School Safety
Texas governor offers proposals to help prevent shootings
Texarkana was eagerly anticipating the appearances of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson Wednesday at the Downtown Post Office to launch the AR-TX Regional Economic Development Incorporation initiative.
But that had to be postponed. Gov. Abbott’s time was spoken for by work on a plan to help prevent school violence in the wake of the deadly May 18 shootings at Santa Fe High School near Houston that left 10 dead and 13 wounded.
The result of Abbott’s work was a report issued this week that offered a number of proposals to make our schools and students safer.
One is expanding a program at Texas Tech University that aims to identify students who may be at risk for committing violent acts. This would allow authorities to take steps to intervene before a tragedy could occur.
Another is expansion of the School Marshal Program and allocating more money for police presence in schools.
Abbott proposes installing special alarms that would alert faculty and students when there is an active shooting situation. Current alarms in many cases don’t distinguish between a shooting and another emergency, such as a fire.
Another proposal would make parents responsible if they allow someone under age 18 to have access to a firearm. Right now the law says under 17—the same age as the accused Santa Fe High shooter.
Abbott’s report also includes more money for school security measures, such as metal detectors.
Surprisingly, the governor also backs a so-called “red flag” law that would allow police to seize guns in specific situations where a person is determined by a court to be a danger.
None of this is law yet. The state Legislature will have to consider most of the proposals. And then there is funding. Abbott is counting on both state and federal funds.
No doubt there will be some who are disappointed the governor didn’t call for more gun laws. But in our view, Abbott went as far as he could to have any hope of getting his proposals through the Legislature. The “red flag” law might be a sticking point. But most of these are solid ideas that deserve consideration. The governor’s plan isn’t perfect, but it represents steps in the right direction.