep. Ken King, a Republican who took part in drafting the bill, explains the legislation comes "in light of the tragedies that have occurred in Texas schools over the past years."

My only question is why would a state ever even consider this? According to the gun violence archive, Texas has almost the highest number of school shootings nationwide, so instead of taking the guns away, the state lawmakers decided to put them in the school. It simply doesn’t add up and will certainly make some change to the frequency of these events, for better or worse.

The bill has one thing on it I personally agree with--the requirement of silent panic buttons, which are significantly overdue. They have them in banks, homes, offices, and not schools. That should have come first if anything.

Yet one group that hasn’t been spoken for is teachers. Some teachers may not feel comfortable or even nervous carrying a firearm while others may. Yet they may feel  financially pressured or pressured to care for their families and keep their students safe. 

Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, and former middle school teacher, voted against the bill after voicing concerns that it will create an incentive for teachers financially struggling to start carrying firearms.

"Even teachers who don’t want to carry guns may feel like they are financially pressured to do so just so they can provide for their families," Talarico said in an article by Fox News.

Also speaking as a high school student I would feel ten times more unsafe if I knew there were multiple grown adults with firearms walking around my school. High school is already hostile enough for students everywhere, and it must be even worse living in one of the country's top most frequent places for gun violence toward schools. 

This is not even strictly for high schools either. Imagine a kindergartener seeing their teacher with a loaded handgun. Think about how they might react to that. It may even normalize this idea of having guns casually to them. The idea of it is simply fighting fire, with firearms.