Texas’ Lt. Gov. Floats Chilling Solution for School Shooting Crisis
It's not just President Trump: Republicans are increasingly ready to arm our nation's educators.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. (Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons) (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Shortly after the shooting at Santa Fe High School in Southeast Texas that left 10 dead and 10 others wounded, two of them critically, the state’s lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, named an improbable culprit in the massacre: doors. Less than 48 hours later, Patrick offered a fix for gun violence that was no less unlikely, this time reverting to one of the president’s newest talking points.
In an interview with CNN that echoed Donald Trump’s remarks after February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, the Texas official called on the country to start arming its educators, in accordance with the Second Amendment. “Our teachers are part of that well-run militia,” Patrick told “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos, adding, “It’s guns that also stop crimes.”
The absurdity of Patrick’s remarks should be self-evident. Teachers fail to meet any conceivable definition of a militia, and their arming is hardly “necessary to the security of a free state,” as the Second Amendment stipulates. More troubling is that one of the president’s more febrile ideas appears to be gaining currency within the greater Republican Party. (A recent HuffPost survey found as many as 70 percent of Republicans support arming teachers.)
If Sean Hannity truly has Trump’s ear, as a recent New York Magazine report indicates, it probably won’t be the last such proposal. This week, the Fox News host challenged the federal government to monitor every student’s social media activity, insisting the mounting number of school shootings is “not a gun issue.”
Santa Fe High had taken multiple steps to avoid Friday’s tragedy, having two armed police officers patrol the school’s hallways as part of an “active-shooter plan.” According to The Washington Post, “they thought they were a hardened target.”
As of Friday, 29 students have been slain in 16 such incidents in American schools this year. Just 13 U.S. service members have been killed on active duty over the same period.
Your support is crucial...As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.
Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.
Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.
Editorial Cartoons
Editorial Cartoons
Editorial Cartoons
LGBTQIA+
The Colorado case could set the stage for compulsory treatment.
TD Original
The right's crusade against DEI and trans people is threatening disabled Americans — and straining the coalition behind the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Editorial Cartoons
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.