More than a month after a deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School left 10 dead and 13 injured, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is taking steps to tighten security in the southeast Texas school district, part of an effort by the state’s Republican leadership to “harden” schools as targets.
Patrick announced Monday that he’ll donate “up to 10” metal detectors to the Santa Fe Independent School District, a Galveston County district of about 4,700 students. A private metal detector company, Garrett Metal Detectors, has also agreed to donate metal detectors to the district, as well as perform a security analysis and train staff at no cost, Patrick said.
Those new security protocols will be in place before the start of the school year, pending district approval, Patrick said.
“Santa Fe parents have asked for immediate action to secure the entrances to their schools and I want to make sure that if the Santa Fe ISD School Board wants to install metal detectors they can do so,” Patrick said in a statement.
And I’m sure if those metal detectors detect that someone is trying to bring a gun into a school, the security guards there will be empowered to confiscate it, because guns are dangerous and we can’t just let anyone walk around with them. Or maybe I’m overlooking something. I’m sure Danno has thought it all through.
But hey, if installing metal detectors at school is the key to keeping them safe from gun-toting evildoers, then why stop there? Let’s install metal detectors at all of the other places where gun violence has been a problem: Churches, nightclubs, hotels, movie theaters, shopping malls, post offices…you get the idea. Heck. let’s install metal detectors at every streetcorner in the state. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel much safer. Again, I’m not sure that Danno has taken this to its logical conclusion, but I’m sure we can work out the details.
(One place we won’t have to do this is at the Capitol, because they already have them there. Priorities, you know.)
Making too much sense, the Trumpkins and the Russian controlled NRA will never understand. Well Trump is controlled by the Russians, his cult followers are like zombies.
Kuff,
I totally agree with you. Metal detectors at schools is feel good window dressing that won’t actually prevent a determined gunman. First, forcing every student to enter through only one entrance is going to be a nightmare. You think kids are tardy now?
Nothing prevents a shooter from 1) just shooting the guard running the metal detector FIRST, or 2) entering through another door by taping the lock in advance or having an accomplice open a side door, or, 3) breaking out a window and entering that way.
This is just “we’ve got to do something,” knee jerk, feel good stupidity, just like forcing the kids to carry clear backpacks. Patrick is pandering, Collier is looking like a good protest vote.
You can legally carry at the Capitol anyway, so I’ve never been sure what the point of the metal detectors is.
Oh Manny….