WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BRING SECURITY CHECKPOINTS TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL 
Following up on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s suggestion of hardening security at Texas schools, Texas Monthly’s R.G. Ratcliffe does the math: “The price of walk-through metal detectors range, in general, from about $3,500 to $5,000 each. There are more than 9,100 public school and charter school campuses in Texas. If metal detectors cost $4,000 each, then the total price tag for equipping the state school buildings would run about $36.4 million.” The problem: that accounting only budgets in one metal detector per campus. Last week, Patrick argued for limiting the ways in and out of Texas’ schools because “There aren’t enough people to put a guard at every entrance and exit.” But, notes Ratcliffe, even New York-style frisk points at each door wouldn’t have defended against other school shooting tactics, like those of Adam Lanza, who “shot out a window made of tempered glass” to get inside the locked Sandy Hook Elementary School. When police arrived at that building, their only option was to bust open a window themselves to enter, momentarily delaying their response to the massacre — which “took about eleven minutes.” [Texas Monthly] Photo: Santa Fe ISD
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No guns! The sole purpose of guns is blood and death.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick still thinks violent movies and video games are to blame! Metal detectors and limiting access points are just a reaction. In my opinion, they are missing good old fashioned “parenting” as part of the larger equation. Do you know where your kids? What your kids are doing? Why are their grades all of a sudden changing? etc.
So how many years until we give up and privatize our educational system because states and older voters care far more about appeasing the upper 9.9% of american society rather than ensuring a solid foundation for our kids?
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I give it 7yrs and we’ll be handing out VR headsets to kids and locking them in closets for the school day rather than leaving the house.
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…..and the hilarious part is how corporations constantly blame americans for being too untrained and uneducated enough to fill open positions. As if they don’t all pay $MM’s in lobbying to play a direct role in reducing the countries revenue and educational attainment in order to reward shareholders.
The only practical solution is no doors. If no one can get into the schools, shootings will be drastically reduced. Our schools need a zero tolerance door policy. No more doors!
I love how they’ll suggest everything to avoid the obvious… guns need to be restricted. All other countries have figured it out already, but our genius Republican leadership wants to create choke points at every school.
In order to keep kids safe from a school shooter, lets limit the number of entrances so there will be a nice long line of students in the morning waiting to get through the metal detectors and lots of kids piling out of a few exits in the afternoon. Anyone who is hell bent on being the next school shooter will appreciate the target rich environment Patrick wants to create.
My child’s school implemented single entry/egress (no metal detectors) two years ago and there haven’t been any real issues with congestion, parking distance, etc. School start and end times are staggered to some extent and that helps with congestion. I appreciate knowing the security dude is on campus ’cause we greet every morning. There are knox-boxes and crash bars on the other entrances. Honestly, this isn’t a bad idea to implement until the meantime when guns go poof (but metal detectors… hmmm).
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So what about colleges (single entry is impossible)? Recently the HCC shutdown… What, besides “poof” could be done? Why is THIS NOT something that can be done in the meanwhile? The message MUST be: lets implement this *AND* keep demanding that more and more CONTINUE to be done.
What a pathetic idea from an impotent NRA owned pawn.
Great idea, let’s build a bunch of jails to send our kids to school in
There are 300 million+ guns that are privately held in America, the vast majority of which are securely locked away and will never be used for a criminal act. Just how precisely do you plan on taking those away?
lol@”9.9%”…so we’ve given up on the 1%? Did the country collectively get a demotion? (Don’t answer…)
Brain, guns and even ammo are restricted to people over 18 years old by federal law in the US. What other countries “have figured it out”, pretty sure every country has murders, which I believe would be illegal in those countries.
@Txcon: Well Republicans close down every single Planned Parenthood clinic. Just switch topics to guns. Shut down every single retailer, shooting range, etc. Then make it federal law to restrict guns somehow. Just like Republicans wants a complete abortion ban.
It can be done. Guns have more rights than gays so nothing will be done.
Can gays get on planes, go to a school campuses, or go to Chicago ? I mean if we want to have a conversation about guns (and or gays) can we at least stick to facts or at the least, just not make up a bunch of baloney to try to make your point?
I love guns. They are really cool to look at, shoot, clean, collect and discuss to just scratch the surface. It’s too bad, really, because they belong in museums and should otherwise be well regulated. That said, if I were in the tobacco industry, I would be so jealous of what a sweet deal the weapons trade gets from the government.
@Txcon, here’s a few things we could try. It wouldn’t solve the problem but:
1. Ban the commercial manufacture and sale of guns other than limited capacity long guns (for shooting critters and waterfowl).
2. Implement laws requiring the registration of all firearms, ammunition and assorted paraphernalia (sights, bayonets, extended capacity magazines, you name it). Include felony punishments for possession of unregistered items. The more unregistered items you have, the longer you go away. Use all available information (NRA member records, gun store records, you name it) to try and locate and put folks on notice. Also, require fingerprinting.
2.a. Implement quotas. (I.e., no arsenals).
3. Require that guns, ammunition, etc., that are part of an estate be confiscated and destroyed with compensation for the taking.
4. Launch large scale public health measures to educate the public on the threat guns pose to our society (cf. anti-tobacco). Require gun safety, gun locks, gun cases, etc.
5. Compare registration records against domestic violence records, civil commitments, ‘bad’ discharges from the military (this would, probably, not be an easy thing to do but who knows), the above mentioned fingerprints and bring suit to remove the weapons from matches.
6. Impose strict tort liability on gun owners/possesors and require them to carry insurance.
7. Ban the public or concealed carry of firearms within city limits and unincorporated portions of urban counties.
Those are just off the top of my head and, of course, it’s not as though this stops someone from driving a truck into a crowd. Then again, as noted elsewhere, we all take our chances just walking down the street in Houston (or going hunting with certain former Vice Presidents).
@HIBTK So your plan basically is:
Phase 1: Decide to ban all guns
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Celebrate end of all gun-related violence
Unless I’ve missed something
One way in and one way out. Sadly, this is the future. No doubt violent video games, too easy access to guns, rampant bullying, and no discipline allowed by teachers has led to this caustic phenomenon. It’s too easy to blame the NRA and Donald Trump. Nobody wants to take blame. Guns don’t kill on their own, people pull the trigger. I’m
all for a ban on assault rifles, but not a ban on legally owning a gun. I’m happy so far we haven’t heard the Santa Fe kids call a dying John McCain a coward and blame everything on guns and Donald Trump, all the while giving zero blame to the actual killer or look at why he acted out in such a violent manner. These kids who bully need to look in the mirror and take some blame for creating an environment where kids feel this angry and desperate.
@HIBTK. I’m gay, please don’t speak for me.
@TimP
Hey, I’ll give you credit for at least having an answer. I don’t see how you can peaceably accomplish 1-3 in the current judicial and political environment. #4 is a good one, but could just as easily be a gun safety campaign. #5 they are supposed to be doing already, but government incompetence struck again in Sutherland Springs and in Parkland. #6 possible. #7 you do know that CHL holders commit gun crimes at a lower rate than law enforcement, right?
We could do all of those things, and then we’d be London — where they are now banning knives and forks — because without guns they’ve just passed NYC in murders this year. I wish the answer were as simple as “ban all the guns.” Unfortunately it’s not and I’m not sure we would like to live in the kind of country it would take to make that happen.
Exits soapbox. Returns to real estate.
Texas has a deep and abiding love for the security culture no matter the monetary or human cost. So yes, of course this is the new normal; people are practically squealing with glee at the prospect of giving security culture even more room to run. I doubt it was always like this but this is what happens when all of the old problematic paradigms of the Deep South are allowed to migrate here and set up shop without any resistance whatsoever.
The purpose of the second amendment is the protection of the individual’s right to keep weaponry effective for resistance to a tyrannical force, an effective military weapon. It has nothing to do with hunting or home defense. You could ban all firearm hunting and would not be infringing on second amendment rights.
At least Tim P is honest about being an enemy of freedom. I love where criminals disobeying laws are never the target for these type of “solution” lists, its new laws targeting law abiding citizens exercising their rights. We have laws on the books (including addressing military discharge, domestic violence, and mental health in regard to purchase and possession of firearms) enforce them and get back to me. Its a crime to try and buy a gun and falsifying a background check just a quick check for an article for a statistic on this shows in 2010 only 44 of 48,000 felons & fugitives who lied and illegally tried to purchase guns were prosecuted. Enforce current laws.
@Anon22. I have no idea what “The Deep South†has to do with wanting security. I used to live in Los Angeles (Los Feliz), but got tired of the absurd taxes and corrosive enabling hyper liberal culture; so you know what? I moved back to Texas. I suggest you do the opposite.
Let’s not forget semi-automatic and convertible semi-automatic weapons.
These have no place in personal protection or in sport.
They should be illegal period. Then the sad/mad/bullied/hormonal kid can’t take so many down so quickly.
(And if an AR-15 is your hog-hunting go-to, you need to get some self-respect and learn how to aim…)
@Thayer: Texas conservatives hold controversial cake-cutting over gay marriage ban
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https://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/State-leaders-celebrate-ten-years-without-6101014.php
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Try again!
TimP: What you’re asking for would basically result in another civil war. Guns are not going away. And the ‘scary’ looking guns (AR-15 and the like) that people who want ‘sensible’ gun regulations say the want to get rid of, kill very few people.
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I’m not taking a side in the debate, but I will say I respect those that say they want to ban guns. I respect their honestly vs. hiding behind more palatable speak.